Nebraska heads into Saturday night’s game against Bowling Green with a little uncertainty hanging over the linebacker group, and that means Dexter Foster may once again be asked to carry more of the load.
The Huskers beat Ohio 49-21 in Week 1, but Owen Chambliss remains sidelined with a hamstring issue, and Matt Rhule said Monday that his status for Week 2 is still unclear.
"Not sure if he'll be back or not," Rhule said. "I hope so, but I'm not sure. He's an excellent player."
That leaves Foster, along with Shavers and Merritt, in position to help cover for one of the defense’s expected starters. Foster said Chambliss has been a steady presence in the room even while unavailable.
"Owen is a great player. He's a great leader, great dude overall," Foster said.
"He was basically just telling us to go out there and do what we've been doing, like we know our assignment, we know the cause, we know what we need to do. He's basically just encouraging us, motivating us to go out there and just play ball, just be ourselves."
Foster’s first game in a Nebraska uniform was memorable in more ways than one. The Portland, Oregon, native transferred in after two seasons at Oregon State, and his Memorial Stadium debut came with five tackles, three quarterback hurries and the 100th tackle of his college career.
He said the emotions hit him more than he expected once he was in the locker room before the tunnel walk.
"In the locker room before the tunnel walk, just sitting there thinking about, it's time, the game is here," Foster said. "Get ready, go out there and show what you can do."
That moment carried added meaning because it was his first game as a Husker.
"Definitely had a lot of emotions going out onto the field," Foster said. "Just thinking about where I came from.
Not too many people from my hometown get the opportunity to play at the next level. So it was definitely a good one to remember."
Even with the surprise of the moment, Foster said he felt ready when the ball was kicked off.
"I didn't really expect it," Foster said. "So like when it hit me, it was like kind of a shock to me, but I knew what I needed to do when I got out there."
Nebraska’s defense also had a quick reminder that things won’t always go smoothly. Ohio hit an explosive play on the first drive, and Foster said the response during the week has been about resetting and moving on.
"Throughout the week we talked about resetting," Foster said. "The first drive they had an explosive play, and you know, it's going to happen, it's just basically how you react after it.
Big play, it hurt, but we knew what we needed to get done. We knew we needed to be able to flush it and just work on the next play."
For Week 2, Foster said the next step is cleaner execution.
"I probably just say just going out there and executing our job, you know, just little things like being in the right gaps, being in the right fits," Foster said. "Being able to predict what the offenses may run, just taking that next step in that aspect."
Saturday will bring Foster his first night game at Memorial Stadium, and he’s already heard from teammates what that environment can feel like.
"They said before the USC game, I'm pretty sure it was during the night time, they said it gets rocking, it gets loud, it's going to be live," Foster said. "So I'm just excited. I'm ready to go out there for game two, basically just take the next step from week one to week two."
With one full game under his belt, Foster said the goal now is simple: settle in and keep trusting the guys around him.
"I'll probably say, you know, not making it bigger than what it is, just going out there, trusting myself, trusting the guys next to me to get their job done," Foster said. "I wasn't really thinking much of it. I was just trusting myself to go out there and just go play."
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