Nebraska’s Neyor, Garcia-Castaneda ready to bounce back from ACL injuries

In the blink of an eye, everything Isaiah Garcia-Castaneda had been working toward for the past year was taken away from him.

Set to be one of the team’s top pass-catchers, the Nebraska wide receiver’s senior season lasted less than one game last fall, a torn ACL ending his campaign. After participating in summer workouts with his teammates, Garcia-Castaneda was fully cleared to return to practice ahead of fall camp.

“I knew from the moment I got injured that I was not done; that wasn’t even like a little thought in my mind,” Garcia-Castaneda said. “Throughout the rehab process, there were times that I had moments mentally where I was kind of like, ‘Man, am I ever going to get back?’ But making the decision that I’m going to come back from this, that was not an option in my mind.”

Now back and healthy, Garcia-Castaneda is ready to make an impact on the Nebraska offense this fall — and he’s not the only Husker wideout seeking to turn back the clock.

Just as Garcia-Castaneda is three years removed from the most productive season of his career — a 37-catch, 578-yard campaign at New Mexico State in 2021, so is Isaiah Neyor.

Neyor’s 2021 season was also the best of his collegiate career, having turned 44 receptions into 878 yards and 12 touchdowns at Wyoming. A transfer to Texas, ACL tear and lost 2023 season followed for Neyor, who’s scarcely seen the field across the last two seasons.

“Man, I’m so hungry,” Neyor said with a smile on Friday. “It was tough having to miss those two seasons, so as I was going through that I was just building up and building up, and now that I finally have the chance to come out there and compete at a stage like this, it’s just great. I’m super excited for the season and I’m excited for what we can do this year.”

It’s a major personal win for Garcia-Castaneda and Neyor to be back on the practice field — but how ready are they to slot into key roles in Nebraska’s wide receiver room? After all, Garcia-Castaneda has caught six passes over the last two seasons and Neyor has caught just one.

Wide receivers coach Garret McGuire feels both players are poised to make a difference. The time away from the field has allowed both players to focus on the other areas of their game such as knowledge of the offense, physical conditioning and leadership skills.

For Garcia-Castaneda, that’s shown up with major improvements in the weight room. After arriving at Nebraska as a 180-pound wideout, Garcia Castaneda put on 7-8 pounds last fall and has added another 10-11 pounds of muscle this offseason which brings him to a targeted playing weight of 198 pounds. He’s hit several new personal records in the weight room, too, such as 500-pound squats or 20 reps of 225 pounds on the bench press.

Because of the work Garcia-Castaneda has put in, McGuire said seeing the senior healthy and ready to play is of the “proudest moments” he’s had as a coach.

“That’s a lonely deal, you talk about getting hurt Aug. 31 (in) the first game of the year,” McGuire said. “You’ve got to go a whole year waking up at 6 a.m., doing rehab and you never know if you’re gonna get back.”

Garcia-Castaneda now has a different Aug. 31 date to think about — Nebraska’s upcoming season opener against UTEP. Playing time will be hard to come by in a wide receiver room the senior says is the “most talented room” he’s ever been a part of, but Garcia-Castaneda could bey a key option for the Huskers in the slot.

Building chemistry with Nebraska’s quarterbacks has been a key goal. Garcia-Castaneda has come away impressed with freshman quarterback Dylan Raiola, who he said is a “real natural” both as a player and leader with a “sense of confidence” about his on-field efforts.

Neyor agrees too, adding that the offense’s efforts “going great” as he goes through his first fall camp with Nebraska.

After overcoming the mental adversity from the ACL injury he suffered in 2022, Neyor said he’s grown stronger mentally. Physically, Neyor also feels “just as good if not better” than what he felt at Wyoming three years ago.

Alongside Jahmal Banks, Neyor has been a key fixture as the top wide receivers in Nebraska’s first-team offense thus far during camp. With a goal to treat every practice like a game, the 6-foot-4, 220-pound wideout’s hungry attitude has paid off in the form of consistent practice performances.

“Isaiah’s done a good job, he’s a big powerful target who can run all the routes,” head coach Matt Rhule said of Neyor. “He’s going to be a featured part of our offense.”

If Neyor carries over the same mentality into the season and remains healthy, there’s no reason why he and Garcia-Castaneda won’t be able to rewind the clock and become key Husker pass-catchers in their senior seasons.

“Our goal is to reset that standard every day and just believe in each other,” Neyor said of the Nebraska offense. “… I’m super excited for the season and for what we can do here.”