Huskers Looking for Young Playmakers to Step Up Against Colorado

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Nebraska will be down a starting receiver for Saturday’s Colorado game and for the rest of the season.

Husker football head coach Matt Rhule confirmed Monday that Isaiah Garcia-Castaneda tore an ACL in last week’s loss at Minnesota.

Who will need to step up?

“It’ll be those young guys," Rhule said. “We got Jaylen (Lloyd) in and got him on the reverse (against Minnesota). Hoping Malachi (Coleman) can help us. Obviously we’ll have Marcus (Washington) now back full time, so it’ll just be all hands on deck. We used Heinrich (Haarberg) last game a little bit so we’re just going to have to go with the guys that are there and trust and believe that they’ll make the plays.”

He said he hopes to get wide receiver Billy Kemp and tight end Thomas Fidone more involved as well. Neither player caught a pass against Minnesota.

The defense will be tested Saturday by new coach Deion Sanders’ Buffaloes. “They’re going to attack you on the perimeter. They’re going to take 10 deep ball shots a game. They have the guys. They can go down the field and their ball skills are elite. They have a quarterback that can make those throws. It’s really a perfect storm and perfect hire.”

Rhule said he “wasn’t surprised at all“ by Colorado’s success Saturday in its 45-42 win at TCU. Sanders, he said, has “won at everything he’s done in football. He’s won as a player. He’s won as a coach. ... His poster was on people’s walls for a reason as a player. He is one of the hardest-practicing, hardest playing people who’ve ever played the game. So why would we think his team wouldn’t be the same?”

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