Red beats White in Husker football spring game, 21-16

Not very often is a loss written off as a growing experience in college football.

But in Saturday's intrasquad spring game, defeat was inevitable for half the Cornhusker team. With that in mind, quarterback Cody Green said the opportunity to fine-tune the offense made his White team's 21-16 loss more bearable.

"It went well," Green said. "We got to go out there and basically executed the things that (Offensive Coordinator Shawn) Watson and the offensive coaches wanted to be executed. On both sides of the ball, offense and defense, we just really went out there and competed."

Green stated his case for the starting job by passing for 155 yards and a touchdown and completing seven of his 15 passes. After becoming the first Husker to start at quarterback as a true freshman since 1991, Green said he's starting to feel more comfortable running the offense. He said having that firmer grasp on the college game allows him to focus in more on the plays at hand.

"I went up there today and kind of just had tunnel vision," he said. "It was just me and the other 21 guys on the field that I really just cared about and zoned in."

But with a competitive performance by redshirt freshman Taylor Martinez and with incumbent starter Zac Lee still sidelined with an injury, coach Bo Pelini said that the position is still up in the air.

"Everyone is in the race for the starting job," Pelini said. "There are no starting jobs locked down right now."

As he evaluates a deep field of contenders, Pelini said there were positive signs but also problems on Saturday from Green and Martinez.

"I thought they did fine," he said. "They did some good things; they did some things they need to work on. I thought they managed the game pretty well.

"I thought right across the board at the quarterback position we progressed."

Green's longest pass of the game was in the second quarter when Will Henry beat cornerback Lazarri Middleton for a 72-yard touchdown catch. After picking on Prince Amukamara for most of the game, Green said he lit up when he saw Middleton drop his coverage.

"That was a gift that for a quarterback, you've got to love those dropped coverages," Green said. "Hopefully you can find it and put the ball on the receiver because for a quarterback, your eyes get as big as bowling balls."

Martinez threw the game's lone interception but tossed touchdown passes to Tyler Legate and Brandon Kinnie and was also the game's leading rusher.

Watson said he saw positive signs out of both Green and Martinez.

"There were some really good things I saw both of them do," Watson said. "Taylor's talent is obvious as a runner and he did a great job running the ball.

"Cody I thought did some really good things in the passing game — made some good decisions, made some nice throws."

Martinez's touchdown throws had the Red team up 14-3 late in the second quarter before Green answered with his pass to Henry, pulling White to within four points.

White team kicker Adi Kunalic added two field goals in the second half to give his squad the lead before Kody Spano hit Ryan Hill for a one-yard touchdown catch to clinch the game for Red in the fourth quarter.

With 110 days elapsed since Nebraska's Holiday Bowl win and 138 days until the 2010 season opens against Western Kentucky, Pelini said his team still has plenty to work on.

Still, he said it was a productive spring.

"You're never satisfied," he said. "I thought there were a lot of things we need to get cleaned up. There were some disappointing things in there, some things I saw that were good."

On the defensive side, Rickey Thenarse starred with seven tackles and an interception. Defensive tackle Jared Crick, who recorded two tackles of his own, said he was pleased with the defensive line's approach in its first outing without The Associated Press National Player of the Year, Ndamukong Suh.

"I think we did well," Crick said. "We just stick with the system, and that's the main goal of spring, just to learn the defense and play within our scheme."

In a game where the losers and winners share a locker room, learning schemes and perfecting techniques is key. Perhaps nowhere was that clearer than under center, where Green, Martinez and Lee all hope their mastery of the offense will land them the starting job.

"It's still Zac's job to lose," Green said. "We all know that. We've got to give him a chance to get in there and compete with us."

Green said he hopes to parlay his spring growth into more success and playing time, because next time he takes the field, a loss will have more severe consequences.

"We had a heck of a spring," he said. "We went out there and basically had 15 games because we went out there and just got after it. We're just going to keep doing that throughout summer and fall camp."

MITCHSMITH@DAILYNEBRASKAN.COM