My Lord! Will Jammal ever play?

The color green, usually so welcomed during the spring, single-handedly ruined my Saturday at Memorial Stadium at the annual Red-White Game. I suspect it did the same for more than a few of the 30,000-plus on hand.

Green is not supposed to be a part of the Red-White Game, but the unwelcome third color was right there, on Jammal Lord's back in the form of a mesh jersey, guarding against injury for NU's No. 2 quarterback.

While green most often conjures up images of a fresh start, the color shackled Lord, who was reduced to running half-speed.

Still, Lord found a way to make the day interesting as he guided the No. 1 offense in the absence of Eric Crouch. The heir apparent to Crouch's throne managed to throw for 71 yards on seven of 11 passing and scrambled around for 4.2 yards per carry.

"I did OK," he said afterwards.

But it could have been so much more. Lord is ready for the big time. Nobody fits into his Adidas dancing shoes any better.

This Husker Broadway play will eventually become Lord's show. Because of the big green burden on his back, NU fans will have to wait another year to see just what this carefree signal-caller from Bayonne, N.J., is capable of.

Glimpses were all Big Red faithful caught in 2000, and the same can be said for 2001 of the sophomore quarterback.

Unless, Devaney forbid, Crouch goes down next season.

Is Nebraska ready to live the life after Eric? I think it is. My hunch is Crouch believes it, too, but wants Lord's emergence to hold off for just one more year.

Nebraska Coach Frank Solich said Lord had matured so much that the offense now knew no bounds with the backup calling the shots. Solich also commended Lord on his ability to read the defense and audible.

Lord is ready and primed for the spotlight. Just watching the lanky No. 10 get behind center is exciting because in the next five seconds, all hell could break lose. It's all so unpredictable with Jammal.

That used to be the problem. Lord came to NU as a pure athlete with raw throwing skills. He made a lot of mistakes and of course, there were these two guys named Bobby and Eric that stood in his way to Husker stardom.

So he worked. And he threw. And then he threw some more. He fought through rehabbing an injured knee. Lord's desire to succeed took over from that point. And then he threw some more - until that cannon strapped to his shoulder could be used in the proper manner - not that throwing well was ever a requirement for an NU quarterback.

A couple throws still get away and he might lose an option pitch here and there, but the next time he touches the pigskin will surely make the home crowd forget his transgressions. Fans love playmakers. They will love Lord.

Husker fans could give Lord little love on Saturday as he had to leave his arsenal of spin moves and most of his jukes at home. He was reduced to playing sandlot football against a defense he compared to last year's Oklahoma National Championship unit.

The display just wasn't fair to Lord as he tried to show the coaches what he could do. In the open field, Lord can make defenders look silly. But when the game is reduced to two-hand touch, more than half of the guys on fraternity row have a shot at bringing down Lord.

Damn the green.

But Lord will rise again. Next year he will appear in spurts (see TCU, Troy State, Rice and Baylor) and then disappear into the background again. Lord will reappear for good next spring at this very same time. It will be his team then and maybe, just maybe, we can catch a glimpse of 2002 on a mild spring Saturday - without the green.

Then, the real Jammal can rid himself of the shackles and fly.