KFOR Sports Update for Tuesday, Sept. 10, 2024
HUSKER FOOTBALL: No. 23 Nebraska Gears Up for Northern Iowa
Nebraska head football coach Matt Rhule met with members of the media on Monday afternoon, ahead of Nebraska’s game against Northern Iowa on Saturday.
Rhule talked about having high expectations and so much to correct from the win against Colorado last Saturday, plus being ranked this week.
“You come here to play in big games. You come here to play in front of that crowd. All the reasons that you come here so we expect to be ranked. Whatever it is, 23rd or 24th that’s not where we want to end up. Go each week and we will see what happens.”
Rhule noted that the special team’s performance in Saturday’s win against the Buffaloes was “the worst.”
“I’m disappointed and it’s a lot of things. It’s not just one thing. It’s yeah we run down on the opening kickoff and we set the tone with some big hits. But we aren’t leveraging the ball so the next one comes out,” Rhule added. “Thank goodness John Huhl is the fastest kicker I’ve ever seen because he runs Jimmy (Horn Jr.) out of bounds. We get a punt blocked that’s not supposed to happen. We blocked a field goal which is awesome. We have some goals about that. (Brian) Buschini was a weapon. When the complementary football was good.”
As far as Northern Iowa, Rhule discussed what has to be done during practice this week.
“Now you are facing the number four rushing offense in FCS. You are facing 298 yards a game. You are facing a coach in Coach (Mark) Farley that has won a ton of games,” Rhule said. “When I was in the NFL, I looked at Northern Iowa’s alignment. I never looked at a Nebraska alignment. You better be ready for a physical battle with the way they play. Run defense and run offense. That’s one of the challenges and then fixing the problems we are having. Fixing the special teams.”
Kickoff between the Huskers and the Panthers at Memorial Stadium is set for 6:30 p.m. (CT) with live television coverage from the Big Ten Network.
Huskers Drop, Bluejays Rise in AVCA Rankings Ahead of Tuesday’s In-State Showdown
The Nebraska Volleyball team slipped three spots this week in the AVCA Top 25 rankings from No. 2 to No. 5, after last week’s loss at SMU. The Huskers now host No. 9 Creighton, who moved up two spots in this week’s rankings, in a match Tuesday night at the Devaney Center. First serve is at 7pm on BTN.
AVCA Top 25 Rankings for Sept. 9
| Rank | School (First-Place Votes Adjusted) | Total Points Adjusted | Record | Previous Week |
| 1 | Pittsburgh (29) | 1,471 | 3-0 | 3 |
| 2 | Stanford (23) | 1,462 | 4-0 | 5 |
| 3 | Penn State (6) | 1,389 | 5-0 | 7 |
| 4 | Louisville (1) | 1,284 | 5-1 | 4 |
| 5 | Nebraska (2) | 1,277 | 5-1 | 2 |
| 6 | Texas | 1,168 | 2-2 | 1 |
| 7 | Purdue | 1,118 | 6-0 | 8 |
| 8 | Wisconsin | 1,087 | 2-3 | 6 |
| 9 | Creighton | 1,042 | 5-0 | 11 |
| 10 | Kentucky | 945 | 5-2 | 9 |
| 11 | Kansas | 898 | 6-0 | 13 |
| 12 | Oregon | 836 | 4-1 | 12 |
| 13 | Florida | 632 | 5-1 | 10 |
| 14 | Arizona State | 603 | 6-0 | 16 |
| 15 | Georgia Tech | 575 | 4-1 | 19 |
| 16 | Tennessee | 500 | 2-2 | 17 |
| 17 | BYU | 488 | 4-1 | 14 |
| 18 | Baylor | 465 | 5-1 | 23 |
| 19 | Minnesota | 433 | 1-3 | 18 |
| 20 | Miami (FL) | 393 | 5-0 | NR |
| 21 | Florida State | 344 | 4-1 | 15 |
| 22 | Arkansas | 303 | 7-0 | 21 |
| 23 | Southern California | 295 | 3-1 | 20 |
| 24 | Dayton | 221 | 5-0 | 22 |
| 25 | TCU | 165 | 2-2 | NR |
Others receiving votes and listed on two or more ballots: SMU 132; Auburn 85; UCLA 74; Marquette 39; Washington 22; Georgia 20; South Florida 18; Western Kentucky 3
High School Softball from Monday
Lincoln Northwest beat Lincoln Standing Bear 12-5.
Omaha Westside edged Lincoln East 12-11.
Elkhorn South beat Lincoln Pius X 4-1.
On the softball schedule Tuesday…..Lincoln Northeast is at Columbus….Lincoln East hosts Kearney for a doubleheader….Lincoln Southeast is at Grand Island for a doubleheader…..Lincoln Southwest play Lincoln North Star…..Waverly takes on Lincoln Standing Bear……Lincoln High squares off with Omaha Bryan.
