Week 1 Press Conference With Coach Rhule
Robby Hamberg
Husker Fans, the day we have been waiting for is almost upon us! In 24 hours Nebraska is set to open their season against the University of Texas El Paso Minors, in what will be a highly anticipated game for the college football world.
On Thursday, August 29th Nebraska Head Coach Matt Rhule held a Week 1 press conference to discuss the upcoming game against UTEP. Here is a quick rundown of what Coach Rhule had to say.
– Coach Rhule opened the press conference by promoting all husker athletics, soccer, volleyball, and encouraged people to get out and come support all Husker athletic programs
– Both Tristan Alvano and John Hohl will be involved in the kicking game to start the season, with Hohl kicking off
– Expectations are for the offense to play well. Coach wants to have the tape look the way it’s supposed to look, clean football, physicality, and QB’s being able to recognize coverages
– All four running backs on the depth chart will play this Saturday
– Rhamir Johnson and Emmit Johnson will be the third down backs
– At this point good execution will be the focus for special teams. Coach Rhule wants the opposing team to have to return a kickoff instead of giving them a touchback
– Clean and aggressive football is the expectation from Coach Rhule
– TE Mac Markway will be eligible for the season due to a new interpretation form the NCAA. The staff and team were not involved in recruiting him and were surprised when he showed up
– All single digit jersey number players and their families had a dinner with Coach and his wife on Thursday
– Gunnar Gottula and Brody Tagloa are out for Saturdays game
– Henry Lutovsky and Blye Hill are available but may not play
– Coach feels a lot of nerves going into game day and feels a lot of responsibility to his team, but at the same time is very excited to watch the team play
– Coach stated that there is “nothing like game day here” when discussing how good the fan base at Nebraska is
– When asked about his favorite opening day memories Coach Rhule shared that his victories over Vanderbilt and Penn State while at Temple really stick out to him
– Having the opposing team by the student and band section will be an advantage for the Huskers, making it more difficult for them to communicate. This is also an opportunity for the students and the band to affect the outcome of games
Coach Rhule spoke for around 17 minutes on Thursday and seemed to have an optimistic tone ahead of week 1. Like the rest of you, I look forward to seeing what this team can do on Saturday against UTEP.
Go Big Red
