The Minnesota Golden Gophers were the first team to highlight the Big Ten’s new pregame requirements, noting multiple players on their Week 1 Availability Report. Kicking off the Big Ten calendar with a game against the Nebraska Cornhuskers, the Golden Gophers’ Injury Report detailed nine players they’ll be without against the Cornhuskers.
Minnesota Injury Report: Chris Autman-Bell Questionable to Start Season
The Gophers and Cornhuskers handed out their availability reports just under two hours prior to the scheduled kick of their highly anticipated matchup. The first of the Matt Rhule tenure at Nebraska, the game also marked the first of the new requirements as noted by the Big Ten Conference officials earlier this week.
Minnesota will be without the following players:
- DL Darnell Jefferies
- DB Craig McDonald
- LB Derik LeCaptain
- LB Cody Lindenberg
- DL Lucas Finnessy
- DL Hayden Schwartz
- OL Jackson Ruschmeyer
- TE Sam Peters
- TE Jameson Geers
The Gophers also listed the following athletes as “questionable” ahead of their game:
- WR Chris Autman-Bell
- K David Kemp
Among those players set to miss the game against Nebraska, only Cody Lindenberg was listed as a starter for the Gophers defense. Jefferies and McDonald were featured on the two-deep depth chart for Minnesota and were set to play an integral role in the depth of their defensive front.
For Autman-Bell, injuries have derailed his career over the course of it, this being his seventh season with a medial redshirt granted to him along the way.
Autman-Bell’s loss on the offense is large but the Gophers did a great job of utilizing the transfer portal to secure fresh faces at receiver.
Nebraska to be Without Nick Henrich, Jimari Butler
Nebraska made use of the availability reports as well, detailing they have no players listed as questionable and only two players who will miss the contest.
- LB Nick Henrich
- LB Jimari Butler
Henrich is a big blow for the ‘Huskers as he was projected to start at the middle linebacker spot. Butler was a depth piece at JACK and should also have the lack of his presence missed.
