What Blye Hill's injury means for the Nebraska defense and DB room

On Saturday Nebraska head coach Matt Rhule announced sophomore cornerback Blye Hill sustained an patella injury at practice earlier this week and will be out for the season.

“He was doing really well. He was playing really well,” Rhule said of Hill. “Our heart breaks for him.”

Hill injured the same patella as he did in last year’s spring game.

Rhule also announced junior inside linebacker Gage Stenger will also miss the season with a knee injury.

“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 gonna play a lot of football, especially on special teams for us,” Rhule said of Stenger. “So hate that he also hurt his knee as well.”

This is the second serious injury for the 6-foot-4, 195-pound Hill. After transferring in from FCS Saint Francis (Pa.) in January 2024, Hill had a strong spring and appeared to position himself to be the starting corner opposite Tommi Hill.

However, Hill suffered his first patella injury during the spring game. The setback knocked him out for about three months. The Baltimore native returned to action in the middle of the season, but ultimately used his redshirt year. He played in two games, making his debut against UCLA. He also had one tackle against Wisconsin.

As a true freshman at Saint Francis, Hill played in nine games in 2023 and made 21 tackles with one tackle for loss. He had six pass breakup and two interceptions.

Impact of Blye Hill’s injury

Nebraska’s projected starting corners at this point are senior Ceyair Wright and junior Idaho transfer Andrew Marshall. Hill was viewed as a depth player who could land a role in different packages that utilize more than two corners. He was seen with the second-team defense during last weekend’s Big Red Preview.

Without Hill, Nebraska’s defense will lean on a group of young and inexperienced, but promising options for depth. They include players like redshirt freshmen Amare Sanders and Larry Tarver Jr., sophomore Jeremiah Charles and true freshman Bryson Webber.

Redshirt freshman Donovan Jones will also be an option. Earlier this week defensive backs coach Addison Williams said the 6-1, 200-pound Jones has the versatility to play both safety — which Williams said is his natural position — and corner. Jones played 50-plus snaps at corner during the Pinstripe Bowl in December.

Junior Jamir Conn, a transfer from FCS Southern Missouri, played corner while with the Salukis. After missing spring with an injury, Conn was seen working as a safety/nickel in Nebraska’s defense during the Big Red Preview.

Another redshirt freshman, Kahmir Prescott, took reps at outside corner during April’s Husker Games scrimmage and picked off a pass.

More content from Inside Nebraska:

Last weekend, Nebraska held its second open practice of the preseason, conducting that session inside Memorial Stadium as part of the second annual Big Red Preview of the Rhule Era. Big Red Preview, an open session for both the public and the media to watch Nebraska practice, followed the annual Nebraska Football Fan Day, which was held earlier in the day inside the Hawks Championship Center. 

Our staff was out in full force during last weekend’s Big Red Preview. Read the Five Observations column from staff writer Steve Marik right here, check out the practice video highlights from recruiting analyst Tim Verghese, and take a look at the photo galleries from both Tim and publisher Zack Carpenter.

The media was allotted a 20-minute open window to view practice during Week 1 of fall camp, which offered Inside Nebraska an opportunity to snag five observations that stood out. Some of the highlights included Carter Nelson showcasing his physical stature and growth, Gunnar Gottula and the Husker offensive line, the quarterback work led by Dylan Raiola and offensive coordinator Dana Holgorsen – in addition to quarterbacks coach Glenn Thomas – and new punter Archie Wilson showing off his leg.

Read those practice notes here.

Also available: You can watch Inside Nebraska’s first practice highlight reel of fall camp right here and on the Inside Nebraska YouTube channel.