Friday Five: Wind, road tests and a full slate of Huskers making moves
It’s homecoming weekend in Lincoln, and another week has come and gone for the Huskers. Let's recap it all.
It’s homecoming weekend in Lincoln.
Football is bracing for a blustery Saturday against Michigan State, volleyball heads into a revenge-tinged swing at Penn State with Rutgers on deck, soccer chases points in Evanston, baseball dropped a 2026 schedule loaded with brand names and wrestling signed up for a gauntlet.
Let’s get into it.
Rhule’s final word before Sparty
Matt Rhule came off the practice field Thursday with two themes: conditions and conviction. Strong winds are expected Saturday afternoon and he didn’t treat that like a footnote. It’s a variable that touches everything from kickoffs, punts and field goals. It even affects how you manage fourth downs and field position.
“It’s part of being here,” he said, pointing back to spring sessions in cold and gusts, plus recent examples that got weird (think Rutgers, Maryland and Akron).
As Rhule put it, you don’t dread these conditions. You prepare for them.
“It’s something you have to take into account in the kicking game,” he said. “It will be a factor and maybe you make some different decisions than you normally would. Good news is both teams have to play with it.”
On personnel, two linebackers earned a spotlight: Javin Wright and Vincent Shavers. Rhule called them “run-and-hit guys,” the exact profile he wants against a dual-threat quarterback like Aidan Chiles. Nebraska’s star nickel, Malcolm Hartzog Jr., will work out pregame but you can call him a true questionable to play. Demitrius Bell, who’d made progress in his return, had an unfortunate compensatory setback: a hamstring on the other leg. Not long-term but it pauses his timetable.
Rhule also zoomed out to the mental side. Losing to Michigan lingered for about ten minutes inside the building before the Huskers turned their attention forward. Rhule pointed out that it’s been since 2019 since Nebraska beat Michigan State, and this is a chance to end that drought.
As for what we’ll see at running back or on the offensive line, Rhule didn’t say much. You’ll see it when you see it, essentially.
The larger identity check was blunt.
“We’re one of the top teams in the country throwing the ball… ,” Rhule said. “We’re one of the top teams in the country at pass defense. We’re not there running the football. We’re not there stopping the run.”
The prescription matched the diagnosis: good-on-good all week, because the only way to fix run game and run defense is to collide in practice.
And a quick nod to recruiting: game day is selling itself.
“The feedback I get is we’re making some noise with people,” Rhule said.
Volleyball’s first real road punch
Nebraska’s first Big Ten road trip is a back-to-back at No. 16 Penn State on Friday night in State College, then a quick turnaround to face Rutgers less than 24 hours later. Rec Hall has been loud and cruel before. Last season’s regular-season finale cost Nebraska a share of narrative control and, more memorably, the national semifinal was a reverse-sweep gut punch that still sits in the players’ memory banks.
Harper Murray didn’t tiptoe around it over the summer.
“For the fans? We’re going to beat Penn State,” she said. “We promise.”
Penn State’s profile is odd on paper: five losses already after a strong start that included wins over ranked Creighton and Kansas. The setter baton passed to senior Addie Lyon after Izzy Starck — last year’s AVCA National Freshman of the Year — chose to step away this season for her mental health. That’s a seismic change in any offense. The Nittany Lions still have teeth in every lane though. Libero Gillian Grimes stabilizes the floor, Kennedy Martin can flip a set in one rotation on the right and the middle duo of Gabrielle Nichols and Maggie Mendelson can turn rallies into math problems.
Nebraska, meanwhile, opened league play like a No. 1 should — sweeps over Michigan and Maryland — and is spreading the load the way elite teams do in October. The middle tandem of Rebekah Allick and Andi Jackson is solid, Bergen Reilly has the offense humming and Murray has lived up to the All-America billing on the pin. The danger with a Friday nighter at Rec Hall isn’t just the opponent, but the building and the memory. Nebraska won’t be playing ghosts but it will be asked to play through them.
First serve is set for tonight at 7 p.m. on FOX.
Soccer heads to Evanston
John Walker’s group has lived in thin margins through conference play. Nebraska sits 5-2-5 overall (0-2-3 Big Ten), coming off a narrow loss at Michigan and a 1–0 fight with top-10 Iowa. That’s a tough double and it compressed the table. The opportunity now? Northwestern on the road.
The resume notes are encouraging beneath the surface. Nine returners have set new career highs in at least one category, which implies the floor is rising across the rotation. Kayma Carpenter leads the league with three game-winners and sits top six in goals and points. Team-wide, the Huskers are second in the conference in total assists.
Northwestern brings a 4-2-6 record (0-1-4 Big Ten) and a defense-first identity behind keeper Nyamma Nelson (0.85 GAA, 40 saves). Kennedy Roesch is the Wildcats’ top scorer, while Alex Fallon and Liz Cardwell do a lot of the supplying.
Evanston has been friendly enough historically (NU leads the series 7-6-3), and the Huskers took a 3–2 thriller there in 2023. If Nebraska wants to rejoin the top half of the table, this is one of those away days that can jump-start it.
Kickoff is Sunday (Oct. 5) at 1 p.m. CT on B1G+. Purdue awaits back in Lincoln on Thursday, Oct. 9.
Baseball’s 2026 road map
Will Bolt signed up for the smoke.1
The 55-game slate announced this week includes 19 dates against eight teams fresh off the 2025 NCAA Tournament: Auburn, Creighton, Florida State, Kansas, Kansas State, Louisville, Oregon and USC.
The headline openers are pro-level showcases. Nebraska launches at the MLB Desert Invitational in Scottsdale (Feb. 13–16), then heads to Globe Life Field for the Amegy Bank College Baseball Series (Feb. 20–22) with Louisville, Kansas State and Florida State in the building. That’s a scouting combine for your rotation and an early season stress test for your bullpen management.
From there, the itinerary stacks neatly: a road swing at Auburn (Feb. 27–Mar. 1), then a five-game home stretch, then conference play ignites with Michigan State in Lincoln (Mar. 6–8). The calendar bounces between Big Ten grinders and marquee non-conference matchups, like Indiana and Penn State at home, trips to Michigan and Oregon, home dates with Creighton and USC, road stops at Kansas and Illinois. The final homestand of note is Iowa (May 8–10), and then it’s back to Omaha for the Big Ten Tournament at Charles Schwab Field. Again.
If you wanted to know whether Nebraska intends to challenge a national seed resume, the answer was baked into the schedule.
Wrestling’s schedule says it out loud
Mark Manning has never been allergic to a hard road but this winter ups the ante. The Huskers will see 11 of last year’s top-25 NCAA finishers, hit multiple national-scale dual events and host bluebloods.
Start with the Navy Classic (Nov. 2) to shake off the rust, then come home for Army (Nov. 7) at the Devaney. The centerpiece early is the National Duals Invitational in Tulsa (Nov. 15–16), featuring 16 teams, 11 of last year’s top-12 and a $200,000 grand prize on the line.
December stays busy: Journeymen Duals (Dec. 5) in Missouri, then a two-dual homestand against North Carolina (Dec. 19) and Oklahoma State (Dec. 21). Northern Iowa visits to close nonconference on Jan. 3.
Big Ten play is a proper gauntlet: at Minnesota (Jan. 16); then back-to-back home duals vs. Iowa (Jan. 23) and Ohio State (Jan. 25) — the latter the Buckeyes’ first trip to Lincoln since 2020. Then it’s the trip every Big Ten team circles: at Penn State (Jan. 30). February brings Purdue (Feb. 6) and Northwestern (Feb. 8) to Lincoln, then road stops at Illinois (Feb. 13) and Indiana (Feb. 15), with a nonconference close at Utah Valley (Feb. 21).
Championship season is marquee: Big Tens at Penn State (Mar. 7–8) and NCAAs in Cleveland (Mar. 19–21).
Quite the schedule, no?
Wind or no wind, this weekend is a measuring stick across the department for a few reasons. It’s also homecoming, and the Clydesdales are in town. Why not, you know?
Thanks for being here. We’ll have more throughout it all, including our game day chat for paid subscribers.2
I think that’s how the youth are saying it these days.
Which will probably include a mention or two about Taylor Swift’s new album from me. I’m not sorry.