Corn > Wheat

No. 5 Nebraska volleyball (8-1) swept Wichita State (3-6) 25-13, 25-12, 25-12 in the final match of the Nebraska Classic.

Nebraska never trailed, nor was tied with, Wichita State (outside of 0-0) throughout all three sets.

A very efficient and well-balanced Nebraska attack hit .477 for the match and saw five attackers hit over .300. The Blackshorts defense put on a clinic holding the Shockers to a .096 hitting percentage and out killing Wichita State 50-27.

Sophomore setter Bergen Reilly set the pace and spread the ball around, collecting another double-double with 35 assists and 10 digs. She was also more aggressive than usual finishing with three kills including a swing on an overpass that got the crowd hyped.

Harper Murray led the charge for the Huskers hitters with 14 kills at a hearty .542 clip while also flying around on defense with 11 digs. One of her kills came off a left handed swing, Murray is right handed, that almost brought the whole Bob Devaney Sports Center down.

Andi Jackson and Merritt Beason both finished with 10 kills at .600 and .471 hitting percentages, respectfully. Beason added two aces while Jackson sent back three attacks for good measure.

The lineup got a shakeup Saturday. Leyla Blackwell got her first start at middle blocker for the Big Red. Taylor Landfair made her second start at outside hitter for the scarlet and cream.

Landfair finished with nine kills and two digs. Blackwell added four kills and three blocks.

Next up for the Huskers is a home date with another new ACC member, No.2 Stanford, on Sept. 18 inside the Bob Devaney Sports Center at 7 p.m. CDT.

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The Nebraska Cornhuskers welcome the Northern Iowa Panthers in a game that can take the Huskers to 3-0 for the first time since 2016. While on paper this should be an easy victory for the Big Red, the Panthers bring a style of play and a backfield talented enough to crash the party at Memorial Stadium.

Here are Matt McMaster’s keys to the game.

After Nebraska’s dominant win over the Colorado Buffaloes last week, the Huskers enter Saturday’s contest ranked No. 23 (AP) in the country. While this is not the end goal for Big Red, it’s a step in the right direction and a distinction they haven’t received in five years. 

The team’s early-season success has brought the nation’s attention and high expectations. With that comes pressure that can crumble a team. 

But they also possess momentum that the program hasn’t had in ages. The positivity flowing around the buildings in Lincoln hasn’t been there since the Bo Pelini era. The easiest way to lose the positive stigma is to have a letdown week against an FCS opponent. 

A loss against Northern Iowa would destroy the program’s momentum and perceived progress over the last few weeks. Even a close win deteriorates what NU has accomplished this season. 

The Huskers need to take the momentum from the win over the Buffaloes and roll it into their performance against Northern Iowa. They need to take the confidence instilled from rewriting the biggest wrong of last season and turn it into another masterclass on both sides of the ball. 

I’m always on the side of deferring to receive the ball in the second half if you win the coin toss, but not in this game. Nebraska needs to make this a boat race.

The Northern Iowa offense is a boa constrictor that gives opposing defenses a slow and painful death. This team likes to dominate up front. 

Over their first two games, they’re averaging an astounding 298 rushing yards. The Panthers want to suffocate opponents on offense. They want to take the ball, pound it up the middle, tire you out, and drain the clock. They do this with two elite backs, Tye Edwards and Amauri Pesek-Henderson. Henderson and Edwards are elite FCS backs, averaging over 6 yards per carry. Nebraska’s gap integrity must be at its best, or the Huskers will get gashed all night by these two. 

While UNI’s rushing game is elite, the passing game is far from it. The Panthers have 215 passing yards in two games. They simply don’t have the quarterback or outside weapons to compete on the outside against FBS opponents, let alone one of the better secondaries in the Big Ten.

While UNI’s style of play works for them, it’s not meant to get into shootouts. If the Huskers are aggressive early on offense, they can force the Panthers to veer away from their preferred style of play.

This is going to be a physical game on defense for the Cornhuskers. The Panthers’ goal is to play 130 snaps of smash-mouth football. They want to bring the fight and wear down this elite Nebraska defense. 

NU must use its depth to its advantage and constantly rotate guys in and out on all three levels. This is crucial due to the nature of the UNI offense as the Panthers want to punish teams defensively, making every run easier and easier for their elite backs. 

How UNI plays exposes teams that need more depth to ensure that the players on the field are always fresh. The Blackshirt coaching staff will play a significant role in ensuring they’re divvying up snaps correctly, not to make things easier on the Panther run game. 

Failure at this will not only lead to a long day on defense but even injuries. 

Kickoff at Memorial Stadium Saturday is slated for 6:30 p.m. CDT. The game will be televised on Big Ten Network, with Huskers Radio Network affiliates providing coverage across the state.

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LINCOLN, Neb. (WOWT) – A week removed from the biggest win under head coach Matt Rhule, the Huskers are looking to carry their momentum back into Memorial Stadium on Saturday and remain unbeaten entering Big Ten Conference play next week.

No. 23 Nebraska (2-0) hosts Northern Iowa (2-0) out of the FCS on Saturday in its final non-conference game of the 2024 campaign before taking on Illinois next Friday.

GAME INFO

• WHEN: 6:30 p.m., Saturday, Sept. 14
• WHERE: Memorial Stadium, Lincoln, Neb.
• WATCH: Big Ten Network
• LISTEN: Huskers Radio Network
• VEGAS ODDS: Northern Iowa +32.5, O/U 47.5

The Huskers are riding high after a 28-10 clobbering of Deion Sanders’ Colorado Buffaloes in prime time last Saturday night in a game that drew 6.3 million viewers across the country — the most of any Week 2 game aside from the top-10 clash between Texas and Michigan.

The result of the Colorado game quickly pushed Nebraska to the forefront of the college football conversation, signaling a return to national prominence. An appearance at No. 23 in the AP Top 25 confirmed those signals. With eyeballs come expectations, though, and now the pressure is turned up for the Huskers to produce a high-quality follow-up act this weekend.

“You come here to have high expectations,” Matt Rhule said in a press conference Monday. “You come here to play in big games. You come here to play in front of that crowd. Those are the reasons you come here, so we expect to be ranked. Whatever it is, 23rd, 24th, that’s not where we want to end up. So[we’ll try] to go 1-0 every week and see what happens.”

Standing in their way will be an unbeaten UNI team that boasts wins over fellow FCS opponents Valpraiso and St. Thomas Minnesota.

On paper, the Panthers don’t hold a candle to the prolific Colorado offense that Nebraska shutdown last week, but they do have one of the best running backs in all of college football: Tye Edwards. Edwards is a 6-foot-4, 230-pound wrecking ball who has made his presence known in the first two games of his senior season, racking up 315 yards on just 30 carries.

“I have a lot of respect for what they’ve done over there [at Northern Iowa],” said Rhule. “I know playing Northern Iowa, they know how to win. They expect to win. They’ve come to places like this before… It’s a scary game, in that regard, because Northern Iowa knows how to win.”

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