Every college football team has injured players out of the lineup. The Cyclones have been hit particularly hard this year.

“We’ve had 19 kids [injured] this year,” head coach Dan McCarney said.

“Eighteen of them in the two-deep. Nine starters. That’s a lot of injuries. That’s a lot of guys that have missed game time.”

Defensive end Tyson Smith broke his right leg and tore ligaments during the first game of the year. Against Northern Illinois, tailback Hiawatha Rutland sustained what McCarney said was probably a career-ending injury. Rutland suffered torn knee ligaments and nerve damage. Both Smith and Rutland are done for the season.

Center Luke Vander Sanden, cornerback Harold Clewis and linebacker Nik Moser are all questionable for Saturday’s game against Nebraska. None played against Texas.

“[I] don’t know if they’ll be back, they missed last week [and we] don’t know if they’ll be ready to go,” McCarney said. “It’s just kind of day to day.”

With the injuries to many of the starters, the backup roles become more important.

“We need every player we can get,” McCarney said.

One place the Cyclones are becoming more stable is the offensive line. For the first time all season, the Cyclones will start the same five players on the offensive line two weeks in a row.

Senior Casey Shelton, redshirt freshman Seth Zehr, senior Bob Montgomery, true freshman Aaron Brant and junior Cale Stubbe are the projected starters for the game.

Montgomery, the anchor on the line, fought back from an off-season broken foot to play his first game of the season against Northern Illinois. Against Oklahoma, Vander Sanden was hurt and Montgomery was forced to move from guard to center.

“[Montgomery] has given so much more to the program than this program could ever give him,” McCarney said.

“He is a special young man. Whatever direction he goes, he’ll be a great success.”

Brant said the line continues to get better and Montgomery’s return is a big reason why.

“He brings a lot back to the game,” Brant said. “You can see the difference he makes. He’s just uplifting. He brings the o-line together.”

Nebraska’s defense is ranked No. 2 in the country in total defense and No. 1 in takeaways. With a young line, Montgomery said there is only one way to be successful against a tough defense.

“[We have to] play hard,” he said.

He said the offensive line is getting much better at working together and starting back-to-back games as a unit helps tremendously.

“It helps just because it’s the most continuity we’ve had all year,” he said.

“You could see it in the second half of the Texas game. We’re getting better.”

Mongomery is from Lincoln, Neb., and Saturday’s game will be his last against Nebraska.

“It will get a little emotional later in the week,” he said. “[I’m] just trying to get as much tape watched as I can right now and work on what I need to fix from last week. It’s a tough week for me trying to get everything done that I need to get done.”

Mongomery said last year’s victory over Nebraska is one of the most memorable for him.

“It’s probably number one,” he said. “One of the top highlights since I’ve been here. As a program, it’s one of the biggest wins we’ve had since we’ve been here. I think about it daily.”

Montgomery and the rest of the Cyclones will have to forget the past and tune out a very loud crowd when they head to Lincoln this Saturday. Kickoff is at 11:40 a.m.