Thursday Notebook: Spring Game format announced

Nebraska closed out its final full practice of the spring on Thursday, and now the attention shifts fully to Saturday’s annual Red-White game.

This year’s version of the scrimmage will have a bit of a different look from previous springs, though.

Head coach Mike Riley said the game would pit the offense versus the defense, with special teams periodically worked in.

Rather than draft a Red and White team like in previous years, Riley said he would instead utilize a unique scoring system to award both the offense and defense points to determine the game’s outcome.

“I toyed around with a lot of different scenarios, and this is probably the simplest way to keep good depth as we substitute in the ball game,” Riley said. “This way we can kind of substitute pretty easily and not get into that deal where this team is short and this guy’s got to run over here and put a new jersey on, all the stuff…

“I hope it’ll be the easiest way to run it, make it look good for everybody.”

Posted below is the full scoring system that will be used for the game:

For special teams, Riley said they would incorporate scripted plays through the game.

For example, they might run two traditional drives and then mix in a situational special teams play, such as a coffin corner punt attempt, some regular punt and kickoff returns, and a few field goals.

“We will incorporate special teams, but probably not in the true flow of the game,” Riley said. “I’m going to have some situational special teams that are kind of scripted for the day.”

Riley said there would be four 20-minute quarters with a running clock, with the only clock stoppages coming on timeouts and quarter changes.

As for what he’s hoping to see from his team when they take the Memorial Stadium field in front more than 70,000 fans, Riley said he wants clean, quality football with as few mental mistakes as possible on both sides of the ball.

“I’m really looking for good procedure, good decisions by the quarterbacks, good assignment work in all phases of the game, good execution,” Riley said. “Hopefully it’ll be good give and take offensively and defensively… Just sharp, good looking football that way.”

- Robin Washut

The two biggest stories of the week leading into the Red-White game remained without any clear answers on Thursday.

Riley said the statuses of senior defensive linemen Greg McMullen and Kevin Williams are still up in the air, though he did confirm that neither player would participate in Saturday’s spring game.

“Greg McMullen right now is on that kind of personal leave,” Riley said. “We’ve talked a couple of times. He’s taking care of some business. I expect that I could have any new news for you on Saturday, anything different from that. That’s kind of where it stands status quo.”

Riley did clarify that McMullen’s absence was primarily due to academics, though he again seemed confident the Akron, Ohio, native would be back with the Huskers eventually.

“He was pressed with some personal issues, mostly involving what he had to do in school,” Riley said. “He’s graduating, getting into grad school, doing some stuff, so we kind of said, ‘step back for a minute.' So I think that’s all going to be good, and we’ll have more news later.”

As for Williams, Riley did not address the rumors that he was being courted by other schools - particularly Kentucky - as a graduate transfer, only saying Williams’ future with the program was unclear.

“Kevin Williams is also undetermined at this time,” Riley said. “It’s another deal probably by Saturday I’ll have more news regarding both of those guys.”

- Robin Washut

So much of the talk surrounding the offense tackles this spring has circled around Nick Gates' move to the left side and David Knevel stepping into the starting lineup

But injuries happen in football, and one awkward step, cut or hit could completely change the way the lineup will look. If anything were to happen to Gates, it appears redshirt freshman Christian Gaylord would get the call.

"He's a young guy and now he needs to learn and get in his playbook," Gates said. "He's athletic and he's got a good frame on him. He's got a basketball background so that definitely helps. He's just young and athletic."

A three-star product from the 2015 class, Gaylord visited only Nebraska and was considered to be a big catch. Gates is working to mentor his understudy, but he's also learning a new position. Finding the balance between teaching Gaylord and getting himself ready for left tackle has been at times a tough balance.

"It's mostly just the playbook and things like that, trying to get him in there and teach him all the blocks we have between the tight ends and guards, trying to get him to make the right calls," Gates said. "Right now I'm not the greatest in my technique, so I'm still learning too. It's the same, but it's different at the same time.

"He's a good kid. He wants to learn."

- Dan Hoppen

Nebraska's defensive linemen immediately noticed the changes being made after new position coach John Parrella took over at the start of spring practice.

After a few weeks, the offensive linemen couldn't help but take notice either.

"Parrella came in and helped those guys right away," Gates said. "You saw in the first six or seven practices they were ten times better than they were last year. They have so many different moves now than they did last year. It's difficult to block them now."

"It makes us better, it makes them better just going against them."

Parrella has drawn rave reviews so far from his players, who respect him for his experience and knowledge.

It could be argued that no player has been helped more than Freedom Akinmoladun, who always had the size and athleticism to be a dominant player. But Gates said his roommate is not only grown bigger and stronger under Parrella, but "he's mean now."

"We've been battling against each other," Gates said. Me and him are roommates so we have to leave the battles on the field. But it's always a good deal. He's definitely going to be one of the better defensive ends in the Big Ten this year, so it's useful to go against him."

- Dan Hoppen

***Riley said Thursday’s practice was not a good final tuneup before the spring game for the offense. He said the offense did not look good all day, which was a big change from how well it had been playing all spring.

***Running back Adam Taylor, receiver Zack Darlington defensive end Sedrick King all sat out practice with undisclosed injuries.

***The good news on the injury front was defensive end DaiShon Neal, who had missed the previous two practices, was back in pads on Thursday.

***Receiver Jordan Westerkamp was in attendance. While he didn’t practice, Westerkamp did some light running on the side, which was definitely a good sign considering he just underwent sports hernia surgery in Germany barely a week ago.

***2017 Aurora (Neb.) tight end Austin Allen was at practice on Thursday, as was Ft. Pierce (Fla.) linebacker signee Greg Simmons. Allen committed to Nebraska shortly after practice wrapped up.