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Nebraska Football: Fun, Felines, Football Highlight The '14 Spring Game

A cat, Imani, a proposal and fan friendly times highlight the final spring practice for the Huskers

By Brian Towle
Random Logic

On Saturday, the Nebraska Football team had their final Spring Football practice, which is of course the Spring Red/White scrimmage.

This year though, the one thing you're going to always remember about it will be the Tunnel Walk. And what happened to it.

No really, it's a cat. A declawed cat, lord I hope for Bo's arms sake.

Who's idea was it? Well, according to Bo:

"We were just trying to have a little bit of fun. It had to do with the fake Bo Pelini account. It seems people know a lot more about it than I do. They tried to get me to put a sweater on it, but that wasn't happening."

Fair enough, but the sweater and GAME FREAKING OVER.

Anyhow... football, yes, that's why we were all watching and such right? There were a few things to take away from the scrimmage that we all saw. In no certain order, things we saw and wished we saw:

- The QB chase: Everyone had talked about Tommy Armstrong Jr. pulling away from Ryker Fyfe and Johnny Stanton during the media's availability in previous practices. Tommy didn't do a whole lot on Saturday to make a point of this, as on his first possession he threw a seemingly telegraphed interception to Nathan Gerry. However, later on Armstrong did nail Brandon Reilly on a 51 yard reception that was mostly yards after catch.

Fyfe and Stanton had really good drives themselves. Ryker led a pretty decent drive for the first Offensive TD, capped with a TD pass to Tarriq Allen. Meanwhile, Stanton did nail the longest TD pass of the game, with a nifty crossing route to Kevin Gladney who tightroped the sideline for a 48 yard score, along with a 25 yarder to Jamal Turner.

- The Running Back picture was pretty clear. Ameer Abdullah had his helmet on to come out on the field, then was done for the day. Imani Cross had the most rushing yards on the day, hitting 100 on just 6 carries and 2 touchdowns. Terrell Newby looked like the talented rusher with a touch more bulk (and holding onto the ball). Adam Taylor looked alright, but you got the feeling that there wasn't much you could get out of his performance.

- Byerson Cockrell made an immediate impact when he was in there earlier. A corner blitz that resulted in a tackle for loss and a decent pass breakup made all eyes on him. Which was interesting when he went down like a sniper hit him for a injury timeout. I don't remember seeing much of him after he had left the game.

- Kicking. Oh man... Mauro Bondi didn't do himself any favors on Saturday. Being beat out by one and done transfer Pat Smith last year, Bondi hooked a 18 yard Field Goal near the end of the scrimmage, along with having a PAT blocked. Drew Brown, the Husker signee from Southlake, Texas was named by Bo Pelini in the postgame press conference. That's not good for your job security.

- Count me as one that enjoys the mid-scrimmage pieces like the 3 on 1 punt drill and the passing/goalpost contest between Bo and Kenny Bell. Bell hit the goalposts twice, making you wonder if there's any hope of a WR pass with him in the game. Maybe not, but it was fun.

Meanwhile, the Offense and Defense were called for one set by the Husker Cheerleaders and Scarlettes. The Cheer staff went right down the field and scored. This will obviously be remembered by folks later on in the season as someone that we should call should the O sputter.

Finally, the nice touch on the day came when Jeremiah Sirles was involved in the Punt, Pass and Kick competition. He, however, went askew on the punt and turned around to his girlfriend, former NU Soccer player Emma Stevens.

Let us all be honest... we would have been wayyyyy more surprised if she had said no, right?

- Finally, lets take that it's always nice to have the doors open at Memorial Stadium for 61,000+ to come into and just watch some fun and football on a nice April afternoon. Michigan couldn't scratch over 15k for their game, and the only two schools to beat Nebraska on Saturday was Tennessee and Penn State.

Saturday was a great way to head into the offseason. Charge your batteries and get ready for August, everyone.

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