Nebraska
Matt Rhule Sees Lots to Like and Work on as Nebraska Football Hits Season’s Midpoint
Nebraska head football coach met with the media Monday for what will probably be the only time during the Huskers’ off week. He discussed the state of the team at midseason, Saturday’s win against Rutgers, the upcoming game against unbeaten Indiana, and a lot more. Below are Kaleb Henry’s notes, and above is the video of Monday’s half-hour session.
- Did a normal Monday. Will practice Tuesday through Thursday then be off through Sunday.
- Happy with the turnover margin. *a couple of false starts on this presser because of reporters’ phones falling lol*
- Being a physical team is a work in progress
- Against Illinois, got caught looking at the scoreboard instead of just playing
- Culture of execution, in terms of penalties, would like to see improve. Especially pre-snap penalties and personal fouls and such. Drawing a lot of penalties too.
- Special teams is a tale of two things: punts landing inside the 10, fake a punt, stop a fake…but giving up blocked kicks and punts.
- Run game offensively “is not where it needs to be”
- A lot of things to work on. Doing a good job self-scouting right now.
- Riley Van Poppel played on Saturday, something that was planned ahead of time.
- Some potential redshirt guys have played 2 or 3 games already.
- James Williams impacted the game against Rutgers after the tough decision to redshirt last year.
- Dylan Raiola “has been great”. Has had some wow moments.
- Was hard to get into a rhythm offensively with starting field position in the second half, though that’s not an excuse.
- Not just a “do your job guy”. “Do your job AND go make a play”.
- Guys on offense need to do better at not getting tackled. “Those 12 yards runs have to start being 50 yard runs”
- Ceyair Wright “has done an excellent job”
- Goal line stand was “good calls by Tony (White) with great plays by players”
- Not sure of the rotation for DBs if/when Tommi Hill is good to return.
- Isaac Gifford blocked the wrong guy on the first blocked punt.
- Personal protector missed a block on the second blocked punt.
- Wishes he had done the fake punt earlier.
- One of the best things Rhule has ever seen is Brian Buschini struggling through pain but getting throws in during halftime in advance of the fake punt.
- “That last punt was as big a play as I’ve been a part of”
- Fake punt was a call and not a decision by the punt team in the moment.
- Tristan Alvano is beginning the phase of testing where he’s at for health and returning.
- Blye Hill is set to play four of the final six games to hold onto his redshirt. A good backup if Tommi can’t go and Ceyair would be out.
- Heinrich Haarberg needs to play more. The challenge in getting Haarberg in more and getting him the ball is having so many talented players on offense.
- Not surprised by the 6-0 start for Indiana.
- Brought over a lot of guys who know how to win with new coaching staff. Already had some good players there.
- “You would have never though Alabama would have lost to Vandy”
- The transfer portal has changed the game on who can have success.
- Great teams of the ’90s and 2000s were stacked with talent. That talent is being spread out a little more with the portal and NIL.
- No one has talked with Rhule about wanting to redshirt and hit the portal.
- Ty Robinson is a force this year because of his development. Allows him to be out there for multiple different packages.
- “I still wake up at night upset we lost to Illinois”
- Proud of the work and growth by the team through the first half of the season.
- Rare for Rhule to have the team with two tackling days during the week, something they did last week ahead of Rutgers.
- James Williams can be anyone he wants to be. “My kids love him; my dogs love him”
- Terrance Knighton has done a good job of building a room of camaraderie.
- Won’t do much recruiting during the off week. Going to do more on the second off week.
- “I’m a button pusher, no doubt.”
- Unbelievably physical in the spring and training camp and then apprehension in season about player load.
- “In order to play great defense you have to practice great defense.”
- Not allowed to quit. You can lose, don’t want to lose, but people aren’t paying to watch the team lie down.
- No thinking with pregame physicality drills. It’s just about coming together and celebrating the team being physical.
- Happy for Micah Mazzccua getting in and playing well. Can be whatever he wants to be but has to stay focused day by day.
More coverage
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Nebraska
Hail, rain, snow move into eastern Nebraska, western Iowa
OMAHA, Neb. (WOWT) – An active weather pattern is moving into the region starting tonight, bringing some snow into the region, according to KTIV’s forecast in Sioux City.
A First Alert 6 viewer sent footage of the storms while traveling on Interstate 80 near West Branch, Iowa.
TUESDAY NIGHT
In Siouxland, a batch of precipitation moves in after midnight. It could initially start as rain, but most of the precipitation will fall as snow. Snow showers will likely last through sunrise on Wednesday morning.
The snow will stay light with accumulations near an inch or less. This could create some slick spots on the Wednesday morning commute. Temperatures will probably fall a bit below the freezing mark.
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Nebraska
Shelter in place issued after suspicious object found in mailbox
GRAND ISLAND, Neb. — UPDATE: Grand Island Police said around 3:30 p.m. Tuesday that the shelter in place order has been lifted .
GIPD said the item was retrieved by the Nebraska State Patrol Bomb Squad, who is investigating.
The area has also now been reopened.
ORIGINAL STORY:
The Grand Island Police Department has cordoned off a local block and is urging residents to shelter in place.
According to GIPD, officers responded to the 4300 block of Sherwood Road just before 2:00 p.m. Tuesday afternoon. A resident reported finding a suspicious cylindrical object wrapped in duct tape inside a home.
The Nebraska State Patrol Bomb Squad has been called to the scene to investigate the device.
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Nebraska
68 students chosen as Nebraska Young Artist Award winners
The University of Nebraska–Lincoln’s Hixson-Lied College of Fine and Performing Arts has announced the winners of the 29th annual Nebraska Young Artist Awards.
The awards recognize 11th-grade students from Nebraska for their talents in visual art, dance, music, theatre, and film and emerging media arts.
Sixty-eight students from more than 40 high schools across the state have been selected as award winners and will be invited to a day of activities on campus March 25.
“Our faculty always look forward to this event,” said Chris Watson, director of recruitment for the college and coordinator of the awards. “They love meeting enthusiastic young artists, working with them and celebrating their talent.”
Students applied for the recognition and submitted an example of their work. Applications were received from 92 students. Hixson-Lied College faculty chose the winners.
Award winners were also asked to nominate the teacher who provided them with the greatest amount of mentoring and support in the development of their special talents.
Each student will receive a certificate and an original piece of artwork commissioned for the event and created by a School of Art, Art History and Design student.
Following is a list of award winners by hometown, with their high school and specialty area(s).
Aurora:
- Calvin Miller, Aurora, music
Beaver City:
- Johnathan Eakin, Southern Valley, visual arts
Bellevue:
- Mami Lloyd, Bellevue West, music
Bennington:
- Liliana Martic, Bennington, music
Eagle:
- Jorie Goings, Waverly, dance
Firth:
- Petra Van Cleave, home school, music
Fremont:
- Xavier Herre, Bergan Catholic, theatre
Fullerton:
- Lylla Sabata, Fullerton, music
Gretna:
- Lillian Bock, Gretna, music
Harvard:
- Allee Jarzynka, Harvard, music
Hendley:
- Lily Jordan, Southern Valley, visual arts
Hooper:
- Leo Arellano, Logan View, visual arts
- Ellsie Meier, Logan View, visual arts
Kearney:
- Kruz Flamig, Kearney, visual arts
- Isaac Hooton, Kearney, visual arts
- Mariah Kaslon, Kearney, visual arts
- Landen Tilley, Kearney, visual arts
Lincoln:
- Alissa Brenning, Norris, dance
- Kali Brewer, Lincoln Southeast, visual arts
- Ava Engel, Lincoln Northeast, dance
- Emalie Fischer, Lincoln North Star, dance
- Adelyn Haden, Lincoln Standing Bear, dance and music
- Audrey Haugen, Lincoln Southwest, theatre
- Andrea Hu, Lincoln East, music
- Logan Lambrecht, Lincoln Southwest, music and theatre
- Mckinzey Lile, Lincoln North Star, dance
- Hayley Marshall, Lincoln Southwest, dance
- Riley Minster, Lincoln East, music
- Joslyn Morgan, Lincoln Southeast, music
- Ariadne Ottoson, home school, music
- Megan Plander, Lincoln Lutheran, theatre
- Lauren Ramey, LPS Arts and Humanities Focus Program, visual arts
- Blake Semrad, Lincoln Southwest, dance
- Emma Shaeffer, Lincoln Southwest, dance
- Taylor Sharpe, Lincoln Southwest, dance
- Hugh Skretta, Lincoln High, music
- Samuel Sulzle, Lincoln Northwest, music
- Brooks Xia, Lincoln East, music
Martell:
- Reese Thomas, home school, music
Norfolk:
- Noah Asbury, Norfolk, music
- Emily Henkel, Norfolk, music; Nathan Kaiser, Norfolk, music
- North Platte: Brett Pfeifer, North Platte, theatre
Omaha:
- Asher Abuhl, Trinity Classical Academy, music
- Adam Campagna, Omaha South, film and emerging media arts
- Liam Cowherd Richardson, Creighton Preparatory, music
- Regina Ho, Millard South, film and emerging media arts
- Connor Holmstedt, Fort Calhoun, music
- Kara Leininger, Duchesne Academy, music
- Jayden Li, Millard North, music; Violet Little, Omaha Central, dance
- Mrethi Magesh, Millard North, dance
- Venkatesan Marichamy, Millard North, dance
- Moyra Matthews, Duchesne Academy, dance and music
- Jackson Mu, Millard North, music
- Gauri Nair, Millard North, dance
- Angela Qi, Millard North, music
- Jackson Ramsey, Gretna East, music
- Tara Richardson, Creighton Prep, music
- Vandana Santhanam, Marian, music
- Caroline Soderlin, Millard North, music
- Akshara Venkatesan, Millard North, dance
- Caleigh Walkenhorst, Millard West, music
Osmond:
- Donovan Heiman, Osmond, theatre
Papillion:
- Emelia Weaver, Papillion-La Vista, music
Pierce:
- Spencer Sindt, Pierce, music
Randolph:
- Brecken Shearer, Randolph, visual arts
York:
- Allison Holmes, York, visual arts
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