7:49 p.m.: Nebraska's head coach confirmed after practice Wednesday that senior offensive lineman Mike Smith broke his leg during Tuesday's workout. Smith is out for the season.
Smith, from Las Vegas, had been occupying several spots -- center, left tackle, left guard -- on the offensive line so far in camp. And although it was possible that he'd end up as the primary backup to junior center Mike Caputo, coach Bo Pelini told reporters Wednesday that redshirt freshman Cole Pensick was officially the No. 2 guy when Smith suffered his injury.
So ultimately, from a personnel standpoint, Pelini said the Huskers should be able to replace Smith.
“We still have great competition,” Pelini said. “Really, not much has changed. Mike was kind of a swing guy. We were moving him to a number of different positions. So really, not a lot has changed.”
But losing Smith does strip NU of its most experienced offensive linemen.
Smith's played in 39 games since redshirting in 2006. No Husker lineman has more starts (26) than Smith. Obviously, he will be missed.
Here are a few other notes from Pelini:
> The Huskers practiced inside the Hawks Center for the second straight day, a cooler setting that Pelini said makes it easier for his players to focus. According to Pelini, the decision to move indoors was unrelated to Monday's heat-related hospitalization of junior offensive lineman Jermarcus Hardrick.
> Speaking of Hardrick, Pelini said the 6-foot-7, 320-pounder will likely return Thursday. Hardrick is in the mix to start at left tackle.
> The players wore full pads for the first time in preseason camp Wednesday. Not to say that they weren't productive before, but Pelini's encouraged about what his team accomplished with its normal gear on. “It's back to real football again.” … Well, almost. Pelini said players aren't tackling each other just yet.
> After five days of camp, Pelini still isn't giving away any hints about the ongoing battle at quarterback. He said the top three candidates -- Zac Lee, Cody Green and Taylor Martinez -- are even. Then, he warned that he'd be giving the same boilerplate response to QB-related questions for a while. “This could go on for a long time,” he said.
Copyright ©2012 Omaha World-Herald®. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, displayed or redistributed for any purpose without permission from the Omaha World-Herald.
RSS Feeds