LINCOLN — Barney Cotton may have felt tempted, after losing his most experienced offensive lineman to a broken leg, to mutter four words in disgust: Here we go again.
But Cotton said he didn't do it.
“No,” Cotton said Wednesday, discussing the season-long loss of two-year starting left tackle Mike Smith. “We're going to be the toughest we've ever been since we've been here. We're going to try to stay out of the training room.
“This year's all about being physically tougher and mentally tougher up front.”
Still, the loss of Smith is damaging. The 6-foot-6, 285-pound senior from Las Vegas went down in practice Tuesday. He started all 14 games last year and 12 in 2008 — more combined than any Husker but classmate Mike McNeill.
Smith did not appear likely to begin this season as a starter; instead he may have filled a swing role at center, left guard and his old position. Tuesday's practice, in fact, marked his first day at left tackle this month as newcomer Jermarcus Hardrick missed a second straight day following a bout of heat-related illness.
“It hurts,” junior center Mike Caputo said, “but that's kind of the way it goes in football.”
The loss harkens to the past few seasons, when injuries crushed the Huskers' O-line depth. They began practice last weekend as healthy as at any time in recent years, but already Hardrick and top left guard Keith Williams missed time — and then Smith got hurt.
“Obviously, it's one less guy,” coach Bo Pelini said, “but we still have great competition. We still have good depth.”
Hardrick may return Thursday, and Williams practiced Wednesday after missing the first portion of this week.
Cotton, the third-year offensive line coach, said Smith's absence hurts Nebraska's versatility more than its depth. He could have played behind Williams and Caputo while serving as a safety valve at left tackle, where Hardrick is contending for time with redshirt freshman Jeremiah Sirles.
“That's what his goal was,” Cotton said, “to be a guy who could help us at multiple spots.”
The right side of the line looks set with guard Ricky Henry and tackle Marcel Jones.
“Smitty, he's a great player,” said Jones, who started 11 games last year as a sophomore. “He has a lot of experience, and we're going to miss him a lot. But that just tells other guys that they've got to step up. Their number's called, and that's one thing you've got to do when you're on the o-line.
“You've got to be ready at all times, because injuries happen.”
Junior walk-on Luke Lingenfelter joined the 105-man roster for preseason camp Wednesday to replace Smith as Nebraska practiced in full pads for the first time.
Others are preparing to train at new positions.
Sophomore guard Brandon Thompson, among others, took snaps at center as practice ended inside the Hawks Center on Wednesday. Behind Caputo, the Huskers have redshirt freshmen Cole Pensick and Nick Ash, plus true freshman Mark Pelini, Bo's nephew.
Smith, who redshirted in 2006, could petition the NCAA for a sixth year of eligibility in 2011, though there's some question over the likelihood of its acceptance. The granting of a sixth-year waiver usually requires a player to miss two seasons to injury. Smith did not miss a game from 2007 through 2009.
“We'd like to have him,” Bo Pelini said. “It's a pretty clean break. It'll be something that he'd recover from fully. It'll be awhile. I'd anticipate that he'd want to come back another year.”
