Huskers Host Zips to Open 2018 Season

GAME 1: NEBRASKA vs. AKRON
SEPT. 1, 2018 | MEMORIAL STADIUM
LINCOLN, NEB. | 7 P.M. (CT)

BROADCAST INFO
TV - FOX (Tim Brando, Spencer Tillman, Holly Sonders)
RADIO - Husker Sports Network (Greg Sharpe, Matt Davison, Ben McLaughlin)
SATELLITE RADIO - Sirius Channel 83, XM 83
INTERNET RADIO - Huskers.com
APP AUDIO - Official Huskers App

HUSKERS
2017 Record: 4-8, 3-6 Big Ten
Rankings: NR
Coach: Scott Frost
Career/NU Record: 19-7 (3rd Year)/0-0 (1st Year) 
vs. Akron: 0-0

ZIPS
2017 Record: 7-7, 6-2 MAC
Rankings: NR
Coach: Terry Bowden
Career/Akron Record: 171-106-2 (25th Year)/31-44 (7th Year)
vs. Nebraska: 3-5

The Matchup
Nebraska ushers in a new era on Saturday night when it plays host to Akron in a 7 p.m. CT contest at a sold-out Memorial Stadium. The prime-time matchup in Lincoln will be televised nationally on FOX and available on the IMG Husker Sports Network.

The game will mark the Cornhuskers' first under Head Coach Scott Frost, the consensus National Coach of the Year in 2017. Frost came to Nebraska after a remarkable turnaround at UCF, where he guided the Knights to a perfect 2017 season. Frost has a championship pedigree as a player and a coach, quarterbacking the 1997 Huskers to a perfect 13-0 record and Big 12 and national titles.

The matchup between the Huskers and the Zips is the second all-time between the two schools. Ironically, the only other meeting occurred to open the 1997 season when Frost guided a Husker offense that amassed 644 yards of total offense en route to a 59-14 victory.

Akron is in its seventh season under Head Coach Terry Bowden, who is in his 25th season overall as a collegiate head coach. Last season the Zips posted a 7-7 overall record and captured the Mid-American Conference Eastern Division crown.

This Week's Numbers
13 - Scott Frost and his 10 assistant coaches - all of whom followed Frost from Central Florida to Nebraska - have won 13 consecutive games, the longest current winning streak of any head coach or coaching staff.

1 - Freshman quarterback Adrian Martinez will make his first career start in Saturday's game. Martinez is the first true freshman to start the season opener at quarterback for Nebraska and just the second freshman ever to start the season opener, joining Taylor Martinez in 2010.

129 - Saturday's game will kick off the 129th season in the history of the Nebraska Football program. The Huskers rank among the top five in all-time victories, conference championships and bowl appearances.

Nebraska-Iowa Series
Saturday's meeting is the second matchup between Nebraska and Akron. The Huskers also opened their 1997 season against the Zips, winning 59-14 at Memorial Stadium.

• The previous meeting marked Scott Frost's opening game of his senior season. As the starting quarterback that day, Frost posted the first 100-yard rushing game of his career, gaining 123 yards on only 11 carries. He scored a pair of touchdowns on the ground and also completed 7-of-13 passes for 67 yards, leading Nebraska to 644 yards of total offense.

• Nebraska is 5-1 all-time against members of the Mid-American Conference, with the lone loss coming last September to Northern Illinois, when the Huskies used two defensive touchdowns to post a 21-17 victory.

Martinez Set for Historic Start
True freshman Adrian Martinez is expected to start Saturday's season opener with Akron.

• Martinez is in line to be the first true freshman quarterback to start a season opener in NU history. He would be just the second freshman quarterback to start a season opener, joining redshirt freshman Taylor Martinez in 2010.

• Martinez would join Tommie Frazier (1992) and Cody Green (2009) as the only true freshmen to start at quarterback in Husker history.

Frost Set for First Season
Scott Frost will lead his first Nebraska team as head coach this fall. Frost is in his third season overall as a head coach after guiding Central Florida to a 19-7 record the past two seasons.

• Frost was the consensus 2017 national coach of the year after leading UCF to a 13-0 season. UCF was the only FBS unbeaten team in 2017.

• In Orlando, Frost led the greatest two-year turnaround in college football history. He inherited an 0-12 team and led the Knights to a bowl game in his first season in 2016. That set the stage for Frost to become the first coach in FBS history to turn a winless team into an undefeated team in just two years.

• Frost brought all nine of his UCF assistant coaches with him to Lincoln. Barrett Ruud also followed Frost to Lincoln after serving as a quality control administrator with the Knights. Ruud was promoted to inside linebackers coach in January, when the NCAA permitted schools to add a 10th assistant coach.
• Before becoming UCF’s head coach in 2016, Frost spent seven seasons at Oregon (2009-15) and two years at Northern Iowa (2007-08). Included in those stops were stints as the Ducks’ offensive coordinator from 2013 to 2015 and as the Panthers’ defensive coordinator in 2008.

• Dating back to Bob Devaney in 1962, Nebraska head coaches are 5-1 in their first game as Husker head coach.

• Frost has been a proven winner in his coaching career. In 11 seasons as a full-time assistant or head coach, Frost’s teams have posted a 122-25 record, averaging more than 11 wins per season. Frost has been a part of seven conference championship teams in his 11 seasons and has twice coached in the national championship game.

• Frost’s teams have been ranked in the top 15 in 10 of his 11 seasons, including eight top-10 final rankings and six top-five final rankings.

• A Nebraska native, Frost is the fifth Husker player to return to Nebraska as head coach. His staff also features former Husker players Greg Austin (2003-06), Ryan Held (1993-96) and Barrett Ruud (2001-04).

Staff has Familiar, Fresh Faces
All 11 members of Nebraska’s 2018 coaching staff are in their first season with the Huskers. None of the 11 had ever been a full-time coach at Nebraska before, but the staff still has plenty of Husker ties.

Head Coach Scott Frost played for Nebraska from 1995 to 1997 and served as a graduate assistant coach during the Huskers’ preparations for the 2002 Independence Bowl. Running backs coach Ryan Held also played for Nebraska (1993-96) and was an undergraduate coach on Nebraska’s 1997 national championship team. Barrett Ruud (2001-04) and Greg Austin (2003-06) are also former Huskers, although neither had ever coached at Nebraska prior to this season.

The fresh faces on staff are seven assistants who are Nebraska newcomers: defensive coordinator Erik Chinander, offensive coordinator Troy Walters, special teams coordinator and outside linebackers coach Jovan Dewitt, tight ends coach Sean Beckton, defensive line coach Mike Dawson, defensive backs coach Travis Fisher and quarterbacks coach Mario Verduzco.

Although all 11 members of the staff will be coaching in the Big Ten for the first time this fall, the staff boasts plenty of big-time experience. The staff owns a collective 25 years of coaching experience at nine different Power Five programs. Austin, Chinander and Dawson also spent a combined five seasons coaching in the National Football League.

FORMER HUSKERS ON 2018 STAFF
• Scott Frost, Head Coach (1995-97)
• Greg Austin, Assistant Coach (2003-06)
• Ryan Held, Assistant Coach (1993-96)
• Barrett Ruud, Assistant Coach (2001-04)

Staff Aims for Another Offensive Turnaround
Nebraska aims for an improved offense in Scott Frost's first season, after Frost and his staff orchestrated the greatest two-year offensive turnaround in NCAA history at Central Florida.

• In two seasons in Orlando, Frost and his offensive staff helped UCF improve by an average of more than 27 points per game and by more than 270 yards of total offense per game.

• The staff inherited a UCF offense that ranked 125th nationally in scoring and 127th in total offense in 2015. Two years later, the Knights led the nation in scoring and ranked fifth in total offense.

• In 2017, Nebraska ranked 84th nationally in scoring while UCF led the nation. The Knights' averaged more than 48 points per game, while the Huskers' season high was 44 at Penn State.

• Nebraska ranked 87th nationally in total offense in 2017, while UCF was fifth. The Knights averaged 530.5 yards per game, while the Huskers' high mark of the season was 471 yards at Purdue.

Staff Also Seeks Another Defensive Turnaround
Nebraska's defense struggled in 2017, but hope that the Blackshirts can show dramatic improvement lies in the immediate turnaround Erik Chinander and his fellow defensive assistants orchestrated at UCF in 2016.

• Chinander and his defensive staff inherited a UCF defense that ranked 113th in total defense in 2015 and 117th in scoring offense. The staff inherited a unit that had allowed 464.1 yards per game and 37.7 points per game.

• Those totals are similar to what Chinander and company inherited at Nebraska, as the Huskers ranked 100th in total defense (463.2 ypg) and 115th in scoring defense (36.4 ppg).

• In his first season at UCF, Chinander earned a nomination for the prestigious Broyles Award - presented annually to the nation's top assistant coach - after helping the Knights allow nearly two fewer touchdowns per game and 94 fewer yards per game.

Nebraska to FaceTough Schedule
Nebraska will face one of the nation’s toughest schedules in 2018. The Huskers’ 2018 opponents combined for a 98-58 record in 2017.

• NU plays five games against opponents who won at least 10 games in 2017, the second-highest total nationally.

• The Huskers play nine games against teams that made a bowl game in 2017, the second-highest total nationally.

• Nebraska plays a nation-leading seven games against teams that won a bowl game in 2017.

• The Huskers will play four games against teams ranked in the top 14 of the 2018 Associated Press preseason poll, with three of those four games on the road.

• NU faces four teams who finished the 2017 season ranked in the top 20 of the Associated Press poll. That group includes No. 5 Ohio State, No. 7 Wisconsin, No. 15 Michigan State and No. 17 Northwestern.

• The Huskers face one of the nation's toughest road schedules in 2018. NU faces preseason No. 4 Wisconsin, No. 5 Ohio State and No. 14 Michigan on the road and each of NU’s five road opponents won at least eight games in 2017 while combining for a 51-16 record.

• Three of the Huskers’ five road opponents were ranked in the top 20 of the final 2017 AP poll (Ohio State, Wisconsin, Northwestern), while Iowa received votes in the final poll and Michigan spent 11 weeks ranked during the 2017 season, including six weeks in the top 10.

Nebraska's full notes package can be found in the PDF file at the top of this page