Here’s what I’ll be watching in Nebraska’s Red-White Spring Game

To Nebraska’s credit, Saturday’s Spring Game will look a lot like football.

Quarterbacks will be live. Actual tackling. No goofy, confusing scoring. Fifteen-minute quarters. Some special teams.

There will be a lot of moving pieces on Tom Osborne Field this weekend. Lots of rotating. Lots of new faces. A different looking offense. A different looking defense.

Here’s what I’ll be watching:

For those following along with our Journal Star podcast, “Life in the Red,” and our HuskerExtra podcast, “The Showdown,” this isn’t much of a surprise. I’ve been high on Scott’s addition since he committed to Nebraska in December.

Nebraska needed a center, due to Trent Hixson’s graduation. On paper, Scott’s a perfect fit. The roster says he’s 6-foot-5, 300 pounds, but I’d venture a guess that he could be taller than that. A three-year starter at Arizona State, he has plenty of experience at both the center (11 games) and right tackle (17 games) positions.

Since arriving at Nebraska, he’s been solely working at center, he said earlier this week. And, after an injury scare to his ankle a few weeks back, he is good to go for Saturday’s Spring Game.

Scott included, Nebraska has just 13 scholarship offensive linemen this spring. That’s a low number for Nebraska. How will Nebraska circumnavigate that on Saturday?

It’ll look weird, but they’ll be wearing a different color jersey and play for both the Red and White teams.

Additionally, some of them could get significantly more snaps than their teammates at other positions. The walk-ons, like Keegan Menning, Joey Mancino, Ezra Miller and Dylan Parrott, could get plenty of work, too.

I’m not the only one who will be watching Scott on Saturday.

Scott’s mom, Renee, is from Columbus, and that side of the family is expected to be “packing in the stadium pretty deep” for the spring game, Scott said.

“They’re really excited to see me in red, that’s for sure,” he added.

Thomas Fidone hasn’t played meaningful minutes in a meaningful football game since he was in high school at Lewis Central in Council Bluffs, Iowa. Needless to say, the third-year tight end is ready to make his mark on this offense.

Originally, coach Matt Rhule was going to limit him this spring due to Fidone’s repeated serious knee injuries, but Fidone ended up winning out there, Rhule said a few weeks back.

“Fidone is kind of one of my guys. I really like the guy,” Rhule said. “He’s so competitive, he’s so driven. Sometimes when you’re driven it drives you all over the place. Like, you just can’t stand when it doesn’t come right away.

“That’s what I love about him. I’m a little bit wired that way. The best players I’ve been around are wired that way. I’ve tried to limit him even more than we’ve limited him and he fights me every time. So I just love his competitive nature.”

Of course, the natural question is: How much will Fidone play Saturday? How much of that will be route-running, as opposed to run blocking? Tight ends don’t usually get a ton of limelight (unless your name is Travis Kelce, George Kittle or Rob Gronkowski) and Nebraska has plenty of tight ends who need reps, so it’s unclear just how many plays he’ll be making on Saturday.

One of those other tight ends: Arik Gilbert.

There are plenty of questions with Gilbert, but none of those pertain to his skill set.

For one, he needs a transfer waiver to play in the fall because he’s played for two teams already (LSU and Georgia), but Rhule is optimistic that Gilbert will be able to play for NU this year.

But that doesn’t have anything to do with Saturday.

The Huskers have been encouraged with what the 6-foot-6 Georgia native has shown thus far.

“(He’s a) freak, man. He’s super gifted. Very, very, very good kid,” offensive coordinator Marcus Satterfield has said of Gilbert. “Flashes at times when he does things. It’s mind-boggling to be that big and move your body like that. So really excited where he’s going off the field and on.”

Like with Fidone, you wonder how many snaps he’ll get and how much of that will be in a play-making role versus blocking.

There are still plenty of question marks pertaining to how exactly this defense is going to look, especially as it pertains to the defensive end/edge rusher/outside linebacker spot.

One player, of many, I’ll be watching will be Georgia transfer linebacker MJ Sherman.

He’s a high-energy guy, something that’s evident from his play-making style to his media interviews. He’s fast and has the ability to make flashy plays.

Same sentiment holds for fellow linebacker Chief Borders, a transfer from Florida.

Between those two, and new defensive end AJ Rollins, I expect them to make some splashes on Saturday.

Yes, I’m the weirdo who is looking forward to what the special teams units have to offer on Saturday.

No, it’s not eye-popping to the average fan, but special teams is where Nebraska has the opportunity to make the most growth from last year to this year.

Nebraska was one of the worst teams in the country last season in kick returns and had the fewest amount of punt returns last year. Just knowing special teams coordinator Ed Foley’s track record, I doubt that remains the case.

Of course, how much punt and kick returning will there be in a spring game? Who’s to say? Rhule was mum on details regarding special teams play for the spring game. But if it happens, I’ll be watching out for it.

How does returning punter Brian Buschini look? For a significant chunk of last season, he punted while injured. Naturally, you’d think a healthy Buschini will be even more effective.

The quarterbacks are going to be live Saturday. Yes, live. There’ll be tackling and actual scrambles.

Regardless of who is under center/in the shotgun, I’m going to be paying attention to how they run. Both Rhule and Satterfield have spoken at length about the importance of not just the designed quarterback run, but being able to extend plays with their legs.

The coaching staff isn’t shy about how high they are on Kearney’s Heinrich Haarberg. Other than him, eyes will naturally gravitate to Jeff Sims.

Former head coach, assistant coach and fullback Frank Solich is making his return to Memorial Stadium on Saturday.

In addition to the on-field halftime ceremony, there is another Solich-related announcement coming. I have to imagine it’ll be related to naming something after Solich … perhaps a room or something in the new football facility? Of course, I’ve been wrong before.