Rhule: ‘Now the season starts,’ No. 22 Huskers host No. 24 Illinois in Big Ten opener Friday
LINCOLN, Neb. (WOWT) - Nebraska head football coach Matt Rhule spoke to the media Monday ahead as No. 22 Huskers prepare for their Top 25 matchup to start conference play. It’s a short turnaround for Big Red as they welcome the Fighting Illini to Memorial Stadium on Friday night for a 7 p.m. kick.
The Huskers enter Big Ten play with a 3-0 record and having held Northern Iowa to only a field goal Saturday night, making it the third straight week Nebraska has held an opponent to ten or fewer points.
“I felt pretty good about what we did Saturday offensively, but that was all preseason to me,” said Rhule Monday afternoon. “Now the season starts. First game in the Big Ten and we’ll find out where we are.”
The game will not only be the Huskers’ conference opener, it will also mark the 400th consecutive sellout at Memorial Stadium.
“I think getting to 400 will be great,” said Rhule. “My job though is to make sure we win that game so that people leave happy about it, not anything else. I’ll just try and stick to football.”
“The other thing that we’re now realizing-- and this Friday night obviously it’s a ranked team so it may be different-- but we’re no longer like the hunter,” said Rhule. “We’re no longer the unranked team that people are like ‘Who do we have this week? Oh, we’re playing Nebraska. Okay, we’ve beat them the last four years.’ Now we’re the team people are preparing for.
In personnel updates, Huskers right guard Micah Mazzccua will not be available Friday for non-injury-related reasons. Defensive end Jimari Butler is expected to be available Friday.
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