The spring game discussions were yet to be had. But they’re coming.
On Monday morning inside Memorial Stadium, head coach Scott Frost said he and his staff are going to have discussions about the format of the annual spring game today and tomorrow. The scrimmage is this Saturday at 1 p.m. and will be televised by Big Ten Network.
The fifth-year head coach is tasked with devising a plan of attack for the scrimmage, which won’t have several starters participating on both sides of the ball due to injury.
“It’s looking like we’re probably going to do some kind of format with offense versus defense,” Frost said. “I don’t like that, I’d rather have two teams playing each other and trying to win a football game. We just have so many guys at a couple positions that are nicked up that it’s going to make it hard to field two teams without guys running back and forth to the sidelines.”
With one practice left before the spring game, Frost said the team is by no means a polished product. There are still issues to iron out on both offense and defense, which is commonplace in spring ball.
“We’ve gotten a lot better at a lot of things, but there are still some things I’m not happy with that we need to get cleaned up. That’s spring ball in a nutshell,” Frost said.
Frost thought the offense had better practices than what he saw on Monday.
“Didn’t think the offense had a great day today. We just need to execute a little bit better. We’re doing some simple things a lot better,” he said.
A major part of the offense’s progress will be settling on a starter at quarterback. It seems to be a two-man race right now between Casey Thompson, a transfer from Texas, and last year’s backup, Logan Smothers.
Does Frost have a timetable when he’d like to name the starter?
“The timetable is whenever it’s clear to us and to everybody, and I think there’s a lot of guys doing some good things,” he said. “But we’re nowhere near ready to make an announcement yet.”
More news and notes
>> Frost said the coaching staff, which has four new offensive assistants in offensive coordinator Mark Whipple, receivers coach Mickey Joseph, running backs coach Bryan Applewhite and offensive line coach Donovan Raiola, is still working through a transition process. The program had a shorter-than-usual winter break due to the earliness of spring ball.
“We’re in that process still, and I think it’s going to be like that for a while,” Frost said. “There are some really good things we’re doing, at times there’s not enough consistency. Guys are familiar with stuff we’ve done before and trying to learn new stuff, and I think that leads to a little bit of lack of consistency. But there’s definitely some good things happening and we’ll keep working.”
>> Monday was the first day Nebraska’s transfers were in front of the media. Among them was Trey Palmer, a former LSU Tiger who caught 41 passes for 458 yards and three touchdowns. Frost loves what Palmer has brought to the program.
“Trey has fit great, and he fits in great because of his personality,” Frost said. “He brings energy every single day. Has made a lot of plays out there, he can really run. So I think with some more time working with him he has a chance to do some special things, and I’m looking forward to that development.”
