What we learned from college football's first wave of spring games

Spring football is the time for overreaction, for ignoring the box score, for big recruiting weekends and for ending — or beginning the process of ending — those pesky position battles that can define a team’s offseason.

About the box score: All yardage totals, good and bad, have little bearing on the upcoming fall. And about the overreaction part: This is college football. Were you expecting a more reasoned and balanced take on the comings and goings from spring drills? Maybe next year.

This isn’t to say there aren’t legitimate takeaways from this spring. Those position battles are one thing. How an offense or defense looks under a new coordinator is another. A third might be in how a returning starter fares at quarterback, or how a newcomer looks in his first trial in the starting role.

The first of a two-part breakdown of what to take from this spring peeks at a number of high-profile programs with goals of reaching the College Football Playoff. What have we learned so far?

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Beyond Ohio State’s passing game

There probably has been too much attention paid to J.T. Barrett and the Ohio State offense under new coordinator Kevin Wilson, even if that unit’s development might end up telling the story of the Buckeyes’ season. Instead, consider the rest of the picture.

OSU’s spring game might have revealed some inexperience in the defensive backfield, where three former starters are destined for the first round in this year’s NFL draft. Overall, however, the Buckeyes showed depth, talent and experience across the board — enough to remain a fixture in the hunt for the Playoff. In specific, the team’s defensive line and overall front seven will easily rank among the nation’s best.

But about that passing game: Ohio State tossed six touchdown passes of 18 or more yards in its spring game. If nothing else, that shows how Wilson’s vision for his scheme already has taken hold. Let’s see how Barrett and the passing game look come September.

New (Texas) and old (Houston)

Tom Herman hesitated to make any outright statements about his quarterback competition following his first spring game at Texas, even if incumbent starter Shane Buechele outplayed true freshman Sam Ehlinger. (It didn’t help that Buechele led the Longhorns’ first-team offense while Ehlinger led backups against the starting defense.)

In all, the top unit created enough explosive plays to warm the hearts of Texas fans eager to see some sort of offensive renaissance. So far, so good.

Meanwhile, at Herman’s previous stop, Major Applewhite and Houston are dealing with severe depth issues in the wake of the offseason coaching move. Such is life, unfortunately, and the Cougars might struggle at times in attempting to match their Herman-era success in 2017.

Florida State’s next great back

Dalvin Cook’s departure for the NFL is still a concern for Florida State, which made the future first-round pick a staple of its offense throughout his three years of All-America production. Maybe it won’t be so bad.

True freshman Cam Akers, an early enrollee, gained 87 yards on 10 carries and accounted for more than 100 yards of total offense in the Seminoles’ spring game, meaning the program may simply transition from one multiple-year starter to another.

Tough year coming for P.J. Fleck?

Fleck tore Western Michigan down to its foundation, winning just one game in his first season, before building the Broncos into the best program in the MAC. Whether he can do the latter at Minnesota is anyone’s guess.

But with a shocking lack of depth, little hope along both lines and no answer at quarterback, the Gophers’ spring painted the picture of a team headed for a downturn before climbing its way back up the ladder in the West Division of Big Ten.

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A positive sign for Michigan

Quarterback Wilton Speight had a miserable spring game, completing just nine of 26 attempts for 78 yards while his presumed backup, redshirt freshman Brandon Peters, looked very much the part of a former top-tier recruit. Speight clearly needed to rediscover a comfort level in the pocket; if not, Peters, or maybe even former Houston transfer John O’Korn, might leap to the top of the depth chart in August or September.

But let’s focus on one major positive: Michigan’s new-look defense, a concern as a result of returning just one starter — yes, one — showed promise in its 2017 debut. While it’s wise to take all spring results with some degree of skepticism, the rapid growth of this defense under coordinator Don Brown is the Wolverines’ most positive development heading into the summer. There’s obviously no shortage of talent. All that’s missing is experience.

Supporting QB Darnold at wide receiver

All mentions of Southern California’s offense begin and end with sophomore quarterback Sam Darnold. A closer look at the Trojans’ spring revealed a potential issue at wide receiver, where USC must replace its two leading targets, JuJu Smith-Schuster and Darreus Rogers. The starring role previously held by Smith-Schuster now falls to Deontay Burnett, who had his coming-out party in the Rose Bowl.

Developing a complementary piece and depth will be crucial before the opener. If healthy, Steven Mitchell will be a cog in the rotation. (After another knee injury, his availability is in question.) Jalen Greene and Josh Imatorbhebhe will get their touches. But the biggest story might be the handful of redshirt freshmen in the mix, led by Velus Jones and Tyler Vaughns.

Nebraska’s very good day

A general look at Mike Riley’s tenure at Nebraska sees a program still struggling to find its way to the top of the Big Ten West Division. A closer look reveals a program making significant moves forward in a push to regain a place in the championship hunt. In a few distinct ways, the Cornhuskers’ spring game illustrated this progress.

Quarterback play will be dramatically improved. Projected starter Tanner Lee, formerly of Tulane, showed touch and awareness in showcasing the full range of Nebraska’s passing tree. While the defense remained vanilla — the Cornhuskers played their cards close to the vest — new coordinator Bob Diaco represents another immense upgrade. And in recruiting, the coaching staff reeled in verbal commitments from a number of impressive players in the class of 2018, headlined by one of the nation’s premier defensive prospects in cornerback Brendan Radley-Hiles.

HIGHLIGHTS FROM SPRING GAMES