Since the Huskers touched down in Orlando, there have been a few players missing, a new coach filling in, and a couple homecoming for a few players, and staff members.
At Wednesday’s practice Bo Pelini said that tight end J.T. Kerr was no longer with the program. Other players missing were offensive guard Andrew Rodriguez, and Joshua Mitchell. Pelini said on Monday that Rodriguez was nursing an injury and stayed in Lincoln. He did say that Mitchell had returned to California, and was dealing with family issues. He said Mitchell is still on the team.
Pelini Gives the Scoop On Staff
With defensive line coach John Papuchis getting promoted to defensive coordinator, and the Huskers hiring Rick Kaczenski as the new defensive line coach from Iowa. Pelini had still not named who would take over Papuchis’ duties as special teams coach, and recruiting coordinator.
On Monday Pelini named linebackers coach Ross Els as the new special teams coach.
“Ross Els is going to be the special teams coordinator for sure, but not for this game,” Pelini said. “Like I said though we are pretty far along in it and he’s pretty heavily involved in special teams any way.”
On Monday Pelini said that he was not sure about who the new recruiting coordinator would be.
“We are not changing much right now for this class and how it’s worked,” Pelini said. “We’ve kind of had our plan and how it’s worked and we are just finishing out the plan for this year. We’re going to evaluate it.
“We’ve got a couple of guys on staff I’m considering using on it. I haven’t quite figured it all out how we are going to do it. I didn’t really want to do much with it right now because we are so far into this year. Going forward we’ll sit down and figure out what we want to do.”
Footballscoop.com reported that wide receivers coach Rich Fisher would be named the recruiting coordinator.
Home Coming From Beck
Offensive coordinator Tim Beck comes back to the state of Florida, and looks at it like a home coming.
Beck played quarterback, and punter for Central Florida. He graduated in 1988.
Beck also coached at Miramar High School, Miramar, Fla. as an assistant coach from 1988 to 1989.
Injury Report
Since arriving in Florida the biggest hole to be filled on the team is sophomore guard Andrew Rodriguez. Head coach Bo Pelini said that Rodriguez did not travel with the team. Rodriguez has been battling a foot injury. Pelini said they decided to keep Rodriguez in Lincoln to avoid aggravating the injury even more.
The good news is that both Brent Qvale and Brandon Thompson have both traveled with the team and will be available for the bowl game. Qvale and Thompson have both been battling their own injuries.
Tight end Ben Cotton suffered a shoulder injury against Penn State, and has been in a protective arm brace on his injured arm.
“Just like a lot of competitors out there, it’s really hard to sit out a game and watch the guys go through the battles, the hard times and the good times, without you,” Cotton said. “I’ve been happy to help the guys every way that I could, but I’m happy the most to be able to get back out there this week.”
One interesting note is on the first day of practice, sophomore quarterback Taylor Martinez said he was dealing with a soar ankle.
“For the past two weeks (his ankle) has been really good and right now I feel 100 percent,” Martinez said. “I should be good for the game.”
By Jimmie Allen
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