Just ahead of Nebraska's big showdown with the Washington Huskies, the NU got some very good new on the injury front. The latest Big Ten availability report showed that most of the players that were either listed as doubtful or questionable since Wednesday are now ready to go with only linebacker Vincent Shavers Jr. even still long the report and listed as "probable."
With this new report, two players the Huskers had hoped to get back this week, Riley Van Poppel and Isaiah Mozee are both ready to roll. Neither player was listed on Friday's report. The news is especially good for the Blackshirts who were without RVP for the last two games.
The defensive lineman had just started to look as though he was really grasping Nebraska's new defense under Rob Aurich when he suffered an injury and missed both the Indiana and Oregon contests. Considering both those games were settled by one score, Van Poppel's absence was absolutely felt.
Isaiah Mozee's name no longer being on the availability report means that a banged up running back room is at full strength. Mozee only had one carry against Indiana and just 4 against Oregon. However, he was the only back who really busted out for any sort of long run against the Ducks. Unfortunately, he was hurt in that game and at the time, Nebraska thought he would miss "quite a while."
Riley Van Poppel and Isaiah Mozee cleared as Nebraska football gets healthier for Washington
As it turns out, all he needed was the bye week to get himself together and get ready to go for what is the biggest game of the year for the Huskers so far.
There is still some bad new on the injury report. Offensive lineman Gunnar Gottula popped up on the availability report on Thursday as "out." Gottula suffered a concussion against the Ducks and it appears that he wasn't fully recovered as the week went on.
The other piece of bad news isn't a surprise. Starting safety Jamir Conn has been ruled out all week, but the Huskers have had some problems at the position. Conn, like other starters of late, has missed quite a few games and there was some hope he'd be able to play against Washington.
Still, on Saturday, Nebraska will have a number of pieces that could help carry it to a victory that would not only snap a two-game losing streak and make the Huskers bowl-eligible, but also make a statement.
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