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First peek at the New Nebraska
by cindy lange-kubick
The red kingdom sat down. The whistle blew. The center snapped the football.
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| Rick Weinert of Papillon-Lavista catches some rays while taking in the Husker's Spring Game Saturday at Memorial Stadium. About the new offense Weinert observed, "It's just what I expected; a lot of fun. There's something going on all the time."
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And the football went up.
A pass?
A pass!
A pass on first down?
"We all just about fainted," said LaDonna Alley, who watched with her husband, Mark, from the 50-yard line at the annual Husker Spring Game Saturday.
And?
"We liked it," Mark said.
The Alleys joined 61,415 other Husker fans on a blistering April afternoon for the unveiling of the New Nebraska.
Introducing Coach Bill Callahan and his West Coast offense -
So thrilled were the fans they cheered that first - incomplete - Joe Dailey toss.
In fact, nearly every time the ball took flight, the stadium ooohed.
"You would think we were playing Oklahoma today," said John Anderson, associate athletic director for ticket marketing.
But the question is: If the red and white teams were playing Oklahoma, would they win?
"It was a little sloppy," said Madison Graham, who came to the game in a Spider-man costume and left before halftime.
"The defense is obviously ahead of the offense," said Duane Wichtner, who watched from the sideline.
"I'd say the offensive line is suspect," his buddy, Robert Curran, 20, agreed.
Not everyone stuck around to evaluate all four quarters.
Jason Malousek and his friends left before halftime to head for the lake.
The four UNL grads gave the Huskers a 3.0 on a 4.0 scale.
"They've got to get better receivers and quicker routes," said Malousek, 28.
Dailey needs more reps, some said.
Dailey looks good, others insisted.
"I think Joe Dailey is hot," said Londa Vencil of Waterloo, who left after the first quarter with her Alpha Phi daughter.
"We weren't really watching the game," Brianne Vencil explained.
Oh, well.
It wasn't a game, really. Nebraska beat Nebraska, no big surprise. But Jack Fox drove 400 miles from Mitchell to bear witness to the new offense.
"It looks all right," the retired high school football coach said.
"You see it on Sunday all the time - might as well see it on Saturday, too.
"If I was coaching anymore, I think I'd put it in, too."
Fox shared a bench in the west stadium with Carol Straub of Beatrice and Ron Vogel of Lincoln.
"I think it needs some work," said Straub, a season-ticket holder since 1962. "But it's going to be interesting in the fall no matter what."
The band played, the fans stayed in the game and the players felt the love.
"It was so exciting," receiver Ross Pilkington said. "I felt like we were playing a game.
"I'm so happy to have the support of all the fans with all that's gone on the past year."
Those who showed up Saturday, weren't living in the past.
Time to move on, they said.
Except, maybe, for Tanner Podraza and Cody Liss, two 11-year-olds from Columbus who were passing the pigskin on the field during halftime.
They love football, the boys said. But they thought they liked the "Tom Osborne" offense better than the "Bill Callahan."
In just less than two hours, the highly touted scrimmage was over, and 61,000 sweaty red judges left the stadium.
"Has a Nebraska quarterback ever thrown 50 passes in a game?" 26-year-old Chris Johnson of Omaha asked his dad, Don, as they headed for their car.
"Never," the elder Johnson replied.
The glory days of the option are over, the Johnsons said.
"It's exciting again," Chris said.
Reach Cindy Lange-Kubick at 473-7218 or clangekubick@;journalstar.com. Sports editor John Mabry contributed to this story.
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