Kody Spano Tears ACL; Cody Green Next In Line?

Bo Pelini has confirmed that Kody Spano has torn his ACL for the second time on Wednesday in non-contact drills. After the first injury last spring, Spano made an incredible 4 month return just in time for the end of summer workouts.

Said Pelini:

"We'll be OK. Those guys are all coming along. We wish Kody was still with us, but he's not. It's part of the deal. I'm not worried about us. I'm worried about him. He worked his tail to come back. I feel bad for the kid. Kody's a strong kid and he understands. He's been around football his whole life, these things happen. You persevere and you move on."

"We have obviously Cody Green and Latravis Washington and we have Taylor Martinez and we brought Ron Kellogg back in," Pelini said of his back-up QB situation. "We'll be ok, those guys are all coming along.

Although losing Spano will put a dent in the depth chart, his loss isn't a deal breaker for the 2009 season by any stretch of the imagination - unless Lee gets hurt!

Now the million dollar question becomes who is going to be the #2 man behind Lee and ready to lead this offense at the drop of a hat.

This following is what Bo Pelini told OU Insider's Peter Irwin at Big 12 Media Days on July 27th when asked, "Bo, can you tell us where your quarterback situation is right now and tell us a little bit about Zac Lee."

(and right after he elaborated on Lee and Spano, this is what he said...)

"We have a true freshman in Cody Green, who's fairly limited. He had kind of a freak injury during the spring, before spring ball started. Nothing real serious, but it kind of limited him a little bit during spring ball. He's very talented. We're excited about his future in the program and what he can bring.

Just see how fast he can develop and see how quickly we'd see him on the field.

And then a young man we moved back from linebacker last year because of injuries at quarterback, who really surprised us all with some of the things he brought to the table at quarterback in Latravis Washington. We feel real good about the quarterback position, and I know there's enough talent there to get it all done. "

We all know that it's not going to matter who takes the first snap on September 5th - the bottom line is the cumulative career pass attempts for the entire group of quarterbacks is 2. Everyone's a rookie at quarterback on this projected Big 12 North Championship team.

However, Cody Green must get his chance now.

If you remember last season, Terrelle Pryor took the starting Qb job from the veteran and accomplished Todd Boeckmann in a little less than a month into the season and he didn't arrive on campus until August. I'm by no means saying Green is the same caliber as Pryor. However, if Pryor was ready to lead Ohio State to the Fiesta Bowl, then I firmly believe Cody Green can be ready to lead Nebraska against the Big 12 North if needed.

For the coaches to pass up on a very highly touted quarterback in favor of a converted linebacker would shock me, especially when Green has been on campus since last January and has as much experience as Washington with this offense. We must assume from what the coaches are saying that Cody Green is the player they thought they had when they recruited him. Barring any setbacks due to injury, this roster spot has to go to Green, doesn't it?