Micah Mazzccua, the top offensive guard on the Nebraska football team, has been one of the most discussed players among the Husker fan base over the last two weeks and especially the last 72 hours.
Inside Nebraska reported on Friday morning that Mazzccua was at Eppley Airfield in Omaha – away from the team, which was in the midst of flying to West Lafayette for Saturday's game at Purdue – and that he boarded a flight to San Francisco.
Rhule was brief in discussing Mazzccua – who is viewed as the team's top NFL Draft prospect on the Huskers' offensive line – during Saturday's postgame press conference following the Huskers' 28-10 road win over the Boilermakers.
"He's not off the team, but he's not here today. ... I'll talk to you about it on Monday," Rhule said of Mazzccua, a two-time transfer who arrived at Nebraska after having started a combined 21 games across the 2022 and 2023 seasons at Baylor and Florida, respectively.
Rhule met with the media for his regular Monday game week presser – as the Huskers gear up for their Homecoming game on Saturday (3 p.m. CT) against Rutgers – and provided some more details on Mazzccua's status with the team.
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"Micah was suspended last game (against Purdue), he's reinstituted this week," Rhule said. "It was kind of the middle of the week (last week) that that happened, so it wasn't something we anticipated. I met with you guys (the media), and I wasn't anticipating that, to be quite honest with you."
Rhule was then asked for additional clarity on Mazzccua and if the 6-foot-5, 325-pound fifth-year senior is "ready to roll" and be "put back in the lineup."
"No, I wouldn't put him – I wouldn't start him," Rhule said. "He was a backup before this happened. When he came out of the Colorado game, (Henry) Lutovsky was put ahead of him. I love Micah. I'm working with him to be the best he can be. You guys (the media) talk a lot about him, but he's a backup player for us."
Mazzccua had been under some heat, and his status with the team has come under question dating back to, at a minimum, the Huskers' Week 3 over Northern Iowa on September 14. Mazzccua did not appear in that game, even being listed as "OUT" on the team's official Availability Report.
Mazzccua, who had started at right guard in Weeks 1 and 2 against UTEP and Colorado, had still been listed as the starter at RG on the team's official two-deep roster going into the UNI game, but he was ultimately held out of the game as a non-injury scratch with Rhule deeming it a coaches decision.
He was then listed as the No. 2 at right guard behind new starter Lutovsky for the game against Illinois, although Mazzccua still played special teams as a lineman on the Huskers' field-goal kicking unit.
"He won't play this week," Rhule said on Monday going into the Friday night matchup with Illinois. "He's on the team, he's practicing with us. He's just working through some stuff right now. He's doing everything we asked him to do, but he won't be available."
There was then another twist two days later when Rhule changed his tune on the Mazzccua topic and said on Wednesday of that week that Mazzccua would indeed be available to play.
“Mazzccua will be dressed and ready, he just won’t start. He’ll be out there,” Rhule said on Wednesday, Sept. 18. “Lutovsky will start and Micah will be available. I probably said that in the wrong way on Monday (Sept. 16). He's (Mazzccua) dealing with some things right now. So, like I said, he's making some real progress. Practiced good today. So he'll be there. And if we need him, we'll go to him.”
Mazzccua then remained listed behind Lutovsky ahead of the Purdue game (on Monday, Sept. 23), and Husker coach Matt Rhule was extremely brief when asked about Mazzccua's status two days later during a Wednesday night interview with Huskers Radio Network.
"We'll see kind of where he's at," Rhule said of Mazzccua on the HRN Coaches Show.
Now, we have a better idea of where Mazzccua is at, and it looks pretty clear that Lutovsky will be the No. 1 guy at right guard moving forward.
"Henry is a guy we earmarked as a starter coming into the year," Rhule said prior to the Illinois game. "Obviously Micah and Justin (Evans) did a great job for us the first game and a half, but Henry's healthy now, so he's ready to go."
