Football Video & Report: Aug. 26

Nebraska football head coach Matt Rhule met with the media to preview Thursday’s game against Cincinnati. He discussed the team’s focus and preparation.

“It’s been great, like they want to play,” he said. “It’s very evident. It’s a very mature team. On Saturday, I probably got 50 text messages from the guys as they were watching different games and seeing different situational football happen or some of the mistakes we told them would happen in first games. I think they recognize what’s ahead of them. I think they recognize some of the rulings that were made in terms of the new rules, in terms of a snap on defense with a shift or illegal substitution or delay of game rules that are now prevalent. So, we’ve been very locked in and hopefully we continue that tonight.”

Rhule talked about the wait for an 8 p.m. kickoff time.

“There’s not much you can do to manage waiting,” he said. “Waiting is waiting. It’s brutal. It’s one thing on a Saturday because there’s at least games on. We try to break the day up. We have a rolling brunch until about 11, then we go to local high schools and we’ll go out and get outside of the hotel. We’ve done that for a long time. We’ll mess around a little bit at local high schools, come back, guys will head up, take a nap, hang out. Then, we’ll come back down and get our stuff started.” 

He spoke on the impact that the Nebraska fanbase can have at a neutral-site game. 

“I don’t even consider it a neutral site,” he said. “I just think it’s Arrowhead. Arrowhead seems like part of our DNA, our footprint. I think this feels like a home game lite. I expect to have the same home game intensity, if not even moreso, because we’re more excited as a fanbase, to see this team for the first time. Obviously we’re playing a great team in Cincinnati. When you have the chance to play another Power 4 team, that’s exciting. It’s the first time for me playing at Arrowhead, so it’ll be exciting.”

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.