LINCOLN -- No matter how you slice it, it's difficult to get too excited about spring football games.

If the Red and White teams are divided evenly or the coaches would elect to play No. 1s against No. 1s and No. 2s vs. No. 2s, you often end up in a virtual stalemate situation. Those affairs are typically low-scoring -- and not so impressive to the nearly 60,000 fans and 80-some recruits who came to Memorial Stadium expecting to see a show.

So with coach Bill Callahan, Nebraska's spring game offers the other option: Varsity against the JV. Sure, at least one team looks "pretty," but it holds all the drama that many of you may recall playing as freshmen or sophomores during their high school's soap scrimmage the Friday night before the season opener. With that in mind, it makes it difficult to judge performances by the front-line players.

But Callahan seems to prefer it that way. His philosophy: With only 15 spring practices -- including the spring game -- building confidence and continuity for the No. 1 units is more important than dividing the teams in a way that would probably make for a less lopsided game.

That's certainly Callahan's right. However, we can thank goodness for a running clock in the second half. It was the best decision of the day.

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