Huskers Today: November 4, 2024

Kaleb Henry takes you through the latest in Nebraska Cornhuskers news.

Kaleb Henry | Nov 4, 2024

Huskers Today Nov. 4, 2024 / HuskerMax

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Kaleb Henry takes you through the latest in Nebraska Cornhuskers news.

Nebraska football trailed 10-0 then 27-7 on Saturday before losing to UCLA 27-20. The Huskers are still seeking that elusive sixth win to get bowl eligible for the first time since 2016. The Big Red are off this week before closing out the season at USC, hosting Wisconsin, then at Iowa.

Quarterback Dylan Raiola had a tough day at the office against the Bruins, completing just 14-of-27 passes for 177 yards, a touchdown, and a pick-6. The talented freshman also had to leave the game in the fourth quarter after taking a big hit near the goal line. Raiola talked about his health after the game.

As was the case with the first bye week for Nebraska, coach Matt Rhule met with the media today for his only availability of the week. Rhule said Dylan Raiola suffered a contusion to his spine and that he’d be questionable if there was a game this week but should be good for USC next week. Rhule also talked about how fans and media have noticed over the years that the team tends to play up or down to the level of the opponents.

The Big Ten Conference announced kickoff times for games the weekend of November 16. Nebraska is at USC for an early afternoon contest in Las Angeles. The Huskers and Trojans will kickoff at 3 p.m. CST with FOX carrying the game on TV.

Nebraska volleyball had another successful weekend, sweeping Wisconsin and Northwestern. The sweep of the Badgers is the first win for the Huskers in Madison since 2013.

During Sunday's match against Northwestern, Husker libero Lexi Rodriguez moved into a tie with Kayla Banwarth on the program's all-time digs charts. The pair are tied at No. 2 with 1,706 digs, trailing Olympian Justine Wong-Orantes's 1,890 career digs.

Rodriguez will have her chance to move into sole possession of second place in Eugene on Thursday as Nebraska takes on No. 12 Oregon. The Huskers will stay in the Pacific Northwest to take on Washington Saturday.

In the latest AVCA Rankings, Pitt stays at No. 1, followed by Nebraska at 2, Penn State 3, Louisville 4, and Creighton moving up to 5. The rest of the top 10 goes Stanford, Wisconsin, Kansas, Purdue, and SMU. Other ranked Big Ten teams outside of the top 10 are Oregon at 12, Minnesota at 14, and USC at 20.

Earlier today, Nebraska women's basketball rolled Omaha 88-48 to begin the season 1-0. Senior Alexis Markowski notched a double-double with 14 points and 11 rebounds. Natalie Potts equaled the scoring high with 14 points while Alison Weidner made her return to a regular season game for the first time in more than 600 days with 11 points. The debut of talented freshman Britt Prince came with 10 points, five assists, and two steals.

On Friday, HuskerMax and the I-80 Club debuted the joint effort that is the Nebrasketball Brunch Show. Every Friday at 11 a.m. CST, myself and I-80's Jack Mitchell will dive into the latest in Nebraska basketball. On the debut episode, we began with our confidence ratings in the men returning to the NCAA Tournament for a second straight year.

Nebraska men's basketball begins their season tonight against UT Rio Grande Valley. First tip is set for 7 p.m. CST on B1G+. NU Coach Fred Hoiberg met with the media Friday, where he said he wants the team to keep things simple in the opener.

After the game, come back to YouTube, HuskerMax.com, or Nebraska Cornhuskers on SI to join myself, Jack Mitchell, and Jacob Bigelow for another HuskerMax I-80 Club venture with After Nebrasketball, a postgame show during select Nebraska men's basketball games. Approximately 15 to 20 minutes after the game, we'll break down what we saw and what the players and coaches had to say after.

Turning our attention now to some Husker Headlines, Tad Stryker says Nebraska failed the physicality test against UCLA, comparing the bowl anxiety, instead of a monkey on one's back, to a 500 pound gorilla. Cole Stukenholtz asks a tough question in the wake of Saturday's loss: was Dylan Raiola the worst player on the field?

In other Husker Headlines, UCLA coach DeShaun Foster was complimentary of Nebraska in a number of facets, but emphasized the Bruins were planning to keep Dylan Raiola uncomfortable. That plan worked. Eric Hess writes that his faith in Matt Rhule's direction for the program has been shaken, but the Huskers have three games remaining to change the narrative of the season.

Watch the full episode above or listen to it below.

Stay up to date on all things Huskers by bookmarking Nebraska Cornhuskers On SI, subscribing to HuskerMax on YouTube, and visiting HuskerMax.com daily.

Published Nov 4, 2024

KALEB HENRY

Kaleb Henry is an award-winning sports reporter, covering collegiate athletics since 2014 via radio, podcasting, and digital journalism. His experience with Big Ten Conference teams goes back more than a decade, including time covering programs such as the Nebraska Cornhuskers, Oregon Ducks, and USC Trojans. He has contributed to Sports Illustrated since 2021. Kaleb has won multiple awards for his sports coverage from the Nebraska Broadcasters Association and Midwest Broadcast Journalists Association. Prior to working in sports journalism, Kaleb was a Division I athlete on the Southern Illinois University-Edwardsville Track and Field team where he discussed NCAA legislation as SIUE's representative to the Ohio Valley Conference Student-Athlete Advisory Committee.