Nebraska Cornhuskers are waiting for De’Mornay Pierson-El to emerge
De’Mornay Pierson-El was supposed to be the Nebraska’s special weapon in the passing game this season. However, a preseason injury has Pierson-El excited to be back on the field in recent weeks. Though he hasn’t had an explosive return to the field, Pierson-El feels like his time is coming soon. Unfortunately, soon hasn’t come soon enough for a struggling Huskers’ offense.
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Hopefully it’s just a coincidence, but the Nebraska offense has been putrid since Pierson-El returned to the team in the Big Ten opener. Tommy Armstrong has had his worst two game stretch, and the Huskers haven’t surpassed the 130 passing yards in either conference game. It’s been ugly, and their (2-4, 0-2) conference record shows it.
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But, if you ask Pierson-El, things are looking up for the Huskers. According to Huskers.com, he’s close to getting back into peak playing condition. Whether it’s this Saturday, or in a couple of weeks, college football will see the electrifying player he became as a freshman.
“A couple days, a couple weeks maybe,” he said. “It’s not that far at all. It just depends on how practice and everything goes really. It’s just how much they let me in and certain things they let me do.” Saturday’s Minnesota game is the target, but, in essence, Pierson-El is “just looking at what I can do and what’s best for the team,” he said. “What they give me is what they give me. I can’t ask for more. That’s what their job is – to assume how much I can handle and everything like that. I have to show and prove myself at practice. I have to earn that right. I don’t think that’s something I can just say, ‘Give me more.”
De'Mornay Pierson-El
Pierson-El won numerous preseason awards, but those seem to be out of the question, unless he has record-breaking stats over the final six games of the season. During his first game against Illinois, Pierson-El made one catch for six yards. On Saturday, he made a bigger contribution to the offense. He caught two passes for 31 yards, while starting to display the nice moves in the open field. Still, Pierson-El couldn’t make anything happen on his first rushing attempt of the season.
Maybe expectations were a little too high in his comeback. Pierson-El never seriously considered redshirting this season, even though it may have been the correct move. After all, he practiced a whole day with the injured foot, despite feeling pain. Pierson-El admits that he felt some pain, but played through the injury anyway. He didn’t know how bad it was until an X-ray revealed a broken bone in the foot.
From Day 1, Pierson-El has had support from the entire Husker family. Tight End Cethan Carter dealt with the same injury twice. The most important advice he received was to be sure he’s ready to play before stepping on the field.
When Pierson-El is really comfortable on the football field, everyone will know. That’s when he’ll return to his punt return duties for the Nebraska Cornhuskers.