Marcus Washington out for season with torn ACL

The injury bug has once again taken a bite out of the Nebraska football program: Starting wide receiver Marcus Washington is out for the rest of the season with a torn ACL, Matt Rhule announced on Tuesday.

Washington went down with the knee injury after getting his foot twisted in the turf against Illinois on Friday night while blocking downfield in a one-on-one matchup against an Illini defensive back.

That injury came on the very next play after he had recorded the second-longest catch of his two-year Husker career (39 yards) on their second offensive play of the game. The play got Nebraska out of a hole at its own 1-yard line, and it was the latest example of Washington starting to gain some traction and momentum only for it to be stopped in its tracks.

Washington's torn ACL is to the same left knee that he injured in the first week of August upon returning from a broken bone in his right hand. Washington broke the bone in his hand just prior to the start of fall camp and missed the first week of practice. In his very first practice upon returning from that injury, he banged up his left knee after an awkward landing on a pass play. It all led to an unceremonious start to a season in which he was looked upon as the team’s No. 1 or 2 receiver.

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Finally, after all of that, it looked like Washington was gaining some momentum. He hauled in a 56-yard catch from Heinrich Haarberg against Michigan last week on the first play of the second half. That had been the most recent highlight play of his season thus far, but he had standout moments against:

Minnesota: Three catches for 31 yards as Jeff Sims’ favorite target upon returning from the suspension

Colorado: His downfield blocking took out the two most important defenders on Sims’ 57-yard touchdown run

Northern Illinois: 26-yard catch from Haarberg over the middle of the field to spark Nebraska’s first touchdown drive of the first half on the season, plus some more effective downfield blocking for Haarberg (though that effort was mostly negated when Washington was incorrectly flagged for holding on the quarterback’s 75-yard touchdown run).

Washington's injury is just the latest hit to the Husker receiver room. Nebraska lost Zavier Betts when he left the program just 19 days prior to the season opener, and Isaiah Garcia-Castaneda tore his ACL as well in the opener against Minnesota.

Washington is the seventh Husker to be lost for the season due to injury. He joins Garcia-Castaneda, RBs Gabe Ervin Jr. (dislocated hip) and Rahmir Johnson (dislocated shoulder) and DB Dwight Bootle (shoulder) who were all lost for the season with injuries against Northern Illinois, plus true freshman linebacker Maverick Noonan (knee) who was hurt toward the beginning of fall camp. Also, DL Brodie Tagaloa is out for the season after an off-season car accident left him with a knee injury and significant cuts on his face.

Those are in addition to key injuries on the offense:

>> QB Jeff Sims, who has missed the last four games after suffering a high-ankle sprain against Colorado.

>> FB Barret Liebentritt (elbow) has missed the last two games.

>> WR Jaidyn Doss, who suffered a broken arm in the middle of fall camp but returned for his first snaps versus Illinois.

>> OL Ethan Piper, who has not missed any games but has been playing with a cast on his hand.

On defense:

>> DL Cam Lenhardt, who luckily avoided a serious injury against Northern Illinois and finally returned against Illinois after recovering from an ankle sprain.

>> SAF DeShon Singleton, whose knee injury kept him out against Illinois and will leave the Huskers without him "for an extended period time."

>> LB Luke Reimer, who got hurt in the first half against Louisiana Tech and missed the Michigan and Illinois games after a hospitalization for an unrelated issue.

Rhule said he's never been a part of a team with this many injuries to key guys. At receiver, he says there are a number of guys who will need to step up and take advantage of the opportunities they'll get in games with Washington out.

Three of the Huskers' freshman WRs — Malachi Coleman, Jaylen Lloyd and Jaidyn Doss — have come a long way, Rhule said. Without Washington, whose 56-yarder against Michigan and 39-yarder against Illinois are two of the Huskers' biggest offensive plays this year, Rhule said it's going to be important for a receiver to step up in that area and provide more explosive plays for the offense. in the pass game.

"That component will continue to come," Rhule said.