Suh finds a home

[kramer]

Suh finds a home as a Cornhusker

 

Ex-Grant High star counts on putting knee injury behind him

By STEVE BRANDON Issue date: Tue, Dec 20, 2005

The Tribune

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An injury kept Ndamukong Suh from playing as much as he wanted to this season, but the Nebraska freshman says he still has had a lot of fun.

“I grasped the system quite well and was in the rotation before I got hurt,” he says. “We have a close-knit team, and the fans are friendly —you get a lot of ‘hey’s and ‘hi’s when you walk around.

“It’s fun to be a Husker.”

Suh, an all-state lineman and state shot put champion from Grant High, was one of the top football prospects from Portland in many years when he chose Nebraska over Oregon State, Mississippi State, California and Miami.

He did not want to redshirt as a freshman, and he appeared in two games at defensive tackle for Nebraska, making one tackle, before tearing the meniscus in his left knee in practice before the third game (Pittsburgh).

Suh says the tear actually occurred during his final year of PIL basketball with the Generals.

“It happened during basketball season,” he says. “I just kind of blew it off and didn’t pay much attention to it. It resurfaced again during practice before the Pittsburgh game.

“But I’m happy the injury came early in my college career. I’ve gotten it out of the way.

“And it’s made me even more humble. It’s been a blessing.”

Suh has been back at football practice for nearly two months.

“Everything’s going good. I’m getting a lot of reps,” he says.

He hasn’t been ruled out of Nebraska’s final game —the Cornhuskers (7-4) will face Michigan (7-4) in the Alamo Bowl, Dec. 28 in San Antonio. But if he doesn’t play, the Huskers can redshirt him and plan to apply for a medical hardship that would restore his first year.

“It’s all up in the air,” he says. “It depends on whether they need me for the bowl game. If not, we’ll try to get the year back.”

Nebraska is trying to recapture its football glory and bounce back from a 5-6 record in 2004. The Cornhuskers are 111⁄2-point underdogs to Michigan, but with a strong freshman class, some optimism has returned to Lincoln, Neb.

“I think we’re on the rise,” Suh says.

Suh, who will turn 19 on Jan. 6, is 6-4 and weighs 305 pounds. “They want me at 295 to 300,” he says.

He says making the leap to major college football “was mainly a matter of adjusting to the speed and having to go harder on each play.”

Suh is majoring in engineering. He completed finals Friday; “I’m doing pretty well in school,” he says. He’ll be in San Antonio with the team over Christmas but will return to Portland in time for New Year’s Eve on his holiday break from school.

[Ross4Ever]

Impressive kid. I think he'll be a great DT for us.