Nebraska Football: Nate Gerry, Brandon Reilly Suspended for Opener Against Fresno State

Nebraska head coach Mike Riley announced after today’s practice that seniors safety Nate Gerry and wide receiver Brandon Reilly would be suspended for the first game against Fresno State for a violation of team rules.

Reilly suspension is most likely due to being charged with a DUI in the spring.

Discussing who would be replacing Gerry at the safety position is defensive coordinator Mark Banker:

Defensive Coordinator Mark Banker discussed the safety rotation due to the absence of Gerry, including Kieron Williams, Aaron Williams and Antonio Reed. He has not selected who will step in for these players yet due to similar performance in practice. "I am not too much into percentages because I hate grading myself. The biggest thing is the production to decide who will play extensively in the game."

Kieron Williams is a junior, Aaron Williams is a sophomore with three starts under his belt, and Antonio Reed is a sophomore and from Mark Banker’s quote it sounds like he’ll be either drawing names from a hat to determine who starts, or deciding who did the best job on the last day of practice and paid attention to what was going on on game day.

This has to be especially disappointing news for Nate Gerry, as it’s the third straight game in which he’ll spend time watching from the sidelines. Gerry was ejected for targeting in the first half of the Iowa game last season, then again for the same penalty in the first half against UCLA in the Huskers’ bowl win.