Thursday notebook: Huskers make decision on starting right guard

One of the big storylines coming out of the bye week centered around a late-season position change and a possible shakeup on the starting offensive line.

Redshirt freshman Matt Farniok, who started two games at right tackle before breaking a bone in his wrist against Northern Illinois, was moved inside to guard during the week off.

His coaches had already said they see guard being Farniok’s natural position going forward, and the former Sioux Falls, S.D., standout was already splitting reps as the No. 1 right guard along with starter Tanner Farmer.

However, when asked for an update on the decision following Thursday's practice, head coach Mike Riley said Farmer would get the start again for Saturday night's road game at Purdue, and Farniok "will be ready to play" if needed.

Regardless of the starting lineup, Nebraska is now heading into the final five games of the season working with arguably the most depth its had on the offensive line all season.

How that translates into the number of linemen who actually play in the games remains to be seen, but the Huskers know they at least have more to work with up front than they’ve had all year.

“Depth is a big thing when it comes to offensive line and any position,” left guard Jerald Foster said. “Us being able to have good depth and guys that we have to trust to go in and be able to play the game, that’s essential for us.

“Soon as we are able to get everyone back, I can’t wait to see what (offensive line coach Mike Cavanaugh) does with it - if he’s going to rotate our line because we have so many guys have experience out there. When you’re able to have depth, it’s important to you and it allows to do that much more.”

- Robin Washut

Nebraska's defense will be short-handed once again on Saturday night, this time after two key linebackers have been ruled out for the game.

Riley said linebackers Luke Gifford (hip) and Tyrin Ferguson (foot) would both be out against Purdue.

Gifford was able practiced on a limited basis all week, but Riley said the staff didn’t want to risk any further setbacks by playing him.

Riley also said that Ferguson would be “out a while” with foot injury that Riley didn’t want to detail.

With Gifford and Ferguson out, Riley said Marcus Newby and Jacob Weinmaster would be the No. 1 and 2 DOG linebackers against the Boilermakers.

The positive linebacker injury news was that junior Dedrick Young would be able to play despite wearing a large cast on his right hand.

Riley said he “misspoke” on Monday when he said linebacker underwent a second surgery on his hand/wrist. Instead, what happened was Young never initially had surgery following the injury, and he just got a cast put on so he could finish the rest of the season.

After further examination team doctors didn’t like that the injury wasn't healing properly and opted to do a procedure during the bye week.

Even though he’s wearing a large cast, Riley said Young would be available to play on Saturday night and the staff was looking at ways to best use him and work around the limitations caused by the cast.

- Robin Washut

It will be almost two years ago to the day when Nebraska returns to the site of what, at the time, was considered one of the worst losses in program history.

On Halloween Day of 2015, the Huskers traveled to Purdue’s Ross-Ade Stadium and were handed a 55-45 defeat by a Boilermakers, marking just their third FBS win in three seasons under then-head coach Darrell Hazell.

Nebraska committed five turnovers and trailed by as much as 42-16 heading into the fourth quarter. Purdue racked up 457 total yards and scored more points than it had in its previous three contests combined.

All of that resulted in NU dropping to 3-6 on the season for the first time 1961.

The good news is that few current Huskers played in that game or were even part of the program yet as they get ready to head back to West Lafayette, Ind., on Saturday night.

While he didn’t play in the loss, Foster traveled with the team to Purdue as a redshirt freshman in 2015, and he still remembers how much that game shook the confidence of the entire team.

“Shrugging off that lost was harder because our mindset going in was we are going to get a win easy and come out,” Foster said. “This next week we are definitely coming out with different intentions and mindset because we know this is a good football team.”

- Robin Washut

After playing without its top three safeties for the majority of its 56-14 loss to Ohio State, Nebraska will get some desperately needed help in its secondary this week.

The Huskers took on the Buckeyes without starting safety Aaron Williams (neck) and Antonio Reed (knee), who had been a starter when Joshua Kalu was out with a hamstring injury.

Kalu was able to return to action vs. OSU after missing the previous four weeks but ended up re-aggravating the injury midway through the game.

While NU’s safety position looks to finally be at full strength, safeties coach Scott Booker made sure to acknowledge the contributions of redshirt freshman Marquel Dismuke, who he said stepped up and answered the call after injuries took their toll.

The Compton, Calif., native saw significant playing time the previous two games against Wisconsin and Ohio State, posting a career-high nine tackles vs. the Badgers and then six stops on the Buckeyes.

“Marquel has done a great job,” Booker said. “First on special teams, he’s gotten on a lot of teams, done some good things. And then also whenever we need him at safety, he does a good job. First of all, he’s a very smart player, dedicated player, and obviously has grown.

“With the playing time, he’s gotten better and better, and with more playing time on special teams and defense, you’ll see him grow even more… He does anything for his teammates, and he’s a kid that, like I said, just a great teammate and kid to coach.”

- Robin Washut

***Riley said running back Tre Bryant underwent successful knee surgery earlier this week and everything is right on course for him to return to action for the spring.

***Riley said tackle David Knevel was also out.

***Asked about the struggles of Nebraska’s young cornerbacks, Riley said “I’ve seen that movie before” and related it back a time at Oregon State when he had two freshmen corners who went through their bumps after being thrown into the fire as starters.

Those two were Keenan Lewis and Brandon Hughes, who both went on to have extensive NFL careers.

***Asked about the spirit of the team over the past two weeks, Riley said: “I try not to fool myself and make stuff up” but the spirit has actually been really good. He said it felt “cathartic” when the team got back to practice during the bye week.

***Riley said new athletic director Bill Moos stopped by and met with the coaches this morning and got a tour of all the facilities. Moos then came to the team meeting later in the day and spoke briefly with the players.