Game Day Guide: What you need to know for Nebraska-UTEP
Game Day Guide: What you need to know for Nebraska-UTEP
Nebraska kicks off its 135th season on Saturday, which also happens to be the Huskers first opener at home since 2019. It’s been awhile, huh?
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Welcome back home, Huskers — literally.
Nebraska kicks off its 135th season on Saturday, which also happens to be the Huskers first opener at home since 2019. It’s been awhile, huh?
Even better, Nebraska is home for a bit too. Saturday’s opener marks the first of four straight home games to start the season for the Huskers. It’s the longest season-opening homestand since the 2013 season. The Huskers opened with five consecutive home games that season.
Saturday also marks Nebrska’s 18th August game in program history, with the Huskers holding a 14-3 record in the month. If you like stats, here are a few for Nebraska in August:
>> The Huskers are a perfect 12-0 against nonconference opponents in the month.
>> Nebraska is also a perfect 10-0 at Memorial Stadium in August.
>> With that said, the Huskers have also lost their last three August games, including the 2023 season opener against Minnesota. All three losses in August came by a combined 14 points, with each game either on the road or a neutral site against a Big Ten opponent.
Do with that what you will.
As for 2024, coach Matt Rhule and his Huskers team are looking to take a step forward after finishing 5-7 in 2023. Four of the seven losses were by only three points, while the fifth loss was by a touchdown in overtime. Those close games are the inspiration behind the documentary series named “Chasing 3,” which kicked off a new season at the start of preseason camp.
For now, Rhule is just excited to get it going.
“We’re excited about it, excited about our team,” he said earlier this week. “I look forward to seeing everyone there starting with the legacy walk and all the way through the end of the game. We hope it’s a great day because we’ve worked very hard to get to this day.”
Everything you need to know for Nebraska-UTEP:
TV Channel: FOX (Jason Benetti, Brock Huard, Allison Williams)
Date: Saturday, Aug. 31
Time: 2:30 p.m. CT
Live Stream: FoxSports.com (with TV provider)
Radio: Huskers Radio Network
Location: Memorial Stadium, Lincoln, Nebraska
Weather: Mainly sunny. High of 89 degrees. Winds WSW at 5 to 10 mph.
Line: Nebraska -27.5
Over/Under: 48.5
Notable quotes:
Matt Rhule on his expectations of quarterback Dylan Raiola and easing him into college football:
“I’d rather lose the first game than the last game. So, we’re not going to ease into it. We’re going to play.”
Rhule on his expectations of the offense:
“I just want them to play well. I want the team to look the way it’s supposed to look. I want to play hard, play physical, I want to have clean football. I want to protect the football, I want to be aggressive, I want to block their pressures, their excellent defense, excellent pressure unit. Recognize their fronts. Dylan (Raiola) will have a challenge, and the other quarterbacks will have a challenge in recognizing their coverage structures. They’ll check when we check, they're a really well put together team. I want us to play well, that’s all I care about, and I want that for the whole team.”
UTEP coach Scotty Walden on facing Nebraska:
"People say (Nebraska's defense) is a 3-3-stack, and some people think they're going to line up an odd stack – that's what it is, no sir, that ain't it. It'll be four-down in a heartbeat. It will be a one-high, two-high, and Tony White the defensive coordinator over there is a heck of a football coach and El Paso native. I wanted to shout that out. It's awesome to see El Pasoans doing big-time things. He does a great job on that side of the ball and we have got our work cut out for us."
Linebacker MJ Sherman on fall camp ending and the season beginning:
“It’s just really fun and exciting. Finally, we’re here. We never arrived. The hay is never in the barn. The work is not done yet. We’re here, we can finally play somebody that’s a different jersey, a different color, and just see all the work that we’ve done through the spring and summer and see what we can prevail from that.”
Other games we’re watching this week:
(All games in CT — and Saturday, unless noted otherwise)
Erin
North Dakota at Iowa State, 2:30 p.m., FS1
Iowa State is a 28.5-point favorite in this matchup, and it seems like a safe bet that the Cyclones will win this one handily. North Dakota is a good FCS team though, and I think that’s a big part of what draws me to this matchup. However, Iowa State returns most of its starters while North Dakota replaces most of its starters on both its offensive and defensive lines. The Fighting Hawks’ also have an inexperienced quarterback so, yeah, it’s probably going to be Matt Campbell’s day and then some. I’ll still keep an eye on it though.
Wyoming at Arizona State, 9:30 p.m., FS1
Wyoming might be a 7-point underdog to Arizona State, but I still think this one could get interesting. After all, the Cowboys beat Texas Tech at home in overtime to start the 2023 season. Could this be another opportunity for Wyoming to spoil a season opener for a Power Four2 program? Well, Arizona State went 3-9 in 2023 and scored only 17.8 points per game (which was good for 124th in college football). The Sun Devils also allowed 31.8 points per game. As for the Cowboys, they won the Arizona Bowl and finished 9-4 on the season. They averaged 25.3 points per game (80th in college football) and gave up 22.3 points. Intriguing.
No. 23 USC at No. 13 LSU, Sunday, 6:30 p.m., ABC
Welcome to the Big Ten, USC. With that out of the way, will the Trojans be able to defeat the Tigers? Well, USC is a 4-point underdog as of when I wrote this. There are still plenty of unknowns though for both teams. Interestingly enough, both are replacing Heisman-winning quarterbacks. And yet, both teams also seem ready to take on that challenge and have plenty of skill position players to make it happen. There’s a reason the O/U is 64.5. We should see a good amount of points in this game, and that just screams Big Ten football, doesn’t it?
Brandon
No. 8 Penn State at West Virginia, 11 a.m., FOX
This used to be a nice regional rivalry. One dominated by the Nittany Lions, but a game that made sense. The stakes will be pretty high for an opener. Almost nobody is picking Penn State to win the Big Ten, but almost everybody seems to have the Nittany Lions as the Big Ten's third playoff team. Reaching the 12-team field probably doesn't include a loss to the Mountaineers. This line has been moving towards West Virginia, opening at Penn State -10 and down to -7.5 Friday night. That's despite 64% of the bets coming in on the Lions. Must be some big money on WVU.
South Dakota State at No. 17 Oklahoma State, 1 p.m., ESPN+
We get a handful of FCS upsets of FBS teams each year, but we've only had six FCS wins over ranked FBS teams since the Division I split in 1978. The Jackrabbits, back-to-back national champs, are more than live here in Stillwater with the Cowboys as just a 9.5-point favorite. You'll need ESPN+, but if you have it this is a nice 1 p.m. appetizer course as you await the kickoff of Nebraska's season.
No. 7 Notre Dame at No. 20 Texas A&M, 6:30 p.m., ABC
You guys ready for Trev Alberts' debut? Oh, and Mike Elko's? With apologies to Clemson-Georgia (why doesn't that game have more sizzle?), this is probably the national game of the week. Kyle Field at night will be a real, "man, college football is great" moment, and I am interested to see what a still-talented, transfer-boosted, well-coached A&M squad looks like. I think Notre Dame (+3) isn't getting enough respect here, however.
We host game day chats, which will be live with info from Memorial Stadium in the coming hours. Another reason to join us! (Keep an eye on your inboxes for when the chat is live.)
We also like footnotes.
That was weird to type.
Uhg. A significant annoyance of living in Texas is if I want to be social I am forced to be in a house with the Longhorns* on.
*Although I prefer to call them the Holsteins.
Having had children graduate from texas schools, the attitude of the populous is different. The expectation of cheating is accepted. The dog with the most money wins. Now with texas, a&m, and okie all in one conference, the competition will become more strident. That being said, we will see if we should have spent more looking for a left tackle. If Cocoran gets hurt it would not surprise me to see Scott move out.