Nebraska football dealt another offensive blow with departure of Greg Bell
If the loss of Tyjon Lindsey wasn’t bad enough, the Nebraska football team has just lost its second-string running back just ahead of the Wisconsin game.
Just when you thought the Nebraska football team was going to escape with only one player leaving during the first four weeks of the season, we got more bad news. JUCO transfer running back Greg Bell is reportedly leaving the program as well.
The news is hardly shocking. There had been talk that Bell had not handled the fact that he lost the starting running back job well.
He had just two carries against Purdue. At the same time, anyone who shrugs their shoulders and decides this isn’t that big a loss is fooling themselves.
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Rivals was the first to announce the apparent departure of Bell, who started the year by rushing for 104 yards on just 13 carries against Colorado. He ran for 64 yards on 14 carries against Troy.
Since the Huskers have started Big Ten play, Devine Ozigbo has taken over the reins as the starting back. While Bell and Ozigbo tended to alternate drives in the first two games, Bell has had just eight carries in conference play.
The timing is not a surprise either. Had Bell gotten even one carry in the game against Wisconsin, it would have meant he had used up his year of eligibility. Thanks to the new redshirt rule, he can transfer to another program and still be a junior next season.
Despite the fact that he lost the starting job, Bell is still a talented runner who would have been a good backup for the rest of the season. The decision is also a bit odd, because there’s no doubt he would have had the inside track for starting running back next season, as Ozigbo is a senior.
The departure is also a bit of a blow simply because Scott Frost and company are hemorrhaging talent at the moment. Going back to the beginning of the fall, the Nebraska football team has lost a starting caliber quarterback, two starting-caliber running backs, and a receiver which provided solid depth to the group.
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Bell’s departure is quite a bit different from the others. While some had dismissed Gebbia, Lindsey and the others as being Riley recruits who never bought in, Bell was one of the first recruits that was hand-picked by Frost and his staff to come play for the Nebraska football team.