Being cautious with Burkhead would be the right thing

It sounds like the mystery of Nebraska running back Rex Burkhead’s status for Saturday’s game at UCLA will not be much of a mystery.

The senior running back sat out of practice Wednesday for the third straight day, recovering from a sprained MCL in his left knee.

However, “He's doing his work,” Nebraska running backs coach Ron Brown said. “He’s not just sitting still, doing nothing. We’ll see what happens during the rest of the week. He tends to be a fast healer, and when he comes back, he comes back strong. He doesn’t come back trying to feel his way through again.

“The main thing is, we want what's best for his health, obviously.”

Hopefully, head coach Bo Pelini learned from the situation surrounding quarterback Taylor Martinez in 2010. Then a freshman, Martinez’s early season play was drawing comparisons to former Husker great Eric Crouch (the 2001 Heisman Trophy winner). However, as Nebraska was on its way to beating Missouri 31-17, Martinez sustained a high ankle sprain and later turf toe. He sat out just two games, perhaps because Pelini did not feel like he could trust backup Cody Green, but was not the same player in part because the coaching staff’s insistence on playing him ensured that Martinez never healed sufficiently.

If Saturday’s game is any indication, sophomore Ameer Abdullah (15 carries, 81 yards) and freshman Imani Cross (11 carries, 62 yards) might afford the luxury of being cautious with Burkhead. The senior running back is co-main cog in the Husker engine along with Martinez.

I’m not surprised the Huskers are at least publically taking it cautious with Burkhead and think it is for the best since Nebraska appears to have a deeper of very good young running backs.

Even if you took Burkhead’s injury out of the equation, I felt Burkhead should be used judiciously until conference play began anyway. I think the Husker offense will still be able to produce without him. That’s not to say that he isn’t a valuable asset, but just that there is quality talent behind him.

Rice had over 300 yards of total offense against UCLA. I have to believe that NU will put up substantially better numbers even without Rex.

Granted, UCLA’s defense will never be mistaken for Alabama but Rice’s offense won’t draw any comparisons to Oregon either.