Huskers Host South Alabama Saturday on ESPN

NEBRASKA vs. SOUTH ALABAMA
AUG. 31, 2019 | MEMORIAL STADIUM
LINCOLN | 11 A.M. (CT)

BROADCAST INFO
TV - ESPN (Beth Mowins, Anthony Becht, Rocky Boiman)
RADIO - Husker Sports Network (Greg Sharpe, Matt Davison, Ben McLaughlin)
SATELLITE RADIO - Sirius Channel 196, XM 113
INTERNET RADIO - Huskers.com, TuneIn.com
APP AUDIO - Official Huskers App, TuneIn App

HUSKERS
2018 Record: 4-8, 3-6 Big Ten
Last Game: at Iowa (L, 28-31)
Rankings: 24 (AP)
Coach: Scott Frost
Career/NU Record: 23-15 (4th Year)/4-8 (2nd Year) 
vs. South Alabama: 0-0

JAGUARS
2018 Record: 3-9, 2-6 Sun Belt
Last Game: Coastal Carolina (W, 31-28
Rankings: NR
Coach: Steve Campbell
Career/USA Record: 63-32 (8th Year)/3-9 (2nd Year)
vs. Nebraska: 4-5

The Matchup
The Nebraska Cornhuskers open their 130th season on Saturday by hosting the South Alabama Jaguars at Memorial Stadium. Kickoff for the 2019 season opener is set for 11 a.m. and the matchup will be televised nationally on ESPN, with radio coverage available on the Learfield IMG College Husker Sports Network.

Nebraska enters the 2019 season with a No. 24 preseason ranking in the Associated Press poll, marking the Huskers' first appearance in the preseason poll in five years. The Huskers are one of seven teams from the Big Ten Conference ranked in the AP preseason poll. The Big Ten led all conferences with seven teams ranked in the preseason poll, and the seven ranked teams tied the conference record for the most teams appearing in the preseason AP top 25. Nebraska also received the most votes among non-ranked teams in the USA Today coaches' poll.

Scott Frost will lead his second Husker team against a South Alabama squad that also features a second-year head coach in Steve Campbell. The Jaguars went 3-8 in Campbell's first season, including a season-ending victory over Coastal Carolina. Frost guided Nebraska to a 4-8 record in his debut season in Lincoln. The Huskers improved dramatically throughout the course of the season, winning four of their final six games with both losses in that stretch coming on the road to teams that ended the 2018 season ranked and are in the 2019 preseason top-25 polls.

Nebraska is 1-0 all-time against South Alabama, and the Huskers are 9-1 against current Sun Belt teams.

Series History
Nebraska kicks off its 130th season on Saturday by facing South Alabama for just the second time in program history but for the second time in five seasons. The first meeting between the teams came on Sept. 12, 2015, with the Huskers defeating the Jaguars 48-9 at Memorial Stadium.

• In the only previous meeting in 2015, Nebraska rolled up 561 yards of total offense with more than 300 yards passing and 250 yards rushing. Defensively, NU held the Jaguars to 19 rushing yards on 24 carries, the fewest rushing yards Nebraska had allowed in 20 games.

• The Huskers' 2015 win against South Alabama marked the 875th victory in the history of Nebraska football. At the time, Nebraska was just the fourth school to reach 875 all-time wins, joining Michigan, Notre Dame and Texas. It also marked Mike Riley's first win as Husker head coach.

• Nebraska is 9-1 all-time against current members of the Sun Belt Conference. The Huskers had been 9-0 against Sun Belt teams before suffering a 24-19 loss to Troy on Sept. 15 last year.

Husker History in Season Openers
Nebraska has an impressive history in season openers, especially when opening the season at home. The Huskers have won 97 of their 129 season openers, winning their first game more than 77 percent of the time while posting a 97-27-5 record. When opening the season in Lincoln, Nebraska has a stout record of 84-14-3 (.847).

• Nebraska is 32-2 in its first game of the season dating back to 1986, with the two defeats coming in the past four seasons by identical 33-28 scores. In 2015, BYU erased a one-point deficit with a Hail Mary touchdown pass on the final play of the game. Last season, Colorado came back from a one-point deficit to win the game with a 40-yard touchdown pass with 1:06 to play.

• SEASON OPENER RECORD: 97-27-5 (.771)
• AT HOME: 84-14-3 (.847)
• BIGGEST WIN: 117-0 vs. Kearney St. (1911)
• BIGGEST LOSS: 54-0 at Minnesota (1943)
• LONGEST WINNING STREAK: 29 (1986-2014)
• LONGEST LOSING STREAK: 6 (1942-47)

Frost Set for Second Season
Scott Frost is set for his second season at Nebraska in 2019. The 2017 consensus national coach of the year, Frost boasts a 23-15 career record in his first three seasons as a collegiate head coach.

• Although Nebraska finished with a 4-8 record in 2018, five of the eight losses came by a combined 21 points. NU lost five games by five or fewer points, including a trio of three-point defeats. Nebraska won four of its final six games, and the two losses were a five-point loss at an Ohio State team that ended the year ranked No. 3 in the nation and a three-point loss at Iowa, when the Hawkeyes kicked a game-winning field goal as time expired. Iowa finished with a No. 25 ranking.

• As the head coach at UCF, Frost improved from 6-7 in his first season to 13-0 in year two. A similar turnaround at Nebraska could be historic. A nine-win season by Nebraska in 2019 would tie for the second-largest win improvement from one season to the next in school history (five games), while a 10-win campaign would tie the largest win improvement (six games).

• In 12 seasons as a full-time assistant or head coach, Frost's teams have posted a 126-33 record, averaging nearly 11 wins per season. Frost has been a part of seven conference championship teams and coached in two national championship games in his 12 seasons. 

• Frost's teams have been ranked in the top 15 in 10 of his 12 seasons, including eight final top-10 rankings and six final top-five rankings.

• Each of Nebraska's last five head coaches won at least eight games in their second season, while the four head coaches previous to Frost each produced their best winning percentage at Nebraska in year two.

Nine of 10 Assistants Return for Second Season
Nine of Nebraska's 10 assistant coaches will return for their second season in 2019, with all nine having coached with Scott Frost in each of his four seasons as a head coach.

• Nebraska's nine returning assistant coaches mark its highest number of returning assistants since 2013, when a Husker coaching staff last had zero turnover during the offseason. Nebraska has had at least one coaching change each of the last six seasons.

• The lone new addition to the staff is Tony Tuioti, who coaches the Husker defensive line. Tuioti comes to Nebraska after spending the past two seasons at Cal, including the 2018 campaign as the Bears' defensive line coach. Tuioti was also an assistant defensive line coach for two seasons in the NFL with the Cleveland Browns in 2014 and 2015.

• Four of the Huskers' 11 full-time coaches played at Nebraska, including Frost, offensive line coach Greg Austin, running backs coach Ryan Held and inside linebackers coach Barrett Ruud.

• Nebraska's coaching staff has been lauded the past three seasons. In addition to Scott Frost being recognized as the 2017 national coach of the year while at UCF, the Husker staff features a Broyles Award finalist in offensive coordinator Troy Walters (2017) and two Broyles Award nominees in defensive coordinator Erik Chinander (2016) and quarterbacks coach Mario Verduzco (2018). The Broyles Award is presented annually to the nation's top assistant coach.

Nebraska Aims to Build Off Strong Finish to 2018
Nebraska won four of its final six games last season after an 0-6 start. The Huskers were nearly two touchdowns per game better both offensively and defensively over the second half of the 2018 season while facing four bowl teams in their final six games, including a pair of teams who were ranked in the final 2018 Associated Press top-25 poll.

• As part of its 4-2 finish, Nebraska won three games by at least 19 points. The Huskers' two losses were a five-point loss at Ohio State and a last-second three-point loss at Iowa.

• Offensively, Nebraska averaged 36.7 points per game in the final six games of 2018, after averaging 23.3 points per game in its first six contests.

• Defensively, the Huskers held two of their final five opponents to single digits last fall. Nebraska allowed 24.2 points per game in its final six contests after allowing 38.3 points per game in its first six games.

Roster Full of Youth for 2019 Huskers
Nebraska features a youthful roster again in 2019, one year after the Huskers' 2018 freshman class made a significant impact. 

• Among the 153 players on the Husker roster, 105 are underclassmen, including 78 freshmen and 27 sophomores. Overall, 69 percent of Nebraska's roster is comprised of underclassmen. Additionally, 101 of the 153 players on the roster have been added in Scott Frost's two seasons.

• Nebraska's two leading returning rushers from 2018, its leading passer, its leading scorer, its leading kickoff returner and two of its top four returning receivers were all freshmen in 2018. 

• Sophomore quarterback Adrian Martinez is Nebraska's leading returning rusher after he ran for 629 yards as a true freshman. Sophomore running back Maurice Washington is the Huskers' second-leading returning rushers after gaining 455 yards as a true freshman in 2018.

• In the passing game, Martinez returns after leading Nebraska with 2,617 passing yards as a true freshman in 2018. Two of his top four returning targets are classmates, as Washington ranks second among Husker returners with 24 catches in 2018 and Kade Warner ranks fourth with 17 catches.

• Nebraska's top scorer last season was Barret Pickering, who totaled 82 points as a true freshman in 2018.

• The youth movement may not be as pronounced on defense, but the Blackshirts are expected to be led by several players who were first-year starters in 2018.

• Nebraska's top returner in tackles (senior Mohamed Barry), tackles for loss (Barry), sacks (junior Ben Stille) and pass breakups (junior Dicaprio Bootle) were all first-year starters in 2018, and the Huskers are hoping that year of starting experience will pay dividends this fall.

• NU also featured first-year starters at punter and place-kicker last season with both starters returning. Senior Isaac Armstrong was second in the Big Ten in punting average in 2018 with the ninth-highest average in NU history (43.6 yards per punt). Pickering connected on 14-of-18 field goals last year. He made his final 10 field goals and including PATs, he has made 36 straight kicks.

Nebraska Full Game Notes Package can be viewed by clicking here