First Day Notes

So spring football has officially kicked off in Lincoln and a few details slipped out of Stadium Drive.

From the LJS:

· The first-unit linebackers early in the practice appeared to be Blake Lawrence (BUCK), Phillip Dillard (middle) and Latravis Washington (weakside).

· Pelini spent the lion's share or the time with the defense although he did pay a momentary visit to the offensive side of things.

· Major Culbert was working with the safeties.

Certainly nothing earth-shattering, but it beats nothing.

From the LJS and other internet sources (read premium information I can’t share verbatim) comes word that the defense is already flying to the ball. This is good news indeed and seems so simple. Were they honestly coached to avoid flying to the ball previously?

Said Dillard: "Out there on defense today, every play he's yelling, 'Run to the ball.' Everybody, d-line and everything. 'I want you running 10 yards to the ball, no matter what, fumbles, draw play, anything. I want everyone sprinting to the ball every single play.' If you're not, you're going to hear from him.'"

Husker sophomore Niles Paul said he noticed an added intensity in the defense.

"The defense was flying to the ball, picking up fumbles, dropped passes, they were picking them up and taking them to the house," Paul said.

Husker Illustrated's premium site also had a photo gallery from the first day. The general consensus seems to be that the players have slimmed down during the off-season. The most noticeable changes appeared to be with Phillip Dillard and Quentin Castille.

Slimmer and quicker is almost always better in my estimation. I assume these guys retained, if not built strength and simply shed unneccessary body fat or "bad" weight.

In other unverified internet news, your fastest Husker is apparently this guy:


That would be transfer walk-on from Ohio Matt Donahue. Donahue reportedly ran a 4.35 electronic 40 during pre-spring testing.