Outside of Blaise Gunnerson, who decided to give up football after battling injuries throughout his career, the Huskers bring back their entire three-deep along the defensive line.
With only Ty Robinson and Nash Hutmacher set to exhaust their eligibility after the upcoming 2024 season, the Nebraska football staff went into the 2024 cycle looking to take only a couple of D-linemen given the roster numbers crunch.
An early target of the staff was Elkhorn South’s Ashton Murphy , who was offered by Matt Rhule on Jan. 31, 2023. Although he had been on the radar of former interim head coach Mickey Joseph, who got him on campus for an unofficial visit in the fall, Murphy’s recruitment had been relatively quiet entering last January’s contact period.
Despite earning honorable-mention all-state honors as a junior, the only scholarship he’d received was from Northern Iowa after attending their Junior Day. Husker D-line coach Terrance Knighton made an introduction during one of his first stops when he visited Elkhorn South to learn more about 2023 signee Maverick Noonan.