Matt Rhule announces Nebraska CB Blye Hill, LB Gage Stenger will miss 2025 season with injuries

Nebraska cornerback Blye Hill and linebacker Gage Stenger will miss the 2025 season due to injuries, Huskers coach Matt Rhule told reporters Saturday. Both players suffered knee injuries.

Hill re-injured his patella, an injury he suffered last spring, Rhule said. He added Hill was having a strong training camp so far before suffering a non-contact ailment. Stenger, meanwhile, was expected to contribute on special teams.

Rhule also expressed his confidence both players would come back from their injuries to contribute to the program in the future. In the meantime, he said the staff is there to lend its support.

“Unfortunately, Blye Hill and Gage Stenger will be out for the year,” Rhule said. “Both got injured. Blye had that patella once before and unfortunately, just re-injured the patella in a non-contact play a couple days ago. He was doing really well. He was playing really well. Our heart breaks for him. And Gage Stenger, just the heartbeat, the epitome of what it means to be a Husker, a leader on the team. Just a grinder and a guy who was going to play a lot of football, especially on the special teams for us. He also hurt his knee, as well.

“Very, very, very unfortunate. We believe in both those guys as people. We know who they are, we know that they’ll both be back. We’re here to support them in every way.”

Hill appeared in two games last season as a true freshman and Stenger played in seven as a redshirt sophomore. He totaled three tackles while playing a key role on special teams, something he was expected to do again in 2025.

Nebraska is coming off its first bowl game appearance since 2016 as the Cornhuskers finished 7-6 in Matt Rhule’s second season as head coach. The program will also have its quarterback returning for Year 2 as Dylan Raiola looks to build on his strong finish to the season. He’ll also have continuity at offensive coordinator as Dana Holgorsen – who took over as play-caller at the end of the season – is staying in the role.

With Holgorsen’s head coaching experience, Rhule said he provides a good sounding board. That’s part of the value he brings to the program.

“The great thing about Dana is he’s been a head coach,” Rhule said. “He knows the challenges of being a head coach. I always feel like when guys have been a head coach and go back to being an assistant, their idea of — their comprehension of loyalty to the program, to the head coach changes. It’s so hard to sit there as the head coach and make these decisions and have everyone be, like, we should do this, we should do that. So, Dana is elite in that. I think my trust in him where I bring a lot to him. I sit in his office and say, ‘What do you think we should do here? What do you think we should do here?’”