Nebraska Football: 10 Benchmarks for Spring Success

How can you tell if Nebraska is improving from last year in spring practice? There is the eyeball test, which most people will be using when they watch the spring game. There is the eternal optimism of fans listening to practice reports and getting excited about guys “having a great workout” and “giving 110 percent” and “really gelling as a unit” or any of the myriad clichés that will be trotted out between now and the spring game.

But one way to get an idea of a team’s performance is to look at the numbers. Sure, football isn’t baseball, but there are plenty of objective measures that can be used to analyze a team’s progress from game to game and season to season. So, as we await the spring game and listen to the practice reports, here are 10 benchmarks to keep your eyes on.

The Injury List Stays Where It Is

Nebraska has already had its share of injuries going into spring practice. And while improvement and player development in the spring is critical, the single most important number to achieve in spring practice is a zero on the “injuries that will affect players in the regular season” list. Last year, Alfonzo Dennard’s preseason injury threw Nebraska’s secondary into chaos. The year before, Sean Fisher’s injury pressed a then-unknown junior college transfer named Lavonte David into early service and …

Well, OK, occasionally an injury provides an opportunity for a transcendent talent to emerge. But that’s the exception. Nebraska will be much better served by avoiding injuries in the spring.

Hurrys and Sacks Go Up

The Blackshirts struggled in a number of areas in 2011, but one glaring area was an almost invisible pass rush. While the defense in scrimmages and the spring game certainly won’t be coming with the same kind of ferocity and creativity as they will in the regular season (particularly now that the spring game will be televised), seeing the pressure numbers increase will be a good sign of things to come for Nebraska.

Completion Percentage Improves

As Nebraska morphed into a run-first offense dominated by Rex Burkhead, defenses reacted in an attempt to take that attack away from NU. Taylor Martinez completed 56.3 percent of his passes in 2011, a decrease from his 2010 numbers. If Nebraska’s attack is to be more balanced, and make defenses play more honestly against it, the completion percentage number needs to go up.

Turnovers Decrease

In the Bo Pelini era, Nebraska has struggled with turnovers. There are a number of reasons to explain those turnovers, some of them being system oriented between Shawn Watson’s West Coast hybrid system and Tim Beck’s growing pains in a new position. But in year two of Beck’s offense, with Taylor Martinez starting his third year under center and with senior Rex Burkhead leading the offense, there should be no reason not to expect the turnovers to decrease.

Penalties Decrease

Bo Pelini’s teams are a reflection of their coach, demonstrating intensity, passion and aggressiveness. Unfortunately, those characteristics have also led to Nebraska being one of the more penalized teams in the country. With an offense that was prone to struggling and a defense that looked suddenly human, in 2011 Nebraska was ill-equipped to be giving up free yards to its opponents. While the hope is that NU improves both offensively and defensively, having Nebraska play a cleaner game and not give away as many yards to the other team would be an encouraging sign.

Burkhead's Contribution Goes Down

As the 2011 season wore on, Nebraska’s offense leaned more and more on Rex Burkhead. And as it did, Burkhead began to show signs of wearing out. Tim Beck has said backup running backs Aaron Green and Ameer Abdullah will be seeing more carries in 2012, and watching the distribution of those carries this spring will help tell if that goal will come true in the fall.

The Backup Quarterbacks' Production Increases

In his first two years in Lincoln, Taylor Martinez has never had legitimate competition for his starting position. In 2009, the coaching staff clearly did not have full confidence in Cody Green, even though Green was 4-0 in games he started. In 2010, Brion Carnes was said by the coaches to be well behind Martinez in practice, meaning that Martinez’s role as starting quarterback was safe.

That’s not good for any position, much less quarterback. If Carnes, along with incoming freshman Tommy Armstrong, can produce some good numbers in the spring, it bodes well for legitimate competition at quarterback in the fall.

The Play Clock Stays High

At times, Nebraska employed a no-huddle attack that was very effective. But at times, it seemed like Nebraska went away from that attack. Given that it was offensive coordinator Tim Beck’s first year in the position, it probably shouldn’t be a surprise that such a wrinkle wasn’t quite ready for heavy use by the Nebraska offense. But if year two of Beck’s offense can increase the usability of the no-huddle, Nebraska will add a potent offensive weapon to its arsenal.

Drops Go Down

Agreed, this is a corollary to the “completion percentage goes up” benchmark, but drops were a significant issue for Nebraska in 2011. Dropped passes were one reason Jamal Turner went from leading receiver to bit player in the offensive game plan. With an offseason to work on the issue, look to see how well Nebraska’s receivers are able to catch the balls thrown to them. The lower the drop number, the better for Nebraska’s offense.

Tackles by Defensive Linemen Go Up

Do you know what position led Nebraska in tackles in 2011? Not surprisingly, it was linebacker in Lavonte David. But a linebacker (Will Compton) was second in tackles, and two defensive backs (Daimion Stafford and Austin Cassidy) were third and fourth. In fact, only two defensive linemen (Cameron Meredith at fifth and Baker Steinkuhler at seventh) were in the top 10.

Some of that, admittedly, is schematic. But some of it is opponents being successful at getting to the second level of Nebraska’s defense. The more tackles a defensive line has, the more plays are stopped at or near the line of scrimmage. So, look for defensive line tackles to increase as a sign of increased defensive performance.

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