Huskers Hit With Injury Bug as Season Opener Nears

Nebraska is set to clash with South Alabama for their season opener on August 31st in about two weeks. So it wasn’t a necessarily good sign on Friday morning for the Huskers, as they had to hold out about a dozen players from their situational scrimmage.

NU head coach Scott Frost said that most of the injuries were minor, however at least one of the injuries was a season ender. Senior offensive tackle Christian Gaylord picked up a knee injury earlier in the week that will keep him sidelined for the entirety of the 2019 campaign, Frost told reporters on Friday.

Having played in 33 games in his Husker career, the Baldwin, Kansas native is one of the top reserves on the offensive line. However, Frost still feels comfortable with the options he has on the offensive line, despite the injury.

“Some other guys are playing well,” Frost said. “Obviously, you never want that to happen to anybody and you feel for Christian (but) we have some other guys doing some good things, too. Those guys are just going to have to step up and be ready.”

Frost also said that redshirt freshman linebacker Luke Reimer is “banged up.” The walk-on has had a good fall camp. He’s caught the attention of both his teammates and coaches. Defensive coordinator Erik Chinander said earlier this week that Reimer has displayed an impressive work ethic.

“He’s wrong a lot, but dang it, he finds the football,” Chinander said. “He embodies the ‘desire to excel and no fear of failure.’”

Frost mentioned as well that sophomore quarterback Adrian Martinez was a limited participant in the scrimmage, putting him in for just a few series and situations.

With the amount of injuries, Frost had to turn to his young players to pick up the slack and in that regard; Frost was pleased with their performance.

“The young guys did a pretty good job,” Frost said. “The young guy scrimmage that it turned into was a lot better than what I saw last year.”

In other news and notes from practice:

• Defensive tackle Jahkeem Green isn’t full speed yet, as he’s not yet able to practice in full pads. The Highland Community College transfer just joined the Huskers this week. Chinander said on Tuesday that Green could push for a starting spot right away.
• A big 10 crew officiated the Husker’s practice today. Frost said that the players picked up too many penalties and made a few other mistakes, like running out of bounds when they needed to bleed off more clock, but Frost liked what he saw in the scrimmage for the most part.
• Frost is pleased with the depth he has on offense. Frost praised the backup quarterbacks, calling true freshman Luke McCaffrey’s understanding of the offense “elite.” Frost also praised the walk-ons. Besides Reimer, Frost said that sophomore offensive lineman Trent Hixson has a “chance to be a starter” and senior running back Wyatt Mazour “keeps getting better.”

(Photo – Kenny Larabee)