Nebraska’s Micah Mazzccua ready to provide an instant impact

Thanks to his deep, booming voice and powerful 6-foot-5, 325-pound frame, Micah Mazzccua is a player who’s hard to overlook.

It wasn’t always that way, though. It was only six years ago that Mazzccua was a high school lineman dreaming of earning his first FBS offer — one that eventually came from hometown school Temple and coach Ed Foley.

Mazzccua wouldn’t end up playing for the Owls, nor would he cross paths with Matt Rhule at Baylor — but he always stayed in touch with one of the first college coaches to believe in him. That relationship is what led Mazzccua to transfer to Nebraska for his final season of college football.

“Coach Rhule’s always been that guy; he’s always had his roots deep in Philly and he’s always been close to my family, so it was like an easy choice,” Mazzccua said.

It was a near-miss for Mazzccua and Rhule at Baylor, where the lineman played from 2020-22 while Rhule spent time in the NFL. A heavily sought-after transfer portal entrant last season, Mazzccua said he was “really close” to coming to Nebraska when it “felt like home” on his visit, but things didn’t align between him and the Huskers as he landed at Florida instead.

One year and 11 games started later, Mazzccua was back in the portal — and there was no question about where he was going.

“Everybody wants to be great and Coach Rhule, he brings a lot to the table for me, so that’s why I’m happy I’m here,” Mazzccua said.

The Nebraska coaching staff is also happy to have Mazzccua in Lincoln. The other key contenders for Nebraska’s starting spots at guard, Justin Evans and Henry Lutovsky, played extensively in 2023 but have just nine career starts between the two of them.

Mazzccua, on the other hand, has started 21 games over the last two seasons while playing in the Big 12 and SEC.

“I ain’t scared of nobody,” Mazzccua said of his mentality. “There’s good players out there, but I’m thinking like, ‘They gotta deal with me.’ That’s how I feel and that’s the attitude I want our O-line to have.”

Despite his incoming experience, there was no guarantee of a starting role waiting for Mazzccua when he arrived at Nebraska. Instead, it was quite the opposite as Rhule and offensive line coach Donovan Raiola pushed the incoming transfer to adapt the program’s standards and grow from them.

That advice and motivation came across both privately and publicly, with Rhule saying in the spring that Mazzccua had “a ways to go in terms of understanding the standards here.”

That message quickly hit home with the senior Husker, who’s worked since to meet his coach’s expectations.

“Me and Coach Rhule talk almost every other day privately, so I already know what he wants me to do,” Mazzccua said. “(He’s) challenging me just wanting to make me better, so I don’t really get mad or get angry.”

Mazzccua’s coaches have recently struck a different tone about his efforts as the Huskers go through fall camp.

Offensive coordinator Marcus Satterfield said Mazzccua is a “very physical” lineman who can “move people at the point of attack,” while Raiola said earlier this month that the senior is “becoming a part of the brotherhood.”

As for Rhule, the Husker head coach has seen the veteran lineman respond well to his challenge.

“I’ve been really blunt about Micah, and I like where his head is at and where his practices are at; Micah is having a good camp,” Rhule said.

Thanks to his previous pedigree, renewed enthusiasm and obvious physical gifts, Mazzccua has a strong chance of being one of Nebraska’s starting guards this season. Mazzccua said he feels like he’s ready to go physically and mentally, even if there is some stuff to “tighten up” prior to NU’s Aug. 31 season opener against UTEP.

Like many of his coaches and teammates, the offensive lineman has big expectations for what he and the Huskers can accomplish together this fall.

“I just want to win games however it comes,” Mazzccua said. “I know that we gonna be very solid and we ain’t flinching and we ain’t scared of nobody.”