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"Surprise" OL Move · Husker Buzz

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: Machado, usually when you bring in a bunch of big
• 0:02
  Speaker 1: money free agents, the idea is they will play, they
• 0:05
  Speaker 1: will start. And that has been the case at Nebraska
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  Speaker 1: almost universally. But in this case, one of the key
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  Speaker 1: offensive linemen, the Nebraska pluck from the transfer portal, got
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  Speaker 1: beat out. Talk about Tree Babalade getting beat out for
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  Speaker 1: the job at right tackle by Gunnar Gatula of Lincoln Southeast.
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  Speaker 2: Tree Babalade was hurt in camp. So he missed some time,
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  Speaker 2: and Gunner came back and had a very strong camp.
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  Speaker 2: So I do think that was part of it, but
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  Speaker 2: a lot of it's Gunner, too. I think he came
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  Speaker 2: back off his injury. He'd been a multi-year starter and
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  Speaker 2: just had battle injuries the last two years. I think
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  Speaker 2: the depth is good to have on the offensive line,
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  Speaker 2: but I think in the spring this would have probably
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  Speaker 2: been labeled a surprise, no doubt, because Tree was the
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  Speaker 2: guy they expected to be the starter, or at that
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  Speaker 2: time people thought was the starter because Gunner was out
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  Speaker 2: in the spring. So, you know, sometimes it doesn't play
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  Speaker 2: out on paper the way you think, and you've got
• 1:01
  Speaker 2: to tip your hat to Gunner Gatula, and we'll see
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  Speaker 2: now on Saturday how he looks.
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  Speaker 1: And he's going to go up against, might go up
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  Speaker 1: against Ike Ackerman, a kid from Central High School, redshirt
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  Speaker 1: freshman from Ohio. Don't know if he'll line up on
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  Speaker 1: that side of the line of scrimmage, but he'll challenge
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  Speaker 1: both the left and right tackle, and maybe we'll see
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  Speaker 1: a matchup of two Nebraska kids from time to time.
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  Speaker 1: Anything else on the depth chart release that stood out
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  Speaker 1: to you?
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, they went with Owen Stoudemire and Jasir Whittington as
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  Speaker 2: the outright defensive tackle starters. And that's over Riley Van Poppel.
• 1:35
  Speaker 2: But I think it tells you why they brought these
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  Speaker 2: guys in. They didn't really feel like they had enough.
• 1:41
  Speaker 2: So that got my attention. On offense, the co-number one
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  Speaker 2: running back with three backs, that's kind of what we
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  Speaker 2: all expected to see at that particular position. On defense,
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  Speaker 2: Jeremiah Charles and Victor Evans, with Victor Evans being listed first,
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  Speaker 2: will split that corner spot. Rex Guthrie, who I think
• 2:03
  Speaker 2: a lot of people kind of thought was not in
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  Speaker 2: the picture, is still a starter. He's one of the
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  Speaker 2: most experienced players, and he's listed now as a co-number
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  Speaker 2: one at safety with transfer Dwayne McDougal. Guthrie's play fell
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  Speaker 2: off last year because he had a bad shoulder in
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  Speaker 2: his tackling game. and play kind of suffered the last
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  Speaker 2: four or five games of the year because of the
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  Speaker 2: shoulder injury that he suffered. I believe it was in
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  Speaker 2: the USC game. But he's back at code number one
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  Speaker 2: with Joanne McDougal and had not really been mentioned in camp.
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  Speaker 2: by anybody just because they didn't know where he fell
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  Speaker 2: in the picture. But he'll kind of retain that starting spot.
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  Speaker 3: At this point.
• 2:43
  Speaker 1: Yeah, it is hard to make tackles when you have
• 2:45
  Speaker 1: a sore shoulder or a separated shoulder or a broken
• 2:48
  Speaker 1: clavicle or whatever the heck he had. There is also
• 2:51
  Speaker 1: a little bit of talk about these single-digit jerseys.
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  Speaker 3: And, you know, we've discussed this at length.
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  Speaker 1: This apparently goes to the guys who have demonstrated specific
• 3:02
  Speaker 1: leadership qualities, performance on the field and all of that.
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  Speaker 1: But Matt Rule's being more coy about it this year.
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  Speaker 1: What does that mean?
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, I just think he wants to not make it
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  Speaker 2: a big story going into the game as far as
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  Speaker 2: during the practice week. And the players have them in
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  Speaker 2: practice right now. I believe they have the black shirts
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  Speaker 2: as well, too. They just aren't going to publicly release
• 3:27
  Speaker 2: that or clearly show footage from practice this week because
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  Speaker 2: you'd be able to pick it out real easily. But
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  Speaker 2: there are going to be more than 10 because of
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  Speaker 2: the way the voting fell. He said there's going to
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  Speaker 2: be maybe some duplicates on offense and defense. Normally it
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  Speaker 2: would have been held at 10. It could be 12, 13, 14, 11.
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  Speaker 2: You never know what that number is. I just feel
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  Speaker 2: like he thinks doing this now, especially in this portal era,
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  Speaker 2: there's guys that don't... Like the captain thing, for example.
• 4:00
  Speaker 2: You might appoint a player a captain, but You know,
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  Speaker 2: like Indiana, Fernando Mendoza was a newcomer. They don't do
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  Speaker 2: captains there. He was the captain of Indiana, obviously, by
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  Speaker 2: the end of the year. So I think rule is
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  Speaker 2: just being careful with how they anoint and appoint and
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  Speaker 2: do some of these things here because college football is
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  Speaker 2: a lot different even than it was four years ago
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  Speaker 2: when he started here.
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  Speaker 3: I want to ask you about a recruit.
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  Speaker 1: And, you know, we don't spend a lot of time
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  Speaker 1: talking about prospects here because they're not players.
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  Speaker 3: They're just prospects.
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  Speaker 1: But from what I gather, the most dominant performance in
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  Speaker 1: that Millard South-Millard North game was not Trey Taylor, but
• 4:33
  Speaker 1: Torrey Pittman, the Millard South receiver safety, who really stood out. Now,
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  Speaker 1: he has been doggedly pursued by LSU. Can you tell
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  Speaker 1: us what his level of commitment to Nebraska is, or
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  Speaker 1: is he really truly still a free agent?
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  Speaker 2: Well, he's committed to Nebraska, never took the official visits.
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  Speaker 2: I mean, a big thing would be to watch now
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  Speaker 2: if he would go out there for a visit in
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  Speaker 2: the season, and that hasn't happened at this point. But
• 5:01
  Speaker 2: they've recruited him. LSU's got a huge recruiting class, and
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  Speaker 2: a lot of money committed to transfers and whatnot. I
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  Speaker 2: was at that game, Jim, and you're right. He was unbelievable.
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  Speaker 2: He was ejected in the third quarter with a second
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  Speaker 2: personal foul penalty. Otherwise, I think Miller North might have
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  Speaker 2: won that game. He had two explosive big plays on offense,
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  Speaker 2: had 150-some yards receiving on just four catches. But on
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  Speaker 2: the back end, he took away the deep ball, made
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  Speaker 2: it extremely difficult for Trey Taylor to get the ball
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  Speaker 2: down the field because he patrolled the back end of
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  Speaker 2: that defense so well. And he was a difference maker.
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  Speaker 2: I mean, you noticed him the entire night. Now with
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  Speaker 2: that penalty, he will be suspended, I believe, for this
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  Speaker 2: week's game as well. So he'll have to miss an
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  Speaker 2: entire game because of the two personal foul penalties.
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  Speaker 1: Two personal foul penalties in the same game? That's the
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  Speaker 1: kind of guy we need.
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  Speaker 3: What did he do? He spiked the football after scoring?
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, he did like a Rob Gronkowski just over-the-top spike
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  Speaker 2: on his first touchdown. It was cool. He broke for
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  Speaker 2: three and had the cameras on him, and this did
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  Speaker 2: like a dramatic spike, and they flagged it immediately. And
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  Speaker 2: then there was a little scuffle later in the third quarter,
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  Speaker 2: and that was his second personal foul penalty. And you're
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  Speaker 2: out of the game in football if you get two
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  Speaker 2: of those.
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  Speaker 3: That's too bad. All right. Thanks, Sean. We'll talk to
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  Speaker 3: you tomorrow.
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  Speaker 1: That's KFAB Husker Info Strongman Sean Callahan. Husker Buzz exclusively
• 6:28
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• 6:32
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• 6:36
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• 6:38
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• 6:43
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• 6:45
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  Speaker 1: on 1110 KFAB.