Ernest Hausmann enters transfer portal along with Brant Banks and Decoldest Crawford
Nebraska freshman linebacker Ernest Hausmann, whose late-season surge was a bright spot for the Huskers in their otherwise lackluster season, plans to enter the transfer portal.
The 6-foot-2, 220-pound Hausmann, a Columbus High graduate, made six tackles and a fumble recovery in Nebraska’s 24-17 victory Nov. 25 at Iowa. The Huskers finished the season with a record of 4-8 overall and 3-6 in the Big Ten.
Hausmann, though, was among the young players who helped give Nebraska fans reason to be optimistic about the future, as he came on strong in the final four games. In a Nov. 5 loss to Minnesota, he recorded four tackles, including his first collegiate tackle for a loss.
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The next week, Hausmann recorded a then-career-high 10 tackles — including his first sack — in a loss at third-ranked Michigan. He then topped that performance against Wisconsin, making 12 tackles, including 10 solo stops.
He played in every game with seven starts.
Rated as a three-star prospect in high school, Hausmann was thrown into the collegiate fire immediately. In Nebraska’s season-opening loss to Northwestern in Ireland, he finished with three tackles as the only Husker true freshman to see defensive snaps.
He made his first collegiate start the next week in a win against North Dakota in which he had six tackles. He was only the fifth true freshman linebacker to start for Nebraska in the past 30 seasons, thrust into that position because of an injury to team co-captain Nick Henrich.
A two-way standout for Columbus High, Hausmann helped the Discoverers to a state playoff appearance as a senior. An Omaha World-Herald first-team All-Nebraska selection, Hausmann made 80 tackles with eight tackles for loss, two sacks, two fumble recoveries and four pass breakups in his final season.
Offensively, he caught 37 passes for 600 yards and eight touchdowns while rushing six times for 108 yards, including a 57-yard touchdown run.
Hausmann chose Nebraska after also considering offers from Arizona State, Iowa, Kansas State, Michigan, Michigan State and Minnesota, among others.
OL Brant Banks and WR Decoldest Crawford enter the portal
Beside Hausmann, Nebraska also had two other portal entries on Thursday.
Freshman wide receiver Decoldest Crawford, who suffered a season-ending knee injury in August, will continue his career elsewhere, as well as sophomore offensive lineman Brant Banks, who saw limited action this season.
Crawford’s announcement comes on the same week as Mickey Joseph’s arrest on domestic abuse charges. He was recruited by Joseph at LSU, but chose to follow the coach to Nebraska.
As for Banks, he started at left tackle in the 2021 season-opener at Illinois and played in nine games that season.
