Nebraska Athletic Dept. recap: 2003 Red-White spring football game
Red Squad Records Shutout In Annual Spring Game
Courtesy of Nebraska Athletic Communications
Lincoln — Nebraska’s defensive units dominated the Husker offenses Saturday afternoon, as the Red squad took a 13-0 win during the 54th annual Red-White Spring Game at Memorial Stadium. The scrimmage, played in a light rain before 33,419 fans, culminated the 15-practice spring season, and gave the Red squad its third consecutive win. The 13 points tied for the lowest combined point total in spring game history and the shutout was the first since 1960 and only the fourth since the spring game began in 1950.
Husker defenses combined to intercept six passes, recover one fumble and hold the offenses to 458 total yards. More importantly, NU defenses only allowed the offenses six trips inside the 20, resulting in one touchdown.
The Red squad featured the No. 1 and No. 2 offensive units, while the White squad featured the top two defensive units. Quarterbacks Jammal Lord, Curt Dukes and Mike Stuntz were at the controls of the Red team, while Garth Glissman and Brett Lindstrom took the snaps for the White squad.
Lord and Glissman each threw for 78 yards to lead balanced running and passing games on both squads. The Red squad finished with 146 yards rushing and 149 yards passing, while the White team finished with 80 yards rushing and 83 yards passing. Ross Pilkington led all receivers with five catches for 67 yards. The White’s Marques Simmons led all rushers with 55 yards, including a long run of 25 yards. David Horne paced the Red team with 50 yards on 10 carries.
The Red team opened the game with a 16-play, 75-yard drive that ended with a 20-yard field goal from Dale Endorf. Horne ran for 27 yards on the drive that included a Judd Davies 2-yard rush on fourth and one, early in the drive.
Three of the next four drives ended in interceptions, including the first possession by the White squad. On White’s first play from scrimmage, the snap went directly to Simmons at I-back who lofted a pass for Glissman that was picked off by the Red’s Blake Tiedtke. The Red squad then marched down the field 33 yards and ended the drive with the game’s only touchdown, a three-yard run off right tackle by Cory Ross.
The White threatened on their next drive, taking the ball down to the 7-yard line before Dan Burrow intercepted a Glissman pass in the endzone.
Three plays into Red’s next drive, Barrett Ruud intercepted a Lord pass and returned it to the Red 7-yard line. After moving the ball down to the three, the White team’s Sandro DeAngelis missed wide right on a 21-yard attempt that would have broken the shutout.
Endorf missed his first field goal of the game on the Red team’s next drive, as his 44-yarder sailed wide left, and the Red team took a 10-0 lead into halftime.
In the first drive of the second half, Glissman was again picked off, this time by Derek Matteo, and it was returned 31 yards out of the endzone. Dukes returned the ball to the White team just six plays later, as Daniel Bullocks made a diving interception at the White 2-yard line.
Tyler Toline forced the game’s only fumble to end the next drive for the White squad, as he batted the ball out of Glissman’s hands deep in Red territory. The Red squad capitalized on Endorf’s second field goal of the game, a 22-yarder, with 11:03 left in the game.
The two teams crossed the 50 just once during the final 11 minutes, as the Red squad marched on an 11-play drive that ended in a 30-yard miss wide right by Endorf.
The Red stretched its series lead to 30-13-1, including a 6-1-1 record since 1996.