Four Walk-ons Earn Scholarships

Lincoln - The Nebraska football team completed its 13th of 15 spring practices with a two-hour workout in full pads under the sunny skies and 75-degree temperature at Memorial Stadium on Wednesday afternoon.

The Huskers will hold another practice on Friday at 4 p.m., before concluding their spring workouts with the annual Red-White Spring Game at Memorial Stadium on Saturday at 12:30 p.m.

Head Coach Bill Callahan announced Wednesday that four walk-on members of the football team have been awarded scholarships to continue their athletic and academic careers at Nebraska.

Sophomore offensive lineman Brandon Koch (Gothenburg, Neb.), sophomore safety Shane Siegel (Grand Island, Neb.), junior tight end Dusty Keiser (Norfolk, Neb.) and junior cornerback Kellen Huston (Ankeny, Iowa) earned scholarships because of their commitment, performance and dedication both on and off the field.

Brandon Koch

Shane Siegel

Dusty Keiser

Kellen Huston

Those awards are indicative of what we believe in the value of the walk-on program here and the tradition of it," Callahan said. "We want to see that last and keep it going."

Callahan said Husker fans attending the Spring Game on Saturday can expect to get a good taste of the new West Coast Offense being installed this spring.

"We are going to try and get in as much as we can," Callahan said. "We’re going to open up. We’re not going to hold much back. The only thing we are going to hold back on is a lot of the different things that we are doing with shifts and motions and things of that nature."

Offensively, Callahan said the team continues to work on the transition to the new style, and he would like to see more strides made as cohesive unit.

"I’ve seen progress in the individual drills. I’d like to see more progress as a team functioning as a unit away from their coaches when we’re moving the ball on the offensive side," Callahan said. "The guys have worked hard. We’re really in a transition right now on offense. We’re gaining and we’re making strides offensively in our ability to learn the system and do better in isolated instances. We’re still not there yet."

Callahan said that the performance of the defense has been impressive and continues to improve daily in practice.

"Defensively I see a lot of initiative and a lot of guys making plays. I see the performance level on that side of the ball really elevating," Callahan said. "That’s an exciting thing. It’s something that they’ve been known for around here and they’ve capitalized on that. They’ve maintained and improved it during the spring. I see us getting better on defense. I think Coach (Kevin) Cosgrove has done an excellent job and the entire defensive staff of energizing that defense and getting them on the right page."

All-America offensive linemen Aaron Taylor and Aaron Graham were two of several former Huskers in attendance at Wednesday’s practice. Taylor was a two-time All-American at guard and center and the 1997 Outland Trophy winner, while Graham was an All-American in 1995 and has spent eight successful seasons in the NFL. Both players also played on national championship teams at Nebraska.