Jamal Rule’s name on the Thursday availability report for Nebraska wasn’t surprising, as he’d been on the list since Wednesday night. However, the Huskers seem to have a bit of a problem at running back, now that another name has popped up on that list.
Jamal Rule is still listed as doubtful for Saturday’s game against Maryland. However, in Thursday’s release, running back Mekhi Nelson also made the report and was listed as questionable. These reports don’t say why they're keeping players out, doubtful, or questionable, so right now there’s no way to know what happened to Nelson on Thursday, but that appears to be when he suffered an injury.
The latest availability report means Nebraska could be out its top two running backs against the Terrapins, hardly ideal for a program looking to start the season 5-0 for the first time since 2016. At the very least, it’s unlikely that either Rule or Nelson will be 100% for Saturday afternoon’s contest.
Nelson may have been banged up all week, but his lack of improvement forced the Huskers to list him on Thursday. Offensive coordinator Dana Holgorsen talked up third-string running back Isaiah Mozee earlier this week, highlighting the work the former wide receiver has put in to keep learning his new position.
Jamal Rule doubtful, Mekhi Nelson questionable as Nebraska football backfield thins out
"We've been talking about it since Day 1 of camp, you're going to need them all, so get them all ready," Holgorsen said on Tuesday. "I thought practice Monday night, Ike (Mozee), he looked the best that I've seen him look with the things that we were doing with him last night. They're just going to continue to develop as young running backs."
At the time, it just sounded like a coach singing the praises of a player who hasn’t gotten much action outside of mop-up time this year. In retrospect, it looks like Holgorsen was preemptively trying to tamp down any nervousness once fans saw who might not be available in Week 5.
Rule and Nelson aren’t the only key offensive cogs listed on the report. Wide receiver Jacory Barney is also injured and questionable for Saturday’s game. Barney, like Rule, departed the 31-13 win over Michigan State early.
This week is the first time all year that Nebraska has had so many significant offensive players in danger of missing a game. It’s certainly poor timing, even if Maryland is coming off a 54-3 loss to UCLA last week.
The coaching staff has gone out of its way this week to point out that the bad loss doesn’t mean the Terps will be a pushover. They become much more difficult if NU can’t rely on three of its better tools in the toolbox.
So far this year, Rule leads all freshmen in the sport with 333 yards and a 7.9 yards-per-carry average, along with 6 touchdowns. Nelson is second among NU running backs with 227 yards and 2 touchdowns. Barney is second on the team in receptions with 16 for 222 yards and 2 scores. He’s also been the team's main punt returner. He’s returned 9 punts for 58 yards with a long of 17.
Nebraska will release two more availability reports before its 3 p.m. game on Saturday. The next will arrive Friday night, and the final will be released Saturday morning. Here’s hoping all three players improve quite a bit between now and then.
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