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Matt Rhule Previews Indiana: ‘Probably a Top 10 Team’ Nebraska Football is Facing

Cornerback Ceyair Wright and punter Brian Buschini are the latest Huskers to earn Blackshirt status. That and much more from the coach's Monday morning session with the media.

Joe Hudson

Nebraska Football Coach Matt Rhule - Pre-Indiana
Nebraska Football Coach Matt Rhule - Pre-Indiana / HuskerMax
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Contents

  1. Coverage
  2. From the other side
  3. More info

Nebraska football head coach Matt Rhule met with reporters Monday to preview the Huskers' game Saturday against No. 16 Indiana. Below are Kaleb Henry's notes from the nearly half-hour session, and above is the full video. Scroll down further for more coverage, plus items from Indiana's perspective. Asterisk indicates item may require a subscription.

  • Injury update: Tristan Alvano day to day, kicked yesterday; expects Tommi Hill to play this week, was supposed to play last game but got hurt again running onto the field.
  • Indiana leading the Big Ten in passing and doing well in rushing. Hasn't trailed at any point this season.
  • "Probably a top 10 team that we're facing" but not getting the credit in the rankings because they started unranked.
  • "Everyone has to forget the logos and the names"
  • Spent Saturday watching college football. Felt the impact of the two-minute timeouts in a number of close games.
  • "I don't believe in running kids off" in response to building more traditionally instead of wholesale through the portal. Adds that if he had come from a different college he may have tried to bring more guys with him to begin.
  • Goal for the season is to be relevant, and this is a relevant game.
  • Learned a lot of valuable lessons in the Illinois game and applied those to Purdue and Rutgers.
  • Rhule loves being the underdog. (Huskers are not favored for the first time all season this Saturday)
  • Defense has played a lot better since the Illinois game where they didn't tackle the way they wanted to.
  • Javin Wright has done great since getting back. Indiana game is a great one for him because of how athletic he is.
  • Size of Big Ten and travel across the league adding to unpredictability.
  • Statistics for teams traveling multiple time zones are in favor of the home teams.
  • Worked hard during the off week.
  • Faced some good teams over the first half of the season.
  • Good time for the guys to get away, even if that meant all they did was "sit in their dorm and watch anime or whatever."
  • "I hate talking about last year because I'm embarrassed by it."
  • Preparing for handling opposing crowd noise better this season. Handled it fine at Purdue and will get more of it at Indiana.
  • A lot of guys in college football playing for their personal brand. "I'm all for a little trash talk" but there's a way to do it that doesn't show up the opponent.
  • Wants team to respect the game and Indiana is a good opponent to make plays and respect the game on a big stage.
  • Some of the rushing numbers are hurt by sacks and helped by speed sweeps.
  • Haven't had enough explosive plays and big runs.
  • Utilizing the fullback and tight end hardens your team.
  • "We might not ever be top 10 in passing" but will run power and iso and increase the physicality of the team.
  • Study every decision for clock management every week.
  • Use two outside services to help with game decisions for players and coaches.
  • Teams need to have a philosophy for clock management and players need to understand it too.
  • Loves that the two-minute timeout brings a number of layers to how to handle the clock at the end of halves.
  • Dylan Raiola has improved the team with leadership, confidence and belief. Tries to find three things every week to improve upon.
  • Need every corner you have against a team like Indiana. If Tommi is back, Ceyair Wright and others will still be needed.
  • Awarded new Blackshirts to Ceyair Wright and Brian Buschini. Players asked for Buschini to get one.
  • Taking a deep dive into special teams with what's working, what isn't, and who are the players that can make plays.

Coverage

From the other side

More info

MORE: Huskers Make 4-Star Receiver's Top 8

MORE: Nebraska-Ohio State Game Gets 11 a.m. Kickoff

MORE: Doc's Diagnosis: Nebraska's Challenge Against Indiana's Play-Action Passes

MORE: Nebraska Football's Midseason Report Card

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Joe Hudson
JOE HUDSON

Joe Hudson has operated a Husker-related website since 1995 and joined forces with David Max to form HuskerPedia (later renamed HuskerMax) in 1999. It began as a hobby during his 35 years as a newspaper editor and reporter, a career that included stints at the Lincoln Star, Omaha World-Herald, Philadelphia Inquirer and Denver Post. In Denver, Joe was chief of the copy desk during his final 16 years at the Post. He is proud to have been involved in Pulitzer Prize-winning projects in both Philadelphia and Denver. Joe has been a Nebraska football fan since the mid-1960s during his childhood in Omaha. He earned his bachelor of arts degree in journalism and economics at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln in 1976. He resides a few freeway exits north of Colorado Springs and enjoys bicycling and walking his dogs in his spare time. You can reach him at joeroyhud@outlook.com.

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