Oppo Research

Nebraska’s camp has been quiet so far, but how’s it going for the teams on NU’s schedule?

Courtesy Nebraska Athletics

We’re getting close now. Later this week—on Thursday or Friday according to Matt Rhule—Nebraska will transition from camp mode to an in-season schedule. The Huskers will have a “mock game” Saturday, not just with refs but with a game clock simulating when they come out for warmups, when they exit, etc. Then it’s on to Ohio officially.

With Rhule still honoring offseason omertà, let’s use this transition time to take a quick look at the other teams on Nebraska’s schedule. The goal here is to give you one big development from fall camp for each opponent, though big is somewhat relative. As has thankfully been the case with Nebraska’s camp thus far, sometimes the developments are big-picture small.

Either way, you should still learn something about the teams standing in NU’s way this season.

Ohio: The Bobcats named Nick Poulos their starting quarterback over the weekend. That’ll make his first career start next week’s opener in Lincoln, but Poulos has appeared in 12 games for Ohio over the past two seasons. That makes him sort of the safe option as John Hauser takes over the head coaching role after spending the last four seasons in Athens as an assistant and coordinator.

Bowling Green: The Falcons have yet to make a call at QB with Oregon transfer Austin Novosad and Jay Kastantin, an addition from Division II Assumption University in Massachusetts, battling it out. Make of that what you will. I make of it that Bowling Green might not be in a great spot behind center right now. The good news: The Falcons open the season at home against an FCS opponent. The bad news: They’re only 2.5-point favorites over preseason No. 5 Tarleton State, which will already have a game under its belt.

North Dakota: Not a lot of breaking news out of the Fighting Hawks camp, but they did name five captains and two of them are Nebraskans—Edge Lance Rucker (Millard South) and offensive lineman Trace Thaden (Millard West). Quarterback Jerry Kaminski, a fellow captain, won the skills competition at the Manning Passing Academy over the offseason. That might only remind people here of the Tanner Lee era, but Kaminski did have to beat out a number of FBS QBs for that award. North Dakota opened at No. 10 in the FCS rankings, and I remain convinced this is the toughest of NU’s nonconference trio. It has the potential to be that kind of game.

Michigan State: Pat Fitzgerald said last week that MSU could have up to nine wide receivers in its rotation. That’s (probably) too many receivers, man, but it’s a useful indicator of where the Spartans sit early this season. They’re attempting an overhaul with 29 incoming transfers. You could convince me almost anything is possible in East Lansing this season. Nebraska’s best edge in the Big Ten opener might be catching this team early, when it might still be mulling the merits of nine receivers.

Maryland: This is the most unfortunate development for a team on the schedule so far as the Terrapins lost sophomore edge Zahir Mathis for the season. He ranked second on the team in 2025 with 6.0 sacks, trailing only fellow true freshman Sidney Stewart, and it was a bit surprising Maryland was able to hang on to both after such strong debut seasons in the Big Ten. The NIL Standard estimated Mathis’s roster value at $760,000, fourth highest on the team.

Indiana: For a moment in early August, it looked like the nouveau riche were getting plus riche thanks to a court injunction that meant the NCAA’s new “five-for-five” eligibility rule could be applied to 2022 recruits who had already played four college seasons. That allowed edge Kellan Wyatt and defensive lineman Stephen Daley to return to Bloomington. Wyatt was a seven-game starter for last year’s national champions before being injured, and Daley ranked third nationally with 19.0 tackles for loss. Pretty notable additions for the sixth-ranked Hoosiers, but now that’s on hold after an appeals court granted the NCAA a stay of the previous injunction. The Hoosiers will still be fine up front, and probably across the board, but a court may decide if they’re plus Indiana in 2026. College sports are fun right now.

Oregon: Nothing much to see in Eugene and nothing at all if you’re quarterback Dante Moore—he’s taking a break from social media. You know you’ve got a program in a pretty good spot when this is a prominent headline for the No. 2 team in the country.¹ This still seems like the least winnable game on the schedule.

Washington: “Our guys know who’s playing,” head coach Jedd Fisch said over the weekend after the Huskies’ latest scrimmage. Maybe that’s not a surprise given Washington ranked 15^th nationally in Bill Connelly’s returning production, but the knowns here might include at least four true freshmen at key spots, including two on the defensive line, the left tackle(!) and a cornerback. This might be a good encapsulation of the Huskies in 2026—upwardly mobile but not inevitable.

Illinois: For as solid as Illinois has been over the past two seasons, Bret Bielema’s been doing some wheeling and dealing this August, adding transfers at tight end and wide receiver this month. Both were accomplished FCS players who were out of eligibility, so their status is up to the courts. Again, college sports are fun right now. Either way, I was a bit skeptical of the amount of turnover for the Illini this offseason and that it’s continuing this close to the season makes me feel better about that skepticism.

Rutgers: No starter at quarterback for the Scarlet Knights yet. Rutgers held its second big scrimmage over the weekend and is still deciding between AJ Surace (third year, nine career pass attempts) and Boston College (by way of Alabama) transfer Dylan Lonergan.

Ohio State: The Buckeyes are talented (the constant) and healthy (the variable). The schedule remains beastly, however, with road games at Texas, Iowa, Indiana, USC…and Nebraska?

Iowa: No quarterback decision here so far as Wake Forest transfer Jeremy Hecklinski and Hank Brown can both throw the ball approximately 20 times a game if called upon. One maybe notable injury thus far: SMU transfer wide receiver Lance Beeghley will miss “a big part” of the season according to Kirk Ferentz. He didn’t come in with a ton of production, but he was one of two power-conference transfers in the Hawkeye’s 15-man class. He was probably brought in to do something, but who knows? Iowa just Iowas, and this will all be sorted by Black Friday.

1. Though I will say, I was sort of surprised while compiling all this just how familiar the beats of a fall camp felt. Any fall camp. Could be Athens or Grand Forks or Eugene. The news coverage doesn’t change much. It’s mostly “show up, get quote, make quote story,” and most coaches talk the same, so…