Freshman Wilson nearing first step towards lofty goals
When Boe Wilson decided to put an end to his recruitment and commit to Nebraska back in July of 2015, he did so knowing full well that his favorite jersey number, 64, would be off the table for his entire college career.
That number belonged former Husker great Bob Brown, a member of both the College and Pro Football Hall of Fame, and it is one of just two numbers permanently retired at Nebraska.
Wilson admitted that not being able to wear 64 was a disappointment, but it didn’t stop him from giving a verbal commitment and later signing with Nebraska for good. In fact, it also gave him some newfound motivation for when he finally arrived in Lincoln.
"There was one big thing holding me back from choosing Nebraska early on," Wilson told HuskerOnline.com following his commitment. "I wear No. 64 and then I found out that number is retired at Nebraska. I really wanted to wear that number in high school and in college.
“But after I thought more about it, I thought it would be cool to get another number retired - depending on which number I get."
The former Lee’s Summit (Mo.) standout now sports No. 56, and he’s nearly a full fall camp into his career at Nebraska.
Despite the fact that he has yet to play a live snap of college football, Wilson might be on his way to taking the first step in achieving that extremely lofty goal.
Because of a season-ending knee injury to starting left guard Jerald Foster and top backup Corey Whitaker being sidelined after arthroscopic knee surgery, Wilson has vaulted into the conversation to potentially make his first career start in NU’s season opener.
Wilson is still far from locking up that honor, as he’s still competing with redshirt freshman Jalin Barnett, senior Sam Hahn, and sophomore Cole Conrad for the starting job. That’s of course assuming Whitaker doesn’t return in time to reclaim the role.
That said, offensive line coach Mike Cavanaugh said he hasn’t exactly been surprised by how quickly Wilson has come along in such a short amount of time in the program.
“He was probably the most technically sound guy I recruited,” Cavanaugh said. “Good run blocker with technique. He was a well-coached guy coming out of high school.”
If Wilson were to make his way into the starting line, he would become only the second true freshman ever to start at guard for Nebraska (joining Jacob Hickman in 2006) and just the fifth true freshman offensive lineman to earn a start.
Cavanaugh made sure to note that the ideal plan was still to redshirt Wilson this season to allow the mental side catch up to his impressive physical ability. But if the situation arises where Wilson is the best option, the coaches won’t hesitate to throw him into the mix this season.
That’s why some of the veteran members of Nebraska’s offensive line, such as senior center Dylan Utter, have made it a point to take Wilson under their wings and try to get him ready as quickly as possible.
“He’s definitely taken the position head on,” Utter said. “He hasn’t crumbled at all. You’re gonna get beat quite a bit because of the different level of competition you’re facing going against threes vs. the ones, but he’s definitely held in there better than I would've imagined.
“We are looking forward to seeing what he can do the next two weeks.”
