• Video Below: See highlights of Jared Crick and the BRT show
• Photo Showcase: Check out photos from Jared Crick's career
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LINCOLN — The promising backups who have helped transform Nebraska's defensive tackle spot into one of the team's deepest position groups will now be relied upon to collectively replace a star.
Defensive tackle Jared Crick will miss the remainder of his senior season after tearing a pectoral muscle, NU coach Bo Pelini announced in a statement Wednesday.
Crick, a two-time All-Big 12 first-teamer and a 2010 All-American, was Nebraska's unquestioned leader up front — starting 33 of NU's last 34 games.
Without him, the Huskers will now be counting on a combination of senior Terrence Moore, sophomore Thad Randle and redshirt freshman Chase Rome to contribute at defensive tackle alongside junior starter Baker Steinkuhler.
“It is a tough blow for our football team to lose a player of Jared's caliber,” Pelini said in a statement, “but we have players that are capable of stepping up and filling the void.”
When Crick missed the Wyoming game with an undisclosed injury, Moore started in his place. Against Ohio State on Saturday, Rome substituted in for Crick when the 6-foot-6, 285-pound senior left in the fourth quarter. Randle has one of the team's nine sacks this year.
Building depth on the defensive line has been a recruiting priority for Pelini and his coaching staff since 2008. They have been openly pleased with the results, saying on numerous occasions this season that they've never had a comparable amount of D-line talent.
That was before Crick's injury, though.
Crick, from Cozad, Neb., decided against entering the NFL draft after the 2010 campaign, returning to Nebraska for a hype-filled offseason that included an appearance on the cover of Sports Illustrated.
His statistics this season — 22 tackles, three tackles for loss and a sack in five games — weren't on pace to match the eye-opening numbers he recorded as a sophomore and a junior, but his on-field performance this year was regularly praised by the Husker coaches.
Crick, who redshirted in 2007, will leave Nebraska ranked eighth on the school's career sacks list with 20. He also has 35 career tackles for loss.
Plus, according to Pelini, he was an example-setting player off the field.
“He is a young man who has represented this program in a first-class manner throughout his career,” Pelini said. “He made an unselfish decision to come back to Nebraska for his senior year and earn his degree, which he did this summer.
“He has also been a leader on and off the field and a young man who has made a positive impact in our community.”
Crick received an undergraduate history degree in August. He's also a two-time member of the Huskers' Brook Berringer Citizenship Team.
“Jared has a bright future in front of him on the field at the professional level,” Pelini said. “I know he will bounce back from this, and become a stronger player and person.”
Pelini initially told reporters on the Big Ten teleconference Tuesday that he expected Crick to rest during NU's bye week and return to the field in time for the Huskers' Oct. 22 game against Minnesota. But in his statement Wednesday, Pelini said “further evaluation” revealed the injury's severity.
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• Video: See the Big Red Today Show with Jon Nyatawa, Sam McKewon and Rich Kaipust:
• Video: See highlights of Jared Crick:
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