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Nebraska suffers season-ending injury along offensive line
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Nebraska tackle Teddy Prochazka has suffered a season-ending knee injury in practice, head coach Matt Rhule announced on Tuesday.
It’s a brutal injury on multiple fronts for the Huskers. The 6-foot-10, 325-pound Elkhorn native was expected to start at left tackle this year for Nebraska. The junior has now suffered season-ending injuries 3 times in the last 4 years.
He started twice in 2021 before a season-ending knee injury. In 5 appearances, he became only the 16th true freshman in program history to play on the offensive line. Then, in 2022, Prochazka saw his season wiped away in the third game of the year.
Prochazka returned to the field last season and played in 10 games while making 6 starts.
A 2021 arrival, Prochazka was set to exhaust his eligibility following the 2025 season. However, with another year lost to injury, he’d likely have a clear-cut case for a medical exemption and an additional sixth year.
According to Rhule, Prochazka has a torn ACL, but not in the same knee he previously injured. Rhule also confirmed freshman linebacker Roger Gradney suffered a season-ending leg injury.
“Heart breaks for both of them,” Rhule said Tuesday. “Certainly for Teddy. This is going on 4 surgeries for him. Really a difficult time for him. He was right there in the team meeting (Monday) night with an unbelievable attitude. He embodies everything we believe in and embodies what’s next. He’ll be a great mentor for Roger. But, unfortunate.”
Nebraska has Bryce Benhart entrenched as the starting right tackle. If Turner Corcoran is available when the season begins, he’ll likely be the guy left tackle.
The 6-foot-6 senior from Lawrence, Kansas, missed the final 5 games of the 2023 season and the spring earlier this year while recovering from an injury. He had started 30 consecutive games for NU.
A top-50 recruit in the 2020 class, Corcoran struggled mightily in 2021 and 2022 once he broke into the starting lineup. He played some guard to open the 2022 season but moved back to tackle after 3 games. In his first 2 seasons as a starter, he allowed 104 quarterback pressures in a little over 800 pass-blocking snaps, per Pro Football Focus. Corcoran showed improvement last season, when he started the first 7 games of the year at left tackle. He was charged with allowing just 15 pressures in 165 snaps last season (PFF).
Rhule said redshirt freshman Gunnar Gottula has also seen some action with the first team in practice lately, providing the Huskers with another option at the spot. Nebraska could also turn to 6-foot-6 sophomore Tyler Knaak — a former Utah transfer who appeared in 9 games for NU last season.
“We have lots of guys we trust,” Rhule said. “We have other options.”
Nebraska is expected to contend for a bowl berth in Year 2 under Rhule. Doing so would end a 7-year absence from the postseason — the longest drought the program has endured since before Bob Devaney’s time.
ESPN Bet set the win total at 7.5, and there’s a good bit of action on the over (-135) heading into the year. The Huskers open the season at home against UTEP on Aug. 31. They’ll play their first 4 games all inside Memorial Stadium, with Colorado making the trip to Lincoln on Sept. 7, Northern Iowa coming to town on Sept. 14, and then Illinois opening up conference play on Friday, Sept. 20.
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Derek Peterson does a bit of everything, not unlike Taysom Hill. He has covered Oklahoma, Nebraska, the Pac-12, and now delivers CFB-wide content.