You know it is a special day when Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas is an "honorary" coach on the sidelines (his wife is a graduate of Nebraska). Or how about the fact that over 250 former players showed up and were walking the sidelines, another "unofficial" record. A Nebraska record and second largest in NCAA history 80,149 fans showed up for this year's spring game, only Alabama 2 years ago had a larger crowd.

It didn't matter that the coaches wore shorts instead of slacks, or that the Red team defeated the White by a score of 24-14, (except to the players, as the winners dined on Nebraska corn-fed steak, while the white had to make do with hot dogs). No this game/glorified practice was more of a "feel-good" event. After last year's horrendous 5-7 season putting on your "Go Big Red" shirt and Chanting "Bo-Pe-Li-Ni" was more "chicken soup for the soul" than it was about cheering for the Huskers. The score did not matter, really even the play didn't either, "Every day, I see that indecision going away, and confidence is growing. We'll get there, but it's a process. The process is well underway, but it's not nearly finished," Pelini said.

Now don't misunderstand, there were plenty of good plays during the scrimmage, on the games very first play the white team ran an option right and defensive linebacker Tyler Wortman flew across the line of scrimmage hit the pitch by quarterback Patrick Witt and then fell on the ball. This play is significant because it is a defense, that just a year ago lost the right to refer to themselves as the "Blackshirts" because they only forced 12 turnovers the entire season a school record low, as well allowing opponents to score 49, 40, 41, 45, 76 and 65 points in different games last season. Saturday's scrimmage was not enough to say that the defense is ready to be released on the likes of Missouri, Oklahoma, Kansas or Texas Tech, but it wasn't like previous years, when Bill Callahan would stake his number 1 unit against the 2^nd and 3^rd string defense and try to imply that the team was ready and give you that "feel good" feeling all summer. Besides the first play of the game mentioned above, the defense forced 4 turnovers between the 2 squads. Pelini repeated that forcing turnovers will be a "Huge Emphasis" for his team. But enough of the defensive side of the ball, what did the offense do right on Saturday?

For one first team quarterback Joe Ganz completed only 4 passes; what? Well you see one of those went for a 77 yard touchdown, another for a 24-yard strike. Back up running back Roy Helu playing for the white squad had 69 yards on 16 carries and a 3-yard touchdown. All in all though, the offense stayed pretty plain vanilla under coordinator Shawn Watson, not wanting to unveil anything that could be helpful to opponents for next fall. Also in attendance for the scrimmage were more than 100 prospective recruits for next year. This group who got a thrill of a lifetime by being introduced to and running onto the field with more than 80,000 fans in attendance was thoroughly impressed. Nathan Scheelhaase a top Missouri quarterback from Kansas City was impressed that the fans came early stayed all game and way afterwards. Scheelhaase, listed at 6-foot-3 and 184 pounds, has offers from Arkansas, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska, Oklahoma, Ole Miss, Stanford and Wake Forest. He said the weekend makes Nebraska a contender no matter what happens throughout the rest of his recruiting. Scheelhasse was equally impressed with the fans knowledge, noting that many of them came up to him and called him by name and implored him to attend Nebraska.

A final note from Saturday's scrimmage, Dr. Tom Osborne and Bo Pelini unveiled the "Letterman's" wall on Friday April 18, 2008. This wall contains the name of every single Nebraska Cornhusker that earned a letter while playing varsity football at the University of Nebraska. The Lettermen display, designed by athletic facilities, spans nearly 90 feet and weighs just less than 6,000 pounds. With 2,013 former football Letter winners honored, the wall is comprised of 3,202 bricks. Each brick displays up to three names with the players listed under the year that they last lettered. Athletic Director Osborne said, "This display honors all those who earned a varsity letter while playing football for the University of Nebraska. It is located right outside the Tunnel Walk so that current players will pass by this display as they take the field for each practice and each game day. It has historical significance, honors a great tradition and connects the players of the past to the present and future." Now does anyone think this would have happened under the previous AD or coach?

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