While April 13 was pretty much the day for spring games around the country, a few teams held their scrimmages on Saturday including Oregon State, which features three former Huskers. Per reader request, now that almost all of the spring games are in the books, let's take a quick look at how some of those former Huskers are faring at their new schools.
We've got quite the collection of storylines here including two quarterback battles, a handful of injuries and Andrew Ward perhaps finding himself in the best position of all.
QB Patrick O'Brien, Colorado State: The Rams spring game, scheduled for March 14, had to be moved indoors due to a blizzard, which made things more scrimmage than spring game. But whatever it was, the pecking order at quarterback was clear. Collin Hill took all of the first-team reps while O'Brien rotated with another quarterback on the second team. O'Brien did throw two touchdown passes during the scrimmage and was second on the depth chart released March 26. Hill and O'Brien are redshirt juniors.
QB Tristan Gebbia, Oregon State: There was no official box score available after the Beavers' spring game on Saturday, but per the recap on osubeavers.com Gebbia was 7-of-14 for 67 yards and the game’s only passing touchdown. Oregon State hasn't officially named a starter nor released a depth chart yet, but most reports indicate that Gebbia is No. 2 at quarterback behind senior Jake Luton. At this point, however, it does appear as though Gebbia is the Beavers' quarterback of the future.
WR Tyjon Lindsey, Oregon State: An injury slowed Lindsey through a good portion of Oregon State's spring session and had him limited to non-contact work during Saturday's scrimmage. OregonLive posted a projected two-deep on April 16 with Lindsey listed with the second string at wide receiver. The Beavers are pretty deep here with two of the top three receivers returning from last season.
LB Avery Roberts, Oregon State: Roberts also missed a portion of the spring due to injury and didn't make any of the write-ups following Saturday's game. He's getting a look at outside and inside linebacker, but Oregon Live listed him as a backup a week ago.
RB Greg Bell, San Diego State: Bell announced he was transferring to San Diego State on March 14, nine days before the Aztecs held their spring game. Bell still isn't listed on the SDSU roster and would need a waiver to play in 2019. If that all happens, Bell could have a shot to contribute right away. At least that's the sense I got after reading a few Aztec message boards. San Diego State returns its top three rushers from a year ago, including Juwan Washington who rushed for 999 yards in 2018, but the fan base seems less than enamored with some of those options.
Two more names to mention: Ben Miles didn't show up on the stat sheet of Texas A&M's spring game, but things seem to be progressing as expected for the former Nebraska fullback. Central Michigan didn't hold a traditional spring game, but Andrew Ward appears to be making a strong case for playing time at linebacker. The projected depth chart from the CMU student paper listed Ward as a starter.
The Grab Bag
- Nebraska baseball avoided a sweep at Iowa with Sunday’s win. Kyle Kardell offers three takeaways from the series.
- Nebraska basketball added a graduate transfer in Haanif Cheatham.
- Jacob Padilla recaps James Palmer Jr.’s performance in the Portsmouth Invitational.
- Greg Smith looks at how the Huskers are using some of their natural advantages on the recruiting trail.
Today’s Song of Today
Brandon is the Managing Editor for Hail Varsity and has covered Nebraska athletics for the magazine and web since 2012, Hail Varsity’s first season on the scene. His sports writing has also been featured by Fox Sports, The Guardian and CBS Sports.
