One final week before it all begins again

It was the last weekend without college football until January. Are you ready for it?

Offensive coordinator Marcus Satterfield (left) leads the quarterbacks and receivers through a drill during preseason camp. (Photo by Erin Sorensen)

Hope you got all of those last-minute projects taken care of over the weekend. It was the last weekend without college football until January.

For Nebraska, the Huskers will invite fans to their annual Football Fan Day this Saturday, Aug. 24 from 11-12:30 p.m. The event will remain at the Hawks Championship Center.

That’s not all. Saturday will be for volleyball too, with the Nebraska volleyball team hosting its Fan Day at the Devaney Center from 9-11 a.m. and then the Red-White Scrimmage later in the day at 6 p.m. The fall sports calendar has finally arrived.¹

A few quick housekeeping notes:

This newsletter is going to focus on football. Volleyball later in the week. With that said, this will be the last week of our “offseason” schedule. We’ll resume our “in-season” schedule, which will have one more newsletter in your inboxes every week. It’s worth it, promise.

We are nearing one year of Counter Read. It’s a bit surreal to think about, but it is only possible because of you. For our subscribers that have been here since the beginning, keep an eye out for a special deal as a thank you for being here. We’d like you to stick around. For our free subscribers who have been contemplating joining us as the fall sports calendar gets underway, we’ll have an offer your way too. Stay tuned.

For now, let’s review some of the storylines as Nebraska football’s season-opening matchup with UTEP gets closer.

Somebody has to emerge

Who is going to step up and take the lead of the running backs room at Nebraska? It’s a question coach Matt Rhule would like to answer soon.²

"Year one, you're playing the guys who can just execute (and) know what to do," Rhule said on Saturday. "Now that everybody knows what to do, it's who can execute, who plays with great technique, who plays with great effort, speed and physicality, and finally, who makes plays. 

“If we're all checking the boxes of execution, who takes the ball 80 (yards)?" 

Emmett Johnson, Rahmir Johnson and Gabe Ervin Jr. are all high on the list. Dante Dowdell, the transfer from Oregon, is getting closer to that group too. There’s plenty of depth there, which is great, but Rhule doesn’t intend to play five backs in a game.

"That's too hard. It's a good luxury we have (but) somebody has to emerge,” he said. "In a perfect world, if one guy gets 20 carries, one gets 12 and one is a role player, then you're really sturdy, you're really healthy. I don't know who that is yet. I don't know that we'll know that after today and we need to know that here shortly because we're not going to get to game day and make a decision. I thought (offensive coordinator Marcus Satterfield) did a good job of letting them know (they’ve) all done a good job, but that now it's time for somebody to separate themselves." 

Sidelined, for now, but hopefully not long

It was disappointing to hear Rhule share that redshirt senior linebacker Javin Wright is sidelined indefinitely with a medical condition.

"He should be OK," Rhule said. "He can't play right now as a result."

Rhule didn’t disclose the medical condition, but Wright has battled blood clots and various injuries in his college career. When we spoke with him to start fall camp, he shared his excitement for the season ahead. He’s been waiting and working for a season to be fully healthy.

“All of those surgeries and all of those blood clots and all of that stuff has put me in the position today to be successful,” Wright said. “I’ve weathered the storm. I’ve already been through hell and back several times and now that I’m in this position today, I am mentally strong and people can never take that away from me.

“I’m already mentally tough.”

While we wait for positive news for Wright, here are some stories he shared earlier in camp that I’ve been holding on to:

>> Did Wright lose any weight going through surgeries?

“No, because I ate a lot,” he said with a laugh. “I love to eat.”

>> The toughest thing Wright said he has overcome to date was his second blood clot. Nebraska was getting on the plane to Oklahoma in 2021 when Wright felt something in his leg.

“I’m just getting back into football from the first blood clot and I’m about to get on the plane, but my leg starts swelling,” Wright said. “I was debating if I should tell anyone because I was starting on kickoff, but my friend told me I needed to go see somebody so I did and they said it was another blood clot and that we’d (have to get) surgery.”

Knowing that Wright will now sit out to start the season, it’s even more heartbreaking knowing how badly he wants to be on the field. Here’s hoping for full health, so he can return to the field this season as Rhule suspects he will.

So, about the kicker position

The question mark remains surrounding returner Tristan Alvano, who wasn’t part of the initial group in fall camp due to injury. He returned to camp, but it still sounds like things are day-to-day.

“There’s ready and then there’s being the best guy right now,” Rhule said. “He’s still working his way back. I assume he will be ready, but that’s not a foregone conclusion right now.”

Well, that’s a bit concerning, no?

Nebraska added transfer kicker John Hohl and freshman Nico Ottomanelli in the offseason, so there’s depth there. Rhule said the Huskers had some “foresight in this,” bringing in players to bolster the room.

“Knowing that some guys, it might be three games into the year until someone’s 100% healthy,” Rhule said.

Whatever the case, Nebraska needs to improve on its kicking in 2024. The Huskers finished 117th nationally in field goal percentage in 2023, which is a tough pill to swallow when you consider how many games Nebraska lost by three points last year.

Do we get the official word on QB this week?

"Probably some time this week," Rhule said. "We'll probably be ready to name it some time this week. We'll go out and watch the tape now and kind of look at a number of different positions and say, 'Hey, here's the depth chart we have going into that first game.’" 

If freshman Dylan Raiola does end up as the starter — as many suspect he will — the big question is who ends up at the No. 2 spot. Rhule was complimentary of freshman Daniel Kaelin,³ saying he has the “it” factor. But Rhule has been clear he has three quarterbacks that could — and can — lead Nebraska.

"I think the thing we have is we have three guys who can lead us to win, so from that point it's hard," Rhule said. "The difficult part you have is you have one guy who has played and you've seen him play and then you have two guys who haven't played in college. That's maybe the unknown factor here, but all three of those guys have worked hard and done a good job and I'm sure they'll all continue to improve." 

We’ll have availability Tuesday and Friday again this week, so we’ll see if that announcement comes from either.

1. Let’s not forget that soccer is already two games into its season (not including exhibition matches). While the Huskers fell to Oklahoma State to open the season, the team bounced back on Sunday with a 3-2 win over Colorado State. Sarah Weber’s hat trick is worth a watch or two. Nebraska is back in action on Thursday, Aug. 22 at 7:05 p.m. against Duke in Lincoln.

2. Obviously. I know!

3. Not sure if this is interesting to anyone but me, but I asked Kaelin in the spring if he prefers to be called Daniel or Danny. He said he doesn’t really mind either way, but shared his preference is to be called Danny in person, but Daniel in writing. So it will be, at least around here.