With college athletics on pause amid the COVID-19 pandemic, Nebraska held a virtual spring game online Saturday with more than 20,000 viewers tuned in across various platforms, the school’s athletic department said.
The simulation was held on the day the annual Red-White Game was scheduled to be played at Memorial Stadium, and the teams featured star-laden rosters from Cornhuskers teams past and present.
Quarterbacks Tommie Frazier, who led the Cornhuskers to the national championship in 1994 and 1995, and Eric Crouch, who won the Heisman Trophy in 2001, opposed each other, as did running backs Mike Rozier, who won the 1983 Heisman, and Ahman Green, who ran for 9,205 yards and 60 touchdowns in the NFL.
The first half played out as a virtual simulation, followed by a speech from former Cornhuskers coach Tom Osborne. The second-half plays were controlled by current Nebraska players Cam Taylor-Britt and Wan’Dale Robinson. The White team, led by Crouch and Green, won, 60-57, in overtime.
Notable players on defense included Ndamukong Suh, Trev Alberts and Prince Amukamara.
Current Nebraska coach Scott Frost, who also led the Cornhuskers to a national title as quarterback, in 1997, was not on the roster, as there were no reserves on either side.
2020 will be Frost’s third year as coach at his alma mater. The Cornhuskers, still trying to find their footing in the Big Ten Conference, are 9-15 in his tenure.