Game Day Guide: What you need to know for Nebraska-Northern Iowa
When Nebraska and Northern Iowa kick things off later today, it will be the first time the two programs ever meet.
When Nebraska and Northern Iowa kick things off later today, it will be the first time the two programs ever meet. That’s kind of fun, right?
While its the first time the Huskers have faced the Panthers, it’s the 15th all-time game for Nebraska against an FCS foe. The Huskers hold a 14-0 record over FCS opponents to date, with the most recent coming in 2022 with a 38-17 win over North Dakota.
For those relatively unfamiliar with UNI, here are a few fun facts:
>> The Panthers are a member of the Missouri Valley Football Conference.
>> Nebraska is 19-1-2 all-time against current members of the MVFC. The one loss and two ties all belong to matchups with South Dakota.1
>> Former Nebraska quarterback Joe Ganz coached for the Panthers (as the pass game coordinator/wide receivers coach) from 2020-23. He now coaches at Middle Tennessee.
>> Nebraska athletic director Troy Dannen is a graduate of UNI, and served as the athletic director for the Panthers from 2008-15. UNI’s current athletic director, Megan Franklin, has her bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Nebraska. She was hired at UNI in May of this year.
While Nebraska may be unfamiliar with UNI, coach Matt Rhule isn’t taking the Panthers lightly as the Huskers prep. Having experience facing FCS programs as both a player and a coach, Rhule knows what can happen if teams don’t take it seriously.
“Those guys know how to win. They win all the time,” he said on Thursday. “So now I know, playing against Northern Iowa, they know how to win. They’re ranked. Their heart rate doesn’t go up. They don’t expect something bad to happen. They don’t say, ‘Here we go again.’ The main thing that I've tried to do since being here is to eliminate all the negative structures. It’s cultural. It’s not a player.
“So Northern Iowa has winning. That’s what’s scary about them. They know how to win. They expect to win.”
We’ll see soon enough how Nebraska — a team now ranked for the first time in five years — responds.
Everything you need to know for Nebraska-Northern Iowa:
TV Channel: Big Ten Network (Guy Haberman, Yogi Roth, Rhett Lewis)
Date: Saturday, Sept. 14
Time: 6:30 p.m. CT
Live Stream: FoxSports.com (with TV provider)
Radio: Huskers Radio Network
Location: Memorial Stadium, Lincoln, Nebraska
Weather: Considerable clouds early. Some decrease in clouds later in the day. High near 85 degrees. Winds SE at 5 to 10 mph.
Line: Nebraska -34.5
Over/Under: 50.5
Notable quotes:
Matt Rhule on night games and waiting around for kickoff:
“I hate it. If it was up to me, we’d play at nine in the morning. Kegs and eggs and football, let’s go. Really, we’ve done a really good job of changing our schedule around. We changed it last week based on some of the feedback of some of the guys on the staff, so we have brunch from 8:30-10:30 and we have buses coming over here, because we have a lot of guys that get up at 6:00 in the morning every morning and come over, because we practice in the morning. They have recovery available for them. Then, we come over here and we do our walkthrough in Hawks. We’re moving around, we walk through until about 11:30, then we get back, get lunch over there, then guys go up to their rooms for a couple of hours. They get out of the hotel, they get a little fresh air, they get over here where they’re comfortable. Then games are on and we come down at 2:30 and we do our neurocharge, where we’re balancing balls and waking up, then we do a special teams callout and optional chapel and meals. We try to break the day up, as opposed to just sitting. Last year at Illinois, we found a high school. We usually go to a high school and throw the ball around. Even the offensive linemen catch balls, just to get them moving and get out of the hotel. My ADD, I can’t sit there all day. I have to get over here and do something. I think that change has really helped. I kind of grew up in the era of being in a hotel, but our building is so nice that we come back here.”
UNI head coach Mark Farley on facing Nebraska in Week 3 versus Week 1:
“Playing these two games that we played — even if you played one and then an FBS (team), then another one — I think is a good game plan. It’s hard playing that first one (against FBS teams) out of the gate because you don’t know what you are.”
Farley on a night-game atmosphere at Memorial Stadium:
“I don’t think you get prepared for it. I think you [reporters] will be just as excited when they start shooting the fireworks off. I bet your heart rate goes up a little bit, too. So it’ll be fun, that part of it.”
Defensive coordinator Tony White on what UNI presents Nebraska this week:
“This is a good preview to Big Ten play, they’re going to line up and they got 12 personnel, big backs, who can play action. Never looking down the road, but it’s going to give a sense of, we saw the pass rush, saw some coverage stuff, now you get the chance to line up and set your pads against an opponent that wants to try to impose their will on you. I’m excited about this challenge, I want to see guys play hat-in-hands, we go against the offense everyday and just work fundamental football. This is one of those games that it’s going to show up.”
Wide receiver Jahmal Bank on Nebraska’s offense two games in:
“We’ve shown great physicality, us being able to move the ball, especially on the first drive, which has been great. The ability to feed off the defense’s energy, and attack. We have got to work on first and second down efficiency, and how we want it, and closing out in the fourth quarter.”
Other games we’re watching this week:
(All games in CT)
Erin
No. 24 Boston College at No. 6 Missouri, 11:45 a.m., SEC Network
The last time two nonconference opponents ranked in the AP Top 25 faced off at Missouri’s Memorial Stadium? Oct. 4, 1980, and it was a visit from Penn State. Here we are 44 years later, and this time it’s Boston College. It seems like the Tigers’ game to lose, with SP+ predicting a 39-16 win for Missouri. Plenty of people on the beat are also expecting this to be the week where Mizzou really kicks its offense into high gear. Will that pan out? And will Missouri’s defense be able to stop Boston College’s run game?
No. 18 Notre Dame at Purdue, 2:30 p.m., CBS
Notre Dame is coming off the loss to Northern Illinois, and the Fighting Irish don’t get much of a break against a hungry Purdue team in West Lafayette. We don’t know a lot yet about the Boilermakers since they’ve only played one game against Indiana State, a 49-0 win. However, things looked good for Purdue in that matchup. Quarterback Hudson Card went 24-of-25 passing for 273 yards and four touchdowns. Not bad. Can Purdue give Notre Dame a run for its money?
Colorado at Colorado State, 6:30 p.m., CBS
Fun fact: this is the first matchup between the two in-state programs in Fort Collins since 1996. Both teams come into Saturday’s matchup at 1-1. For Colorado, the Buffs want to get back on track after the loss to Nebraska. For the Rams, they want to put back-to-back wins together. The odds appear to be in Colorado’s favor, but this could be a close one. With so much still unknown about this Colorado team, Colorado State has an opportunity to make a statement. And things are already getting a bit chippy with Rams players calling out CU. Should be fun.
Brandon
No. 4 Alabama at Wisconsin, 11 a.m., FOX
I'm not expecting the Badgers (+17) to hang around here for four quarters, but I'll definitely be tuning in for the visual dissonance of seeing the Tide in Camp Randall. Home-and-homes between the SEC and Big Ten are pretty rare. Maybe they won't be when those are the only two conferences left standing. (I hope we don't reach that place, but I'm also not hopeful we won't.)
No. 9 Oregon at Oregon State, 2:30 p.m., FOX
It's "we had to do serious damage to classic rivalries because money" weekend in the afternoon slot. West Virginia and Pitt are playing the too-infrequent Backyard Brawl. Washington State and Washington play the Apple Cup in Week 3 instead of November, which makes me sad. So does seeing the Civil War this early, but I think I need to watch this one to try to figure out what's going on with the Ducks after two lackluster performances from what was supposed to be a playoff lock for the Big Ten.
Indiana at UCLA, 6:30 p.m., NBC
You just knew when the Big Ten expanded west that the tv execs would be falling all over themselves to put Hoosiers-Bruins on a major network in primetime. I have confirmed that the basketball powers will be playing football, and I'm actually kind of excited to second-screen it during UNI-Nebraska with both teams on the Huskers' schedule. I'm expecting Indiana to come out and announce itself as a Big Ten, middle-of-the-pack player in this one.
And, of course, some of those wins and losses happened prior to teams being in the FCS, hence Nebraska’s overall record mentioned above.
I still think that B1G and the SEC will merge to form the NCFL.