Notebook: Don't put stock in spring games ... seriously

Last year, 61,000 Nebraska fans cheered wildly when Joe Dailey overthrew the tight end on the first offensive play of the spring game.

Ramonce Taylor and the Longhorns enjoy celebrity status from the diehard Texas fans. (AP)

The pass, at least symbolically, signaled a change in Nebraska's ground-based philosophy. Huskers everywhere were lathered up over the Bill Callahan's new scheme. Dailey threw a spring school-record four touchdowns that day.

The reality was it was still the spring game. Nebraska finished the regular season 81st in passing offense, Dailey didn't complete half his passes, and Nebraska had its worst season (5-6) in four decades.

Another reason spring games should come with a disclaimer: Putting any stock in their results can be hazardous to your outlook.

Their real worth might be only public relations. Fans get to tailgate in March or April, meet players and at least act like it's game day. At USC, it's a friendly get together called the "Trojan Huddle," complete with a garage sale of old athletic items.

If you want hard-core football, a spring game is not the place to watch.

"Hopefully we'll be able to have a game and let those guys get out there and play," said first-year Illinois coach Ron Zook, "(but) you're not game planning. You're just doing your base stuff."

Most spring "games" are well-controlled scrimmages. Quarterbacks can't be hit. No rush on the punter or kicker. That's assuming there is punting and kicking.

Florida State's Bobby Bowden is probably still kicking himself for allowing quarterback Dan Kendra to be hit and tear up his knee in the 1997 spring game. Kendra sat out the year and returned in 1998 as a fullback.

While he was at Kansas, Minnesota coach Glen Mason used a convoluted scoring system that allowed the defense to compete with the offense by scoring "points."

There's evaluation, sure, but a spring game is also a time for a third-string tailback -- a stunt double for the stud starter who is resting on the sideline -- to run for 200 yards.

At Nebraska, it was that great PR tool. Callahan trotted out his new offense for an adoring crowd. The O turned out only to be a reasonable facsimile of the one seen in the spring game. Nebraska's offense scored 17 points or fewer in four games and Nebraska was 104th nationally in pass efficiency.

So why stage these almost-faux events? Well, they do count toward the 15 spring practices allowed by the NCAA.