'Great First Scrimmage': Matt Rhule Recaps Nebraska Camp, Gives Injury Update

LINCOLN—Nebraska football coach Matt Rhule likes what his team's first scrimmage of the fall, but not all news is good from practice.

Rhule gave an injury update Saturday, which includes a pair of season-ending injuries for defensive back Blye Hill and linebacker Gage Stenger.

"Blye had that patella once before," Rhule said. "Unfortunately, reinjured the patella in a non-contact play a couple days ago. He was doing really well. He was playing really well. Our heart breaks for him.

"Gage Stenger, just the heartbeat, the epitome of what it means to be a Husker. A grinder and a guy that was going to play a lot of football, especially on the special teams for us. Hate that he also hurt his knee."

As for the scrimmage itself, activity had to be delayed 24 minutes because of the storms that rolled through the area. When the scrimmage was going on, Rhule said the offense was efficient with being able to both run and throw the ball well, but that comes with a caveat.

"When the quarterback's not live, sometimes guys are blitzing and running by and I'm saying, 'Stay off him'," Rhule said. "To stop a guy like Dylan (Raiola), you're gonna have to get to the quarterback and affect the quarterback, so there's probably a lot of players where guys are blitzing and they have to pull up."

Nebraska quarterback Dylan Raiola fires a pass during the Big Red Preview. | Kenny Larabee, KLIN

As for the quarterbacks as a whole, Rhule gave a little on each guy.

"Dylan was excellent; it's scrimmage one so we'll have to continue to grow but I thought Dylan was excellent in the situations," Rhule said. "Jalyn Gramstad's doing a really nice job. Really pleased with TJ Lateef. And then Marcos (Davila) and Luke (Longval) doing a really nice job.

"I think the quarterback room has done a really nice job of everything that you're doing."

Regarding special teams, Rhule said he's never enjoyed punt periods in his life, but that's changing.

"That's my favorite period in practice right now," Rhule said. "I just could watch Archie (Wilson) punt all day. I've never seen anything like it so it's like watching a YouTube Short. The guy's amazing at what he does."

Rhule said he was pleased with the field goal operation also.

"They've all done a really nice job," Rhule said. "When I look at it right now, I'm looking at the total operation. I'm looking at the snap, the hold, the kick. Kamdyn (Koch) is doing a fantastic job holding. The whole operation's been good. I don't even know if we missed one today."

Rhule said the left tackle battle between Elijah Pritchett and Gunnar Gottula is ongoing.

"I don't think we're close to being settled," Rhule said. "This is like your midterm. Next week's scrimmage is almost like your final, and you go from there."

From what Rhule has seen he in practice, he believes the running back room is much deeper than just Emmett Johnson.

"There's this misconception out there; we've got great backs," Rhule said. "If anybody doesn't think that we've got three great backs, then I can't wait for them to see these guys.

"(Isaiah) Mozee's a dude. Mekhi (Nelson) might be one of the fastest guys I've ever seen going from the first five steps. Now they have to go do it in the games."

Nebraska running back Kenneth Williams runs through a running backs drill during the Big Red Preview on Saturday. | Kenny Larabee, KLIN

Rhule also discussed Jamar Mozee, the importance of Kansas City for recruiting, "brilliant people" like John Butler, playing defense, the secondary, the defensive line, Javin Wright, and more. Video from his appearance is posted below. Continue scrolling for more coverage from Saturday.

Coverage

Nebraska Athletics | Rhule Addresses Media Following First Scrimmage
Omaha World-Herald* | Two Nebraska football defenders out for season with knee injuries
HuskerOnline* | Rhule Report: Recapping Nebraska's first fall scrimmage, Hill and Stenger out for the year
HuskerOnline* | Rhule says Nebraska's offense extremely efficient in preseason camp's first major scrimmage
Husker247* | A couple Huskers suffer season-ending injuries
Husker247* | Husker offense really efficient in scrimmage, with Rhule high on running backs and special teams operation
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