Cam Lenhardt entered the Nebraska football season with a chip on his shoulder. The defensive lineman demonstrated once again on Saturday just how badly he wants to prove that he can be an impact player for the Huskers. Even if it means playing just days after a surgery that might have kept most players on the sideline.
The junior defensive lineman played 19 snaps with a cast on one of his hands in NU's 68-0 win over the Akron Zips. Despite wearing that cast, Lenhardt still managed to tie the Huskers' team lead with three tackles (along with DeShon Singleton, Rex Guthrie, and Kade Pietrzak), adding 0.5 tackles for loss in the blowout victory.
Nebraska football defender Cam Lenhardt returns from surgery to lead team in tackles
After the game, Nebraska football head coach Matt Rhule talked about Lenhardt's toughness. He said that Lenhardt had surgery earlier in the week, practicing on Tuesday on no food, and then returned to practice the following day after his procedure that night.
"When people ask me about year three, it has nothing to do with me," Rhule said. "It’s about guys like Cam." Rhule was talking about the expectations that a program under Rhule hits a high point by his third season.
Rhule, in turn, was pointing to the toughness of his players, over his own accomplishments, as to why Year 3 is usually so successful.
"We just have to continue to find ways to get Cam, Williams (Nwaneri) and Kade (Pietrzak) on the field," Rhule said. "It is one of the things I thought Terry (Bradden) did a great job of this week, as did John (Butler). We had a lot more packages to play more guys."
The next few games for the Nebraska football team will be an interesting watch. Against Houston Christian, Cam Lenhardt won't be able to prove much. The week after, against Michigan, the defensive lineman will get to show what Year 3 really means.