Will Compton

[np_husker]

Compton will remain on sideline, for now

BY JON NYATAWA

WORLD-HERALD BUREAU

 

LINCOLN - Will Compton won't be called on to help fill in for injured Husker linebacker Phillip Dillard, even though the true freshman is ready and willing to contribute.

 

Nebraska coach Bo Pelini said Sunday that Compton, who hasn't played in a game all season, will stay on the sideline for the rest of the year.

 

"I'm not pulling a redshirt," Pelini said. "I wouldn't do that to a kid. Will Compton, he's a guy that could factor in at linebacker right now. He would want to play. It's not the right thing to do for him."

 

The Huskers will have to find some other way to replace Dillard, who injured his ankle in the third quarter of Nebraska's 32-20 win over Baylor on Saturday. Dillard was carted to the locker room, but Pelini said X-rays were negative.

 

The coach wasn't too optimistic, though, when he gave an injury update Sunday. He doubts that Dillard or junior Menelik Holt, who left Saturday's game with a leg injury, will be available to play against Oklahoma.

 

"It's hard to say," Pelini said. "I would say they're questionable at best right now. At best."

 

Compton has been listed as the team's No. 2 middle linebacker behind Dillard on Nebraska's depth chart all season. He has practiced well, Pelini said.

 

"I think he's making really good progress," Pelini said. "I'd feel real comfortable putting him into the game."

 

But Pelini said having Compton play in the team's final four games of the season isn't worth it for the linebacker, who will have four years of eligibility left if he does redshirt in 2008.

 

"For me, it's a pretty easy decision because it's a matter of right and wrong," Pelini said. "If he were my kid, I'd have a problem with that, if a coach put him there with 33 percent of the season left. And he hasn't played a snap yet? I just don't think it's the right thing."

 

Only five true freshmen - linebackers Matt Holt and Sean Fisher, defensive backs Mason Wald and Alfonzo Dennard, and defensive end Cameron Meredith - have played this season. And that'll be it, Pelini said Sunday.

 

Pelini's thinking about more than just the success of this year's team, which still has a legitimate shot at the Big 12 North title. The Huskers, tied with Kansas and Missouri at 2-2 in conference play, have four Big 12 games remaining.

 

"You've got to always be thinking not only what's in the best interest of the team, but what's in the best interest of each young man you coach and their future," Pelini said. "From a coaching standpoint, you have to be unselfish. You've got to make sure you've got everybody's best interest at heart in every decision that you make. I try to do that."

 

It's a different philosophy than the Huskers are used to.

 

A school-record 13 true freshmen played in 2005. Eleven played last year, including sophomore offensive tackle Jaivorio Burkes, who appeared in only Nebraska's final four games after an injury sidelined senior Lydon Murtha.

 

"We try and be on the same page all the way through," Pelini said. "Now is no different. But you get to the point now where it would take a lot for me to pull a redshirt from a guy after eight games."

 

So for now, the Huskers will likely rely on junior linebacker Colton Koehler, who recorded a tackle in the end zone that gave Nebraska a safety late in Saturday's game.

 

Holt has played as the only linebacker in some dime formations. Senior Tyler Wortman was Dillard's backup in nickel formations earlier in the season.

 

Pelini couldn't predict exactly what he planned to do at middle linebacker without watching film and analyzing Oklahoma's offense.

 

But whoever steps in will be counted on to help Nebraska try to slow down Oklahoma. The Sooners average 48.3 points per game, the second highest scoring average in the nation. Last week, they had 55 points in the first half against Kansas State.

 

"They're a good football team," Pelini said. "I've known that for weeks. I've seen enough of them to know. We can't go out there and make some of the mistakes we've been making and expect to win that football game. We have to play our best football."

[Overland Park Husker]

Didn't Holt fill in for an injured Dilliard at Tech? Similar offense and situation, so why not use him?

[holvy83]

too late to burn redshirts anyway, what happens, happens, but to me that would be a big letdown if i were made to burn a redshirt this late in the season.