Spring Is In The Air

Last April, the Red White game at Memorial Stadium was expected to be a showcase of quarterback backups and what the defense would do without Suh on the field.  Instead, fans at the game caught a glimpse of speed that an option spread attack could provide.  Led by Taylor Martinez and Rex Burkhead, the Reds piled up the ground numbers in the first half with guys who were expected to be full on backups last year.  It was a sign of the important role the two would play in the fall.  This weekend, the first signs of spring will be in the air attack.

To take away the running portion of this offense would be ridiculous, but as Steve alluded to, the no-huddle is going to be a likely boon for the passing game.  If the expectations about the offense this off season are correct, there will more of a passing oriented game involving returning guys like Brandon Kinnie and Kyler Reed.  But the impact to look for will be from new faces like Jamal Turner and Kenny Bell and often underutilized players like Tim Marlowe and Khiry Cooper (or not since he'll be playing baseball).  Since the defense will return to a more traditional base set versus 5, 6, or 7 defensive backs in game, airing it out to test out this year's safeties and corners should be expected.

Last April, the duo of Burkhead and Taylor had a split of 15 rushes to 10 passes.  It was a small sample size to judge against.  The playbook was meant to utilize the rushing threat these two posed without giving too much of the plan away.  The entire team had 63 rushing attempts versus 44 passes attempted in the game.  That should have been clue number one that Cody Green's long passes to Niles Paul and Will Henry were not the expectation of the direction of the offense.  If on Saturday Taylor Martinez ends with a run/pass split similar to the totals for the team, expect no quarterback controversy this year until maybe Bubba Starling comes along.  And also expect that run/pass ratio to be close to 50/50.

One defense last year, it was a concern for the fans to see the running game take liberties with the front four rotation.  It was initially thought to be the result of Ndamukong Suh's missing contribution.  This year, if there is a close to even split between Red and White rosters, the front four should have more experience and depth to handle the running game.  Now that the more experienced portion of the defensive backfield graduated, eyes will be on whether they can stop the newly minted push to attack the defense.

With all the balance showing up and multiple looks expected on both sides of the football, for some reason this seems to be the first off season Bo Pelini must feel like he has the team he wants.  But one thing will be certain this year, the judgment after the game on Saturday will be on what happens in the air.