College football: Nebraska QB questionable against Gophers

MINNEAPOLIS - Minnesota Gophers football coach Tracy Claeys expects gamesmanship out of Nebraska before the two Big Ten West division contenders meet Saturday night.
With Minnesota and Nebraska holding identical 4-2 conference records heading in, Claeys anticipates the playing status of Cornhuskers quarterback Tommy Armstrong to be considered classified information.
“No one is going to let anything out this week,” Claeys said Sunday.
While the Gophers beat Purdue 44-31 Saturday, now-No. 21 Nebraska was blown out by No. 6 Ohio State 62-3 and lost their quarterback to a scary injury in the second quarter.
With the Cornhuskers training 24-3, Armstrong’s head bounced off the turf when his legs were cut out from underneath him during a tackle. He was briefly knocked unconscious but was moving his arms and legs when he was carted off the field. After a precautionary trip to the hospital, he returned to the sideline.
Nebraska coach Mike Riley said Armstrong’s absence against the Gophers “could be very likely.”
If Armstrong can’t play, the Gophers’ chances of pulling off an upset in Lincoln significantly improve. The senior dual-threat quarterback has averaged 252 yards per game this season (202 passing and 48 rushing. He has 11 passing touchdowns and a team-high seven rushing scores.
“You can’t let him go off and have a big game - whether that is throwing the ball or running the ball,” Claeys said. “That’s easier said than done, but when you look at when they win, he usually has a big game or he’s thrown for a lot of yards.”
When Armstrong exited, senior Ryker Fyfe entered. But neither of them could do much against the Buckeyes.
Armstrong was 4-for-15 passing for 74 yards and an interception returned for a touchdown. He added four rushes for 19 yards. Fyfe was 5-for-18 for 52 yards and an interception returned for a touchdown. Fyfe, who has played sparingly in four games this season, didn’t add a rush Saturday.
Claeys said the Gophers will prepare for Armstrong and Fyfe. “Then adjust to whatever one it is, whoever ends up playing,” he said.
The Cornhuskers’ dismantling at the hands of the Buckeyes comes a week after playing well against No. 7 Wisconsin before losing 23-17 in overtime in Madison. Claeys doesn’t want his players to have short-term memories affect their preparations.
“We’ve all got something here at the end to play for, which is fun, this time of the year, but that’s a tough place to win, and they’re a good football team,” Claeys said.
The Gophers were without running back Shannon Brooks (undisclosed injury) on Saturday, but Claeys expects to have the second-leading rusher back versus Nebraska.
“Now, I was confident we’d have him last week, too,” Claeys said. “It surprised me how long it took, but yeah, I do I feel pretty good. It’s nothing serious. We just couldn’t get him up to full speed.”
Rodney Smith, who rushed for 153 yards and three touchdowns Saturday, hobbled off the field with an ankle injury in the fourth quarter.
After having his foot retaped, Smith returned to the game. Claeys said he’s not concerned about Smith’s setback carrying over to Saturday.
“Now, I haven’t talked to the trainers or anybody yet, but by the way he finished the game, I don’t think it’s too big of a concern,” Claeys said.
The one spot that could be a concern is middle linebacker. Cody Poock exited Saturday with a shoulder injury, while Nick Rallis was ejected in the second half for targeting. Rallis will miss the first half against the Huskers. Thomas Barber could fill-in off the bench or Jack Lynn could move in from outside linebacker.
Claeys was willing to share those possible alterations. We’ll see what details Riley and Nebraska offers about Armstrong this week.