Coach Scott Frost met with the media on Monday following Nebraska’s first practice of spring football. It’s an early start for the Huskers in 2022, with Nebraska set to replace Memorial Stadium’s FieldTurf following the spring game on April 9.
Frost said the first day was a bit sloppy for Nebraska, but that is to be expected. It will take time as the team gets familiar with new concepts and signals following the hiring of a few new coaches to the staff. However, new faces—both coaches and players—have helped energize the team.
One of the bigger storylines from this spring is the quarterback battle. Nebraska returns sophomore Logan Smothers and redshirt freshman Heinrich Haarberg. With tthe departure of former starter Adrian Martinez, the Huskers added three new quarterbacks to its roster over the offseason: junior Casey Thompson and resort freshman Chubba Purdy from the transfer portal, as well as freshman Richard Torres in the 2022 recruiting class.
Frost spent most of the first day of practice with the younger players, which means he isn’t aware of who took the first snap of the day at quarterback. With that said, he expects Nebraska to rotate the quarterbacks through spring practice and added that it’s “going to be a fight.”
As for Thompson, Frost said he does not have any limitations this spring following the thumb injury he suffered in 2021 while at Texas.
Overall, Frost knows there is a lot to be answered this spring but he’s pleased with the leadership he has so far. He knows he has a lot of pieces to work with, but that it will take much more than that to be successful.
“A lot of pieces don’t make a good team,” he said.
More news and notes:
>> Two of the names that came up on Monday for their leadership: outside linebacker Garrett Nelson on the defensive side and wide receiver Alante Brown on the offensive side. Both impressed Frost through winter conditioning.
>> Frost had a few updates on the injury front, although he said he didn’t like listing them all since Nebraska is without quite a few key players through spring.
A few he did mention that will miss time due to injuries: Travis Vokolek will not be back until summer, Casey Rogers will miss most of the spring and Luke Reimer will likely be unavailable until summer.
>> When it comes to the run game, Frost said that offensive coordinator Mark Whipple’s scheme is similar to what Nebraska had already been doing.
Frost also noted that the addition of Whipple to his staff has freed him up to spend some more time than he previously did with the defense and special teams. He feels the offense is in good hands with Whipple.
>> On the offensive line, Frost said that both of the transfers to that room could play both guard or tackle. As for the center spot, the Huskers have a number of options to work with through spring.
>> “I don’t want to kick a turd here,” Frost said about special teams. “I’m sorry. The farm terms come out.”
And with that, spring football is off and running.
