Red-White Game Will Be the Real Deal, or Close to It

Matt Rhule outlines plans for Saturday’s spring finale

Author:
Joe Hudson
Updated:
Apr 22, 2023 9:45 AM EDT
Original:
Apr 20, 2023

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Nebraska Cornhuskers

A traditional football game, or something close to it. Quarterbacks who are fair game for contact. Four 15-minute quarters. No vanilla play-calling.

That's what's in store Saturday for Nebraska's Red-White spring game, head coach Matt Rhule said before the team's Thursday evening practice.

"We gotta get good at playing football," Rhule said, "so we’re going to go play."

It will be a "work day" for the team and staff. "We're trying to learn how to win, and there's an ebb and flow to a football game that I think is really important as you react to the situations," he said.

"I need to figure out which quarterback or how many of the quarterbacks can go move us in the fall," Rhule said. "And the defense needs to figure out if they can tackle a mobile quarterback."

There will be some things you don't see on fall Saturdays. NFL clock rules will be in force, which will reduce the number of plays somewhat. Offensive linemen are in short supply, so they will wear gray jerseys and rotate between teams. There might be some modifications with special-teams plays.

Rhule acknowledged the temptation to keep as much of the playbook under wraps as possible in order to "surprise Minnesota with something," but he said the Huskers would not be vanilla on either side of the ball. "We're going to run our plays on offense and defense."

Thursday night's practice is the 14th of spring ball. The 15th and final one will be the Red-White game, which kicks off shortly after 1 p.m. CDT with a BTN telecast.

Refresh this page for the latest additions from Thursday's press conference, which also included players Isaac Gifford, DeShon Singleton and Bryce Benhart. Asterisk indicates item may require a subscription. Go here for the HuskerMax discussion.