Coming into the Red/White Spring Game, there were a lot of questions that needed to be answered.
How would the defense look? Would senior quarterback Joe Ganz still have the form he had from the end of last season? How would senior Cody Glenn look in his first shot at linebacker?
One of the most emphatic answers on Saturday was to the question of the running back situation.
Over the past few seasons, the Cornhuskers have run anything from a two- to four-back system. If Saturday's show is any indication, the 2008 season might see the number at four once again.
Redshirt freshman Marcus Mendoza, sophomores Roy Helu Jr. and Quentin Castille and senior Marlon Lucky combined to be one of the biggest highlights of Saturday's game.
All of the backs offered something different. Mendoza showcased soft hands out of the backfield while Helu Jr. showed quick bursts of speed. Lucky was able to show off his field vision and instinct, while Castille exerted bruising force on anyone in his way.
The four backs may have their similarities, but it's the differences that had NU offensive coordinator Shawn Watson excited.
"It's been a part of my past," Watson said. "I've always been blessed and been lucky enough to be around really good tailbacks, and we think it's important to have that element. To be a championship team, you have to have a great defense and rush the football."
Ironically, one former Husker tailback will be able to say he can help NU with both of those ingredients. Glenn has shown he can rush the football, but decided to make a switch this spring to help NU on the other side of the ball.
The former tailback, who saw the field in each of his first three collegiate seasons, was able to get his first look from the other side on Saturday. Although the senior from Rusk, Texas, only recorded a few tackles on the day, he was always in the mind of his former competitors.
"It was definitely different," Castille said. "He's so physical on defense that he'll come up and hit you at any time, so we have to keep looking out for that."
Glenn wasn't the only physical player showing his presence on Saturday. As the first half of the game was winding down, the White team ran a play that had Castille run just left of center, with the line trying to fan their blocks left.
Castille found a seam and took it to create one of the biggest hits of Saturday's game. Junior safety Ricky Thenarse saw the play forming and made a charge to meet Castille at the line of scrimmage.
And meet they did.
Castille lowered his shoulder and knocked Thenarse straight down before continuing for about another five yards. After the game, Castille said there were no hard feelings.
"I don't want to put Ricky down because he's a good player, but I thought he was just going to fill a gap, but he just kept standing there," Castille joked after the game. "(NU Coach Bo Pelini) wants us to play physical all the time on offense and defense, so everybody needs to play physical."
The four Husker tailbacks used that mentality to combine for 186 total rushing yards on the day, with Helu, Jr. leading the charge with 69 yards on 16 attempts. Castille had 39 on five rushes while Lucky and Mendoza were close behind with 37 and 33 yards, respectively.
The competition is evident. Not all four backs can be on the field at the same time. Castille said that's not going to be a problem as long as the job is getting done.
"We just learned how to play together instead of playing versus one person. If one person is on the field, we cheer him on instead of hoping he does bad. We feed off each other. If one guy misses a play, we encourage them on the sideline."
spencerschubert@dailynebraskan.com
