Rhule Meets Media on Thursday

Head Coach Matt Rhule met with members of the media following Thursday’s practice. He spoke on the quarterback situation with Chubba Purdy and Jeff Sims.

“Chubba has done a really nice job this week,” he said. “Obviously, any time you have the things that transpired last week, I think everyone comes in determined, knowing that they can fix some of those things, and I think we fixed a lot of things, as a staff, as players. They’ve been able to get a lot of reps and they’ve done a really nice job. We’re prepared to play either one or both.”

He talked about the impact of playing on NBC and CBS to end the season.

“The lifeblood of our program is both player development for the guys we have and recruiting,” Rhule said. “I want recruits all across the country to watch our defense and say ‘man, I want to go play in that.’ I want recruits to watch our offense and watch us play well this week and say ‘man, I want to be a part of that.’ If we struggle in any one area, I want a guy to say ‘hey, I can come there and help in that.’ But most importantly, I want them to see that N, that iconic white helmet with the red N that I grew up watching as a kid in New York City. I want people all across the country to have a chance to see it.”

He attested to the success of the run defense.

“I think our defensive lineman and linebackers have done a nice job, either when we’re playing with movement, with pressure, or when we’re playing base,” he said. “They’ve all done a nice job of making sure they’re in our gaps. When you are a movement-based defense like we are, when one guy goes the wrong way, if one guy doesn’t finish a movement, it creates a seam. I think a lot of times, people talk about the scheme, but as with anything, it’s the execution of the scheme that matters. A lot of times, when coaches lose, they talk about the execution. When we win, I like to brag about the execution. It’s pretty good execution up front by those guys. We’re able to play a lot of guys. Our secondary, our safeties, we have guys who tackle…I think all of it has worked really well together. Guys take a lot of pride in that.”

The Huskers will kick off against Wisconsin at 6:30 p.m. (CT) on Saturday, Nov. 18 in Madison, Wis. The game will be televised on NBC and radio coverage will be provided by Huskers Radio Network and Huskers.com.