Rhule Talks Big Red Preview, Team Dynamic

The Nebraska football team hosted its annual Fan Day and the Big Red Preview on Saturday. Head coach Matt Rhule met with members of the media following Fan Day. 

He spoke on fall camp and the players’ mindset.

“I’ve been really, really pleased this week with the effort and attitude every single day,” he said. “They’re trying to get better. They like football. They like practice. It’s a clear step in the right direction.”

He discussed his message to the team ahead of an open practice.

“I’d like them to be very appreciative of all the people that came out here today,” he said. “I’d like them to be very appreciative of the fanfest. I’d like them to be appreciative of all the people that came out there. Last year was a little different – a different schedule. So this was me getting on the mic, it was kind of fun. This is work today. This is our first day in full pads. In the NCAA right now, you get one day of full pads in the acclimation and then you get eight more times in full pads before the first game. Just think about that. You get nine times in full pads. Nine times you can actually, physically tackle someone before the first game. If you want to know why early-season football sometimes looks pretty sloppy, that’s why. We don’t have any time to waste. I’d like them to entertain the crowd with their effort, their physicality. I haven’t really said very much. To me, we have so much work to get done. This is a really business-oriented team. I want them to have fun, I want them to dap people up at the end and all that, but we just have to get better with football while we’re out there. That’s important to me, the fans are really important to me. That stadium is really important to me, and winning home field. This will be the first time under the lights at Memorial Stadium. I expect us to play to a certain standard when we’re in there.”

Rhule also talked about the transfer players and how they’ve meshed with the team. 

“I’ll be honest with you, I don’t think anymore about who’s the transfers,” he said. “They’re all on our team. I guess that would be like Dasan (McCullough), (Andrew) Marshall, (Marques) Watson-Trent. The thing with those guys is they walked in from day one – we were really diligent this year about, I don’t want to bring anyone in here who complains about having to eat at the training table. I fixed that problem. I didn’t want to break anyone in here who complains about practice. Practice on Thursday was shorter. Dylan (Raiola) is yelling at me, like, get another rack. They’re all like, let’s get another rack. Dylan walked off, he always makes fun of me. He’s like, ‘yeah, we like practice.’ I want guys who like practice. They brought that. Dasan has brought that. Not that they brought it to a team that didn’t have it, they’ve just assimilated into a bunch of guys who love practice. There’s not a deal where it’s like, that guy is a transfer, that guy has been one of us for a long time. It’s very much like, we’re all in it together. It’s a really healthy thing. They have a lot of talent. I’ll say this about Marshall. I don’t get asked a lot of questions about this guy. This guy is as professional as can be. He practices and behaves like a pro. He doesn’t say a lot. He’s a really good football player. He’s going to play really well for us. I respect the heck out of him as the competitor and professional he is.”

Fans can purchase single-game or 3-game mini plan tickets at huskers.com/tickets. The 3-game mini plan includes the USC game, a choice between the Michigan State, Northwestern and Iowa matchups and a choice between the games against Akron and Houston Christian. 

NU will open its season against the Cincinnati Bearcats on Thursday, August 28 at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City, Mo. The game, which starts at 8 p.m. (CT), will be televised on ESPN and can be heard across the Huskers Radio Network. The Huskers’ first home game is set for Saturday, Sept. 6 against the Akron Zips. That contest will kick off at 6:30 p.m. (CT) and can be seen on the Big Ten Network and heard across the Huskers Radio Network.