Nebraska football and coach Matt Rhule have released the Huskers' official depth chart for their upcoming game against Wisconsin on Saturday (6:30 p.m. CT kickoff in Madison).
Keep in mind that "anybody that’s an ‘OR’ we just put them alphabetically," Rhule has said about the depth chart. "Just, for me, the depth chart is an organism. It’s ever-changing. I’m not a big ‘set it in stone’ kind of guy. We’re going to play guys, and the competition is always there and you have the power to change your situation. That’ll kind of be a weekly thing."
NOTABLE CHANGES
One interesting note off the bat: There are only three senior starters on offense with just one as a stand-alone starter (Nouili) and two who are listed as co-starters at running back (Grant and Fleeks). The defense has just one senior starter (Luke Reimer, who is officially listed as a co-starter alongside Nick Henrich).
Offense:
>> Nouri Nouili has moved back into being officially listed as the starting right guard after missing the Purdue game but being making a surprising quick return to start at Michigan State.
>> Nouili’s return moves Lutovsky back to being the backup right guard and moves Tyler Knaak back to backup right tackle — which moves Jacob Hood off the two-deep.
Defense:
>> James Williams makes his first appearance of the year on the two-deep. He’s listed as the backup defensive end behind co-starters Jimari Butler and Blaise Gunnerson.
>> Koby Bretz has shifted from his designation as the backup safety to Phalen Sanford and over to Rover as Isaac Gifford’s backup. D’Andre Barnes, likely a candidate to redshirt, is no longer on the two-deep — which is perhaps an indication of the team’s long-term plans to utilize that redshirt year.
>> Marques Buford Jr., who made his long-anticipated return to the field for 16 snaps against MSU, makes his first two-deep appearance of the year as the backup safety behind Sanford.
Special Teams:
>> Tristan Alvano and Brian Buschini have flipped spots as the kickoff man. They’re both still listed as co-starters on kickoff, but Alvano is now at the top.
>> Against Purdue and Michigan State, the top kick returners were, in order, Tommi Hill, Alex Bullock and Emmett Johnson. Against Maryland, the Huskers’ top kick returners listed are Josh Fleeks and walk-on Trevin Luben.
>> Alex Bullock was the lone punt returner listed for the Purdue and Michigan State games. Now, Billy Kemp and Ethan Nation are the top two punt returners. If Kemp is once again limited due to injury, you are likely to see Nation utilized more as a punt returner this week after Rhule said at Monday’s pre-Maryland presser he regrets not using Nation more often on punt return in the Michigan State game. And it seems possible that we will not see Kemp on offense against Maryland as Jaidyn Doss is still the team’s starting slot receiver — and is the only player listed at slot — though the stays of Kemp remains to be determined later in the week.
