Football: Green will play; green he'll wear

[bronco1]

Published Thursday    April 16, 2009

Football: Green will play; green he'll wear

BY JON NYATAWA

WORLD-HERALD BUREAU

LINCOLN - Saturday's spring game isn't shaping up to be the best indicator of what kind of team Nebraska will field next fall.

Quarterback Cody Green passes during practice.

It's likely to prompt questions rather than provide answers, since several key playmakers will stand on the sidelines,

the play-calling will be basic and coaches will mix and match first-teamers to create a competitive product.

But coach Bo Pelini says Saturday's 1 p.m. game will be productive, and maybe a little entertaining for the thousands

of football-starved fans expected to cram into Memorial Stadium.

No secrets will be revealed, but it will serve as the second-year staff's final attempt to evaluate its team without

damaging its plans for the fall.

"We're going to let guys go out there and compete," coach Bo Pelini said Wednesday. "Go out there and play football,

run and tackle and see who steps up."

On Omaha.com: Chat live with World-Herald Husker football writers during Saturday's spring game Quarterback

Kody Spano, a legitimate contender to back up Zac Lee next fall, will not play and could be sidelined into next

season because of a knee injury he suffered Monday.

The quarterbacks who do play Saturday will wear green no-contact jerseys. Nebraska's highly touted true

freshman - Cody Green - will play, but he's not going to be encouraged to display his on-the-run athleticism much,

Pelini said. Green injured a hip in the weight room before spring practice.

Green, Lee and Latravis Washington will get reps at quarterback, Pelini said, though he didn't indicate how they

would split those up.

I-back Roy Helu's tweaked hamstring will keep him out of action Saturday, meaning the first Memorial Stadium

appearance of the stronger and quicker Helu will have to wait until the fall. The team's leading rusher would probably

play if it were a regular season game, Pelini said.

Linebacker Blake Lawrence, a starter for much of the spring, is likely out with a concussion. The team's second-leading

returning receiver, Niles Paul, has been suspended since Monday after a weekend arrest. Khiry Cooper, the athletic

redshirt receiver, is playing baseball.

The Red and White rosters have been set, but were not released Wednesday. According to Pelini, the two teams are

pretty even and for the most part, he doesn't expect players to be swapping sides too often.

"It's not 1s vs. 1s," Pelini said. "There's going to be some 1s on both. We tried to match guys up."

The kicking game will likely resemble a real game and there aren't any plans to keep the clock running through normal

breaks, Pelini said.

No matter the game's structure, Pelini expects it to be a fun day for the players, who'll get the rare chance to play in

front of a near-capacity crowd in the middle of April.

Performing in that atmosphere never hurts, according to junior tight end Mike McNeill. All of the attention makes players

approach it like a game, he said.

"I think just executing (is important) . . . just doing the right thing, nailing your assignments and playing ball," he said.

[KFDM COOP]

Good luck to him!!

[silentassasin]

Yeah, I can't wait to see him play on Saturdays.