Hixson placed on scholarship, captains to be named soon
As Scott Frost said on Friday, it was probably only a matter of time before sophomore offensive lineman Trent Hixson was placed on scholarship, and it was officially announced to the team following practice.
The Omaha Skutt product is the lone walk-on player in Fall Camp that has solidified a starting job at this point, as Hixson will be NU's starting left guard when they open up play next week.
Hixson is the 83rd player on scholarship right now, as Frost still has two more to award between a group of players that includes punter Isaac Armstrong, long snapper Chase Urbach, running back Wyatt Mazour and wide receiver Kade Warner among others.
"We gave one away today," Frost said. "I think on our team with the way the roster sits, we probably have three to give. We are still trying to decide on a couple of them, but we put Trent Hixson on scholarship today. The team was fired up for him, so he'll be on scholarship the remainder of his time at Nebraska."
Hixson's path to Nebraska was an interesting one. As a high school senior he was offered by South Dakota and eventually tried to commit to the Coyotes.
USD turned Hixson away though and said they were full on the offensive line. That opened the door to come to NU as a walk-on and put him in the position he's in today.
"I've kind of said all along that the walk-on program is going to help us, but I thought it would take a little while to get those guys in the program and develop them the same way we develop the scholarship guys and give them reps," Frost said. "I kind of thought Trent might be the first guy, but he's really the first one I hope in a long line of walk-ons while I'm here that comes in, goes to work and becomes a guy that either plays or starts for us. He deserves it, and I hope this isn't the last one."
Frost also announced on Friday that the team will vote on captains later this afternoon. The only twist is for the first time ever in the Bob Devaney-Tom Osborne-Frank Solich family tree of coaches, Frost will allow non-seniors to be voted on for offense.
This opens the door for sophomore quarterback Adrian Martinez to be named a captain. As of today, there are no clear cut senior starters on Nebraska's offense.
"We are going to vote on captains today," Frost said. "As a matter of fact, the guys are going to vote in the room. I don't want to do it too early, because I want the guys to experience Fall Camp, and see who the guys are that represent them the best and who the best leaders are. Guys are going to vote on it today.
"Probably, I would guess the one difference from this year to years past is we don't have a lot of seniors on offense. So it might not be four seniors, but it's going to be the best two leaders on offense and the best two on defense."
