Countdown to Husker Football Season: #19 - Quentin Castille Will Pack A Big Load This Season

by Jon Johnston on Aug 17, 2009 12:52 PM CDT in Nebraska Husker Football

#19 comes to you by way of our ‘backup' running back - Quentin Castille. Castille enters his junior season having already played quite a bit during his first two seasons. As a sophomore last season he was the third-leading rusher behind Roy Helu Jr and Marlon Lucky. As a freshman, Castille was the second-leading rusher behind Marlon Lucky.

With the 2009 Huskers starting a new quarterback, you can bet that Castille will be a huge part of every game plan going into this season. It is imperative that Nebraska establish a strong running game early in the season, and Castille provides a perfect complement to starting running back Roy Helu Jr. Castille does not have Helu's break-away speed, as is evident in the video on the next page, but he is a more powerful back than Helu and hasn't had issues with injuries.

After the jump - the video may take a while to load - which is why it's not on the main page.

Castille has progressed significantly over the past two seasons - when he arrived at Nebraska he was primarily seen (and used) as a power back for goal line and short yardage situations. He proved himself capable of being a featured back when he took over full-time duties in last year's Gator Bowl against Clemson after both Marlon Lucky and Roy Helu were sidelined due to injury. Castille's two long runs of 58 and 40 yards were responsible for setting up ten of the Husker's points in the 26-21 come from behind win. His 20-yard pass reception came on a third and long play - Joe Ganz found Castille as a check down receiver, and Castille did the rest to pick up the first down. Those three plays alone show how far Castille has progressed as a back.

The greatest thing about Castille is that he's the backup. The fact that the Huskers have a backup who has two seasons left and has shown the abilities that he has bodes well for the running game this coming season.

(Clips were taken from last season's Gator Bowl DVD as part of the 2008 season package from bestofbigred.com. Clips require the Quicktime plug in.)

I look for great things from Castille this season. He's consistently improved his game, become a complete back, and shown the toughness required for his position. I have a hunch that he'll have a better season than Helu. I'm curious as to whether CN readers care to make any predictions about his 2009 season.....?

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Better than Helu-

Because of an injury to Helu (which is quite probable looking at the past few seasons and our backs) or just better cause he’ll be the featured back more?

I think it’s Helu all season long. I’m thinking that Watson will want to use Helu as a receiver out of the backfield over Castille.

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~Wanko the Sane

by JLew on Aug 17, 2009 1:44 PM CDT reply actions

probably

more because of injury than anything else, if I’m being totally honest. I hope I’m wrong about that.

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by Jon Johnston on Aug 20, 2009 12:18 AM CDT up reply actions

I actually made a bet with a friend of mine. We still need to work out the points system but I feel like Castille will have a better season than Helu as well. I see Castille’s power running coming in handy in games in the fourth quarter. It’s not impossible but with a new QB we might see two 1,000 rushers.

Case of the beet bandit. Missing beets from all over the farm, no footprints. Inside job. Mose in socks. Boom. Case closed. -Dwight Schrute

by mjschaefer on Aug 17, 2009 2:18 PM CDT reply actions

Didn't it.....

take a little while for the running game to gain a foot hold last year? If I remember right we tried to force the run and couldn’t get it done till we opened it up with Ganz and the receivers. Any bets first play from scrimmage this year will be either a stretch run play or a wide reciever screen. I think Watson has been a little predictable early, I would like to see him attack more early in the game.

by Huzkerfan on Aug 17, 2009 6:20 PM CDT reply actions

yeah

it took a while…… The Missouri game really showed the coaches that we weren’t capable of a power running game, after that we started spreading the field more.

This should be a concern again this season, the left side of our line looks pretty good this season, but the right side – we’re replacing both Murtha AND Burkes, so that’s a huge loss at right tackle, and the right guard position is up in the air.

Hopefully they can bring all this together…..

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by Jon Johnston on Aug 17, 2009 9:04 PM CDT up reply actions

The right side of the line may be untested,

but the left side will be very good I think. I would think you could run behind Hickman and Keith Williams often. Mike Smith isn’t bad either, but I think runs inside the Tackle might work a bit better than outside stretch runs to the left. We can only wait and hope that the line asserts itself a bit more than last year, a power run game would be nice to have for sure.

As far as Castille being better than Helu, hey I like Castille……as a back up. He needs to show that he has cured his fumble issues and frankly I didn’t get a warm and fuzzy out of his play as the short yardage back last season, how much was the line’s fault I would have to go back and re-asses but I didn’t see Castille force his way for the yards like you want to see. I think Burkhead ends up getting a lot more snaps than most think because I think he will be a weapon on 3rd down, more so than Castille.

by caveman99 on Aug 18, 2009 8:38 AM CDT up reply actions