ESPN College Football

Offense will be the main attraction at Texas Tech this spring, as perhaps is too often the case. But this time, the focus will be on how much of Mike Leach’s unorthodox style will be kept by new coach Tommy Tuberville.

He says the style will be the same, but will the wide offensive line splits remain, along with outings of 60-plus passes so common in the Leach era? The likely answer for the spring is yes, but if losses pile up in September or October, will the status quo remain?

If not, senior running back Baron Batch (884 yards, 14 TD in 2009) will be a fine candidate if Tuberville decides to hand it off a bit more than the man he replaced.

Tuberville will team up with offensive coordinator Neal Brown, a 29-year-old spread offense enthusiast from Troy who coordinated the nation’s No. 3 offense (485.6 yards per game) as the youngest offensive coordinator in the FBS. The Trojans were also fourth in the nation in pass yards at 336.5 per game.

New defensive coordinator Tim DeRuyter has everyone in College Station buzzing after his arrival from Air Force. Texas and Oklahoma lost a handful of stars on both sides of the ball, and a solid defense could help land the Aggies in the Big 12 Championship.

Texas A&M gave up over 60 points on two occasions last season, and over 40 points in three other games. No surprise then, that the Aggies were last in the Big 12 in scoring defense by almost five points. Improving on that will help A&M’s talented offense translate into more than six wins in 2010.

DeRuyter’s 3-4 scheme will likely be built around hybrid defensive end/linebacker Von Miller, who returns for his senior season as the nation’s sack leader. As a junior, he logged 17 sacks, and improving on that number will be a difficult task in the fall. But for the spring, Miller and the rest of the defense will focus in fitting into a brand-new scheme with their eyes set on the program’s third appearance in the Big 12 title game.

Texas receivers will have plenty to prove during the Longhorns’ spring practices, which kicked off last week, the first of any team in the conference.

All-American Jordan Shipley is gone, and Texas has a cluster of receivers who will fight for spots through the spring and, most likely, next season. But if any of them want to begin separating themselves from the pack, now is the time.

James Kirkendoll (48 rec., six touchdowns) has the most receptions among the group of four returnees who caught at least 30 passes last season, but didn’t catch a ball in the Big 12 or national championship games. Though you can’t ignore his drought came after grabbing 23 passes and five touchdowns in the four regular-season conference games preceding his drop-off.

Malcolm Williams, Marquise Goodwin, John Chiles and DeSean Hales are among the others who could emerge in the spring. One who won’t? Third-leading receiver Dan Buckner, who caught 45 passes last season but transferred to Arizona in January.

Oklahoma State will break in nine new starters on defense this spring, but for defensive coordinator Bill Young, that could be a positive.

Last season, Young strung together a solid season, ranking fourth in both total and scoring defense in a conference with three of college football's best defenses in Nebraska, Oklahoma and Texas.

This season, he’ll get another year with players in his system at his alma mater, and when fall arrives, he’ll be able to employ the services of players he recruited personally that better fit that system, like defensive linemen Davidell Collins and Diamonte Wheeler.

On offense, quarterback Alex Cate packed his bags, leaving 26-year-old former minor league baseball player Brandon Weeden as the likely replacement for Zac Robinson. But Weeden’s status is based almost entirely on one half of play in a Thursday night win over Colorado, and a big spring performance by early enrollee quarterback Johnny Deaton of Sand Springs, Okla., could threaten that status.

For Oklahoma, the spring will be all about freshman potential turning into sophomore production for one of college football’s best defenses a season ago.

Linebacker Ronnell Lewis looked like he’d perfected his impression of a bullet train on special teams in December’s Sun Bowl, plowing over kick returners on a couple occasions, but El Paso wasn’t the only place he showed his ability to hit. Lewis made mop-up duty his playground last season in the Sooners’ blowout wins.

Cornerback Demontre Hurst drew compliments from Bob Stoops as soon as fall camp began, and looked ready to start in just his first season for Oklahoma, which now must move on without both of last season’s starting cornerbacks.

Linebacker Tom Wort missed all of last season after tearing his ACL, but drew similar compliments as Hurst before injuring his knee.

Adding those three to a solid core in linebacker Travis Lewis and defensive ends Jeremy Beal and Frank Alexander should result in yet another possibly dominant season for the Sooner D.

Defensive tackle Jared Crick had an impressive junior season (73 tackles, 9.5 sacks), and as the Huskers’ leading returning tackler this spring, he’ll be out to prove he can do it again without Ndamukong Suh drawing double and triple teams. Junior defensive tackle Baker Steinkuhler, who came to Nebraska as ESPNU’s No. 10 offensive tackle, will likely draw the giant task of replacing the Heisman finalist.

At 6-foot-6 and 285 pounds, Crick is hardly an underdog up front, and received plenty of attention for his efforts last season, even with Suh tossing around ball carriers and collecting trophies. This season could be a tougher task for Crick, who entered 2009 with just three career tackles.

Even without safety Larry Asante, linebacker Phillip Dillard and Suh, Nebraska coaches say the Blackshirts could be just as dominant as they were in 2009. But if the Huskers want to bank on a return to the Big 12 title game, the offense must improve.

If Crick and the rest of the defense can keep giving the offense short fields to work with like they did all last season, they could help accelerate that improvement.

Missouri returns 18 starters, but of the four who won’t return, none was more costly than Sean Weatherspoon.

Replacing his vocal leadership might be more important than replacing his 111 tackles, an on-field task that might be undertaken by sophomore-to-be Donovan Bonner.

Blaine Gabbert gained plenty of respect by staying on the field through a painful ankle injury last season, and could likely earn one of the captain slots come fall.

But Weatherspoon has been the unquestioned leader of the team for two seasons, and leaves behind a much bigger hole than even the almost 1,800 receiving yards receiver Danario Alexander amassed last season. (By the way, Alexander calls his latest knee injury a “bump in the road.”)

Outside of Gabbert, a group of experienced candidates like running back Derrick Washington, cornerback Carl Gettis or linebacker Andrew Gachkar, all seniors, could step into a leadership role this spring.

Another summer spent locked in the weight room could secure a role as a captain once fall arrives.

Grant Gregory’s graduation gives way to a three-way quarterback battle in Manhattan between Carson Coffman, Chris Harper and Sammuel Lamur. Coffman opened last season as the starter, but was relegated to the bench after three games by coach Bill Snyder in favor of Gregory. Gregory, of course, lost the initial quarterback battle, and there's little to suggest the starter in the spring or fall will still be the starter in December.

Harper, a speedy Oregon transfer, could find a position elsewhere on the field if he loses out to Lamur or Coffman.

He could inject some excitement into a Wildcat offense that loses Brandon Banks, so no matter the outcome of the quarterback battle, expect Harper to find his way on the field somehow.

Harper threw nine passes at Oregon before citing Snyder’s return as a reason to move closer to his hometown of Wichita, Kan.

Coffman didn’t make it off the bench for the final five games of the Wildcats’ season, and he’ll be ready to chase the starting job once again.

Lamur is a JUCO transfer who, if nothing else, talks a nice game.

What do I want to see this spring? How about everything?

Turner Gill will give a first look at how he and coordinators Carl Torbush and Chuck Long run their program, and will no doubt be watched closely after Mark Mangino’s resignation amid allegations of player abuse.

On the field, sophomore quarterback Kale Pick will look to cement a spot at starter, but JUCO transfer Quinn Mecham arrives with 40 touchdowns last season at Snow College in Utah on his resume.

Though once fall arrives, Gill might not have to pick, and Kansas could very well employ both Pick, a runner who averaged almost 12 yards per carry last season, and Mecham, a more precise passer.

Who catches those passes could be another question mark. Dezmon Briscoe and Kerry Meier are gone, and Johnathan Wilson, Bradley McDougald and Chris Omigie have to prove they're ready this spring. If they don’t, those opportunities might not be there long in the fall. Of Kansas' 18 signees in 2010, four are wide receivers.

Coach Paul Rhoads will have plenty of new faces on both sides of the ball to evaluate this spring, but they’ll all be new starters on his defense’s second line.

He’ll be replacing all three starting linebackers, including Jesse Smith, who anchored the second level of the defense with a Big 12-most 135 tackles.

Junior Jacob Lattimer and sophomores A.J. Klein and Jake Knott should enter the spring as the three to watch.

Knott appeared in all 13 games for the Cyclones last season, and leads the new trio with 23 tackles. Klein added 17.

It’s the older Lattimer who might have the biggest learning curve. He played in just five games as a sophomore, and made three tackles. Iowa State gave up over 165 yards on the ground last season (10th in the Big 12), so maybe some new faces in the linebacking corps might not be such a bad thing.

But it’s never easy to replace 135 tackles.

Rodney Stewart shared carries with former blue-chip recruit turned CU transfer Darrell Scott and Demetrius Sumler last season. After Scott denied rumors last month of a return to Boulder and Sumler left the program, Stewart’s spring could determine how many carries he gets in the fall after tallying 198 last season. Brian Lockridge and Corey Nabors are the only other two running backs scheduled to take part in spring practices, but Lockridge carried the ball just 12 times as a sophomore and Nabors is a former walk-on whose experience is mostly on special teams.

Junior quarterback Tyler Hansen showed flashes of greatness last season, throwing for more than 250 yards in three of the Buffaloes final four games, including 269 against Big 12 North champ Nebraska. This year, he’ll get to throw to Toney Clemons, a Michigan transfer who coach Dan Hawkins has lauded since Clemons’ arrival.

The chemistry between the two that begins this spring could determine how much damage Colorado can do in a Big 12 that should be stocked with solid defenses again in 2010.

An added bonus: All spring practices will be open, beginning with Saturday’s two-hour practice at 10 a.m. Just don’t get caught with a cell phone, pet or a camera, unless you’re also a fan of Hawkins’ bad side.

Robert Griffin’s return highlights Baylor's spring practices, but even an otherworldly effort next fall won’t matter if the Bears can’t replace a pair of All-Big 12 defenders. Senior Earl Patin is the most likely candidate to replace linebacker Joe Pawelek, and Jordan Lake’s strong safety spot is up for grabs after his career came to an end last fall.

Byron Landor and Mike Hicks will have to show they’re ready to compete against the top talent in the Big 12, and will also replace the graduated Jeremy Williams. If they’re not ready, ESPNU 150 recruit Ahmad Dixon, the nation’s No. 3 safety and a Waco native, could land pretty high on the depth chart when fall practice arrives.

However, it'd be dishonest of me to not admit I’m also looking forward to watching JUCO offensive lineman Robert Griffin (6-foot-6, 345 pounds) block for quarterback Robert Griffin. Only 20 more Robert Griffins to go until Art Briles has himself a terrifying juggernaut.