Football Video & Report: Oct. 3

Nebraska head coach Matt Rhule met with members of the media following Thursday’s practice. He spoke on the importance of being on the west sideline for a hot game.

“I think, in the first game of the year and last year, I knew it was the right move. Everywhere in the country, the home sideline is on the press box side. You’re not having to hide yourself from the opponent, people can’t see your signals. All kinds of things, so there’s reasons people do it that way. Purdue this past week was the first time we had the chains on our sides. I must’ve apologized to the gentlemen so many times, I kept running into them because we haven’t had that. Then the heat is obviously another factor, and we dealt with that right away in the first ball game against UTEP. It was hot and it was a 2:30 game.”

He talked about recruits’ response to Nebraska’s focus on development, and the playing time that young players are getting.

“We’re going to play whoever we think is the best player, and we play a lot of guys. I think that resonates with players. We also don’t promise anything. I don’t promise a thing, other than an opportunity to compete. I think that excites guys. When you turn on Carter Nelson catching a touchdown or Jacory (Barney Jr.) catching a touchdown or Dylan (Raiola) making a big throw, they see that opportunity. The games have been great for us. I think we do a really good job of bringing people here in the offseason, bringing people here in the spring, some of our official visits were great. We really get the chance to show off Lincoln and the state of Nebraska. Coming to game days, you can’t have as much personal interaction. You have to have done that ahead of time. Still, to me, this is a personal thing. I’ve talked to players that were at some of the biggest games in college football and they say that coming to the Colorado game was the best experience they’ve had this year. Credit to our crowd and our game atmosphere and operations and everything that we were able to put out such a good product…we’ll start to have pros, we’ll have guys drafted this year and every year. When guys come in, however they come in, whether as a two-star or five-star or a walk-on, the mark of a good program is that they reach their potential. If players are reaching their potential, that’s where you should go. If you’re a big time, five-star recruit, you’re probably going to be an NFL player no matter where you go, but did you maximize your potential? Are you going for fourth round money or first round money? Getting developed and getting coached – because of the new era we’re in, there’s a lot less football coaches and a lot more recruiters, and you need to have football coaches to develop players. That’s what makes the University of Nebraska great, going back to Coach Devaney and Coach Osborne, all the way through. We’re just trying to do our part to maintain that tradition.”

Coach Rhule discussed Brian Buschini’s role on the team, and how his leadership is impacting the process of younger teammates.

“[Buschini is a] very mature player. I think he takes great ownership of that group. I can get up there and give all the team speeches in the world, but there’s nothing like older players mentoring younger players. Saying, ‘I know what you’re going through right now, let me tell you what I went through.’ It’s the most powerful tonic there is for a team. Brian’s had these highs and lows, and he’s come out the other side. Improvement is up and down, your highs get higher and your lows get higher. When they put the pressure of the world on their shoulders to not fail, which we all do, having someone there to pick them up when they fail, like Brian’s doing, like Marques Buford Jr. is doing, they’re able to bring those young guys along and say ‘I got you.’ If I do anything well, I’m not the best play caller, but we try to foster that environment here of development and growth. Part of development is being there for people in their tough times. For Brian, we try to be there for him, and now he’s there for those guys, he’ll bring them through the other side. Tristan (Alvano) is going through his injury, Nico (Ottomanelli) is redshirting, they’re all going through something different, but having a guy like that, seeing the way he’s playing right now is really good. You know, Rutgers, there’s no better team at blocking punts than Rutgers, so it's a tremendous challenge for Brian to try and get the ball off before they get there.”

The Huskers will face the Rutgers Scarlet Knights on Saturday, Oct. 5 at 3 p.m. (CT) at Memorial Stadium. The game will be televised on FS1 with audio coverage from the Huskers Radio Network.