NCAA Football

Quentin Castille Breaks Team Rules, Gets Booted Off Nebraska Roster

Posted Aug 22, 2009 6:35PM By Chris Burke (RSS feed)

Filed Under: Nebraska

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Quentin CastilleNebraska dismissed junior Quentin Castille from its football program on Saturday, turning the Cornhuskers' potentially potent 1-2 running back punch of Castille and Roy Helu Jr.. into a one-man show.

Castille, a bruising 6-foot-1, 235-pound back, rushed for 467 yards and six touchdowns last season while sharing time with Helu and Marlon Lucky. He stole the show in Nebraska's Gator Bowl win over Clemson, though, carrying 18 times for 125 yards.

With Lucky off for the NFL, Castille and the athletic Helu were expected to form a dynamite thunder-and-lighting duo. The storm's suddenly lost some potency.

"It's pretty black and white my expectations and what we lay out as a staff, and if someone doesn't follow those policies and guidelines, they're no longer going to be with the program, and that's the case with Quentin," Nebraska coach Bo Pelini said in a statement Saturday.

Pelini didn't disclose exactly what Castille did, but this was not Castille's first dance with the law. An arrest warrant was issued for him earlier this year when he failed to show for court on traffic violations, then he was fined for a missing license plate. It's hard to believe either of those issues ended Castille's stay in Lincoln.

Whatever the reason, Nebraska's lost a legitimate talent. Cue bowl-game highlight:



Helu led Nebraska with 803 rushing yards on 125 carries last year. He figured to see an increase in carries this year anyway, but he's going to need to put his running shoes on for sure now. His likely backup becomes Rex Burkhead, a talented player, but a true freshman.

"There's a lot of depth and a lot of talent at the running back position. We feel real good about it," Pelini said. "Time will tell. Just like a lot of other positions, there's a lot of competition going on."

The Huskers landed at No. 24 in the year's first AP Top 25 poll, though that came out before Castille's farewell.
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