Possible Bad News...

[ZRod]

About Caputo's size; center is one of those positions where you don't have to be a big guy, but you need to be quick and smart and coming from Millard North he deffinatly is both of those. I don't remeber playing directly against him since I mostly played LT, but those guys were well coached and the fastest team we ever play, plus they could really hit. Granted college is another level, but he's got a solid foundation.

 

On a side note I had a class with Him and Latravis Washington last year and Mike is a pretty wide guy (not fat, just thick) but god he has got some short arms. I remeber Latravis calling him T-rex a couple times and giving him a hard time about it. That is the only real concern I ever had about him.

[307husker]

Granted college is another level

 

Understatement of the year.

[jimindallas]

Leverage is the key for him. Saw Stepnoski play a lot and once he got into a defensive tackle's arm pit he had them. Hope to see Mike doing the same.

[EZ-E]

I have been reading and hearing that Caputo could be one of the best centers we have had in a long time.

 

Mike is a big loss. Hopefully we have enough guys to still have a great line like I am expecting. We still have:

 

Jones, Jones, Sirles, Hardrick, Caputo, Qvale, Henry, I know that I am missing someone.

[zoogs]

Keith Williams!

[Danimal]

Wouldn't surprise me to see him back next season as a medical redshirt.

[ronsss]

Keith Williams!

put Andrew Rodriguez in there, he is a monster

[ESPY]

http://my.journalstar.com/Husker_Extra_Group/Husker_Extra/blog

 

Husker coach Bo Pelini confirmed that offensive lineman Mike Smith is out for the year. The senior from Las Vegas suffered a broken leg during Tuesday's practice.

Possible medical hardship there?

 

"It's up to him," Pelini said. "Yeah, we'd like to have him. It's a pretty clean break. It will be something he'll recover fully from. It will be a little while but it's his decision, a family decision but I anticipate he'll want to come out for another year."

Thanks for the definite confirmation, huskerscott. Hopefully this proves to be an even bigger motivation for the rest of our O-line to step up & crack some skulls.

[sd'sker]

Already starting to look like last season. Our O-line can't catch a freaking break. Smith wasn't going to start but he gave us valuable depth that could play any position.

Poor choice of words..

[Husker S Thompson]

Over on the HI free board, BGII mentioned that Smith is leaning towards hanging it up for good (as of now).

 

Hopefully, once he has had some time to rest and heal, he'll give some more thought to returning.

 

And on a side note, how do you think Mike would fare as a blocking tight end? I was wondering about this recently, just before his injury:

 

It seemed as if he got passed on the depth chart and would be running with the twos this season. He played a little TE in high school, and I think that he has always had trouble keeping on lineman weight.

 

Does anyone think that he would be an effective tight end in a power or goal line formations? Or is that just the moonshine talking?

[zoogs]

Plenty of time for Smith to change his mind...he can't actually make the decision til the end of the year, right? Even Smith probably doesn't know 100%, but it's sad that he's leaning towards quitting. Wasn't he a former walk-on?

[BIGREDFAN_in_OMAHA]

Plenty of time for Smith to change his mind...he can't actually make the decision til the end of the year, right? Even Smith probably doesn't know 100%, but it's sad that he's leaning towards quitting. Wasn't he a former walk-on?

He is scholarship. Part of class of 2006 recruited as a DE.

[cHUSKERis]

Heres the actual link.

LINCOLN — Barney Cotton may have felt tempted, after losing his most experienced offensive lineman to a broken leg, to mutter four words in disgust: Here we go again.

 

But Cotton said he didn't do it.

 

“No,” Cotton said Wednesday, discussing the season-long loss of two-year starting left tackle Mike Smith. “We're going to be the toughest we've ever been since we've been here. We're going to try to stay out of the training room.

 

“This year's all about being physically tougher and mentally tougher up front.”

 

Still, the loss of Smith is damaging. The 6-foot-6, 285-pound senior from Las Vegas went down in practice Tuesday. He started all 14 games last year and 12 in 2008 — more combined than any Husker but classmate Mike McNeill.

 

Smith did not appear likely to begin this season as a starter; instead he may have filled a swing role at center, left guard and his old position. Tuesday's practice, in fact, marked his first day at left tackle this month as newcomer Jermarcus Hardrick missed a second straight day following a bout of heat-related illness.

 

“It hurts,” junior center Mike Caputo said, “but that's kind of the way it goes in football.”

 

The loss harkens to the past few seasons, when injuries crushed the Huskers' O-line depth. They began practice last weekend as healthy as at any time in recent years, but already Hardrick and top left guard Keith Williams missed time — and then Smith got hurt.

 

“Obviously, it's one less guy,” coach Bo Pelini said, “but we still have great competition. We still have good depth.”

 

Hardrick may return Thursday, and Williams practiced Wednesday after missing the first portion of this week.

 

Cotton, the third-year offensive line coach, said Smith's absence hurts Nebraska's versatility more than its depth. He could have played behind Williams and Caputo while serving as a safety valve at left tackle, where Hardrick is contending for time with redshirt freshman Jeremiah Sirles.

 

“That's what his goal was,” Cotton said, “to be a guy who could help us at multiple spots.”

 

The right side of the line looks set with guard Ricky Henry and tackle Marcel Jones.

“Smitty, he's a great player,” said Jones, who started 11 games last year as a sophomore. “He has a lot of experience, and we're going to miss him a lot. But that just tells other guys that they've got to step up. Their number's called, and that's one thing you've got to do when you're on the o-line.

 

“You've got to be ready at all times, because injuries happen.”

 

Junior walk-on Luke Lingenfelter joined the 105-man roster for preseason camp Wednesday to replace Smith as Nebraska practiced in full pads for the first time.

Others are preparing to train at new positions.

 

Sophomore guard Brandon Thompson, among others, took snaps at center as practice ended inside the Hawks Center on Wednesday. Behind Caputo, the Huskers have redshirt freshmen Cole Pensick and Nick Ash, plus true freshman Mark Pelini, Bo's nephew.

 

Smith, who redshirted in 2006, could petition the NCAA for a sixth year of eligibility in 2011, though there's some question over the likelihood of its acceptance. The granting of a sixth-year waiver usually requires a player to miss two seasons to injury. Smith did not miss a game from 2007 through 2009.

 

“We'd like to have him,” Bo Pelini said. “It's a pretty clean break. It'll be something that he'd recover from fully. It'll be awhile. I'd anticipate that he'd want to come back another year.”

[Skull&Bones]

I know this is bad news but how bad on a scale of 1-10? (10 being really bad) Does this hurt our chances of sealing the North this year? I want reassurance that we can still beat Texas and win the Big 12. Somebody make me feel better about this situation even if you have to lie to me. Thanks

[Lil' Red]

I know this is bad news but how bad on a scale of 1-10? (10 being really bad) Does this hurt our chances of sealing the North this year? I want reassurance that we can still beat Texas and win the Big 12. Somebody make me feel better about this situation even if you have to lie to me. Thanks

 

Right now Mizzou has 10 injured players so I don't think we should be too concerned about this. I would only put it as a 2 for concern.

 

Link