Receivers happy to have expanded role in NU offense

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BY BRIAN ROSENTHAL

You'll likely never again hear 61,000 Nebraska fans cheer so loudly after a Joe Dailey incompletion.

On the first play of Saturday's Red-White Spring Game, the Husker sophomore quarterback stepped back and fired the ball about 50 yards downfield toward tight end Matt Herian.

The ball fell to the ground. The sun-splashed, red-clad crowd roared.

"It was there," Herian said of the pass. "We just missed by a little bit."

The record spring game crowd at Memorial Stadium didn't seem to care. The fans were simply happy to see coach Bill Callahan's West Coast offense wasn't just all hype.

It's reality.

"They loved it," sophomore receiver Mark LeFlore said. "It's all they've been hearing about. It's been in the papers, it's been on TV. And today, they kind of had a chance to (see)what we're doing."

So the fans were happy. Well, so were the receivers. Eleven of them on Saturday, to be exact.

That's how many Huskers caught Dailey passes - 29 catches, total, for 241 yards in the Red team's 35-6 victory.

"That's the offense," first-year offensive coordinator Jay Norvell said. "We want to spread it around, and we want to make the defense defend the whole field. We want to get all of our guys involved. We feel like we have a lot of playmakers, a lot of guys who are capable of catching the ball, making plays."

Guys such as Herian, who finished with five grabs for 46 yards and a touchdown.

"I like this offense," Herian said. "It spreads it out, and a lot of players are having a lot of fun with it."

Guys such as Ross Pilkington, who led the Red team with six catches for 61 yards. Four of his grabs were on third- or fourth-down plays, including his 12-yard touchdown reception on fourth-and-1.

"He has very good athleticism and continues to make plays in the clutch," Callahan said of Pilkington. "He's a go-to guy that you can rely on when you need a play, whether it's on third down, or whether it's a first-and-10."

Guys such as LeFlore, who had a mere three catches for 33 yards but said he hasn't been this happy in a long time.

"And I didn't have that great of a game today," LeFlore said. "We didn't do everything as crisply as we would've liked, but we were out there, we made plays, the line protected, Joe made good reads. That was just something the coaches wanted to see. We could've done better, but it went relatively well.

"It's just nice to see Coach open it up a little bit for us."

Norvell said the Nebraska receivers - who played Saturday without injured sophomore Isaiah Fluellen - have been adjusting to the new offense slowly, but surely, just like the rest of the offensive players.

"They're learning the system, they're understanding the adjustments," Norvell said. "That's one of the biggest changes, is that they have to read coverage here now. Each route has an adjustment versus different coverage."

Said LeFlore: "It was hard at the beginning, but over time, the repetitions, the routes ... we're getting it all down. Ithink the receivers are doing a good job of getting the plays down."

As expected, the backs were as involved in the passing game nearly as much as the wide receivers and tight ends. Running backs Cory Ross and David Horne caught three passes each, and fullbacks Dane Todd and Steve Kriewald each had one reception.

"You like to distribute the ball as much as you can,"Callahan said.

Fans didn't see everything. Callahan held back much of the shifts and motion that the West Coast offense entails.

But, as advertised, there was more passing. The 49 attempts and 29 completions by Dailey are both more than Nebraska has ever had in any regular-season game. And you'll be hard-pressed to find a time when more than 10 Huskers caught passes in one game.

So heck, why not cheer for one incompletion?

"That was exciting," Norvell said. "That was great to see. We want to get our kids excited, have them have fun about it, and Ithought it was great that Bill decided to do that the first play."

Reach Brian Rosenthal at 473-7436 or brosenthal@;journalstar.com.