What Nebraska could actually take from the Red-White Scrimmage
The Huskers’ annual Red-White Scrimmage is always a little strange to evaluate because both teams are, well, Nebraska. Let's dive in anyway.
The Huskers’ annual Red-White Scrimmage is always a little strange to evaluate because both teams are, well, Nebraska. At all times, one side is the opponent making the other side’s life a little more difficult
That was especially true Sunday at Pinnacle Bank Arena, where 10,753 fans showed up for the Huskers’ unofficial start to the 2026 season. The Red team beat the White team 3-1, but you have to take that with a grain of salt. Coach Dani Busboom Kelly shuffled the lineups halfway through the match, so it’s not exactly easy to compare perfectly.
What mattered the most was what Nebraska put on tape before it leaves Lincoln for a loaded opening stretch away from home. What stood out was not necessarily clean offense or a perfect first public showing. It was how hard Nebraska made things on Nebraska.
The combined hitting percentage for the afternoon was .074. Red hit .121, while White hit .023. If you only looked at the offensive numbers, you could probably talk yourself into being concerned. The Red team had 31 attack errors, while the White Team had 32. Plenty of swings went just long, just wide or found a block.
Busboom Kelly knows how that can look to those watching.
“I do think Red-White (scrimmages) are hard because when you look at the stats, you can be disappointed in one thing, but it’s probably because of something else you’re doing well, so it does get tough to evaluate …” Busboom Kelly said. “I hope it’s very hard to get a kill in our gym, and I hope it’s more because of that and not because we can’t get kills. I do think the defense is a little bit ahead of the offense right now.”
Basically, Nebraska’s offense was not sharp enough yet but Nebraska’s defense also had a lot to do with that.
