Matt Rhule calls Nebraska Colorado NBC game ‘amazing’

“This, to me, will be that on steroids, with a night game, and all the things that we do,” Rhule said on the “Sports Nightly” program. “Our game operations will be featured for the whole country to see.”

Rhule said he loved the home night game in 2023, a blowout win over Northern Illinois. This year, CU, coached by Deion Sanders, will roll into town looking to repeat its 36-14 win over Nebraska last season. 

“For our guys, (we) have a chance, early in the season, to go out there on national TV and show the country that we’ve done and the team that we have,” Rhule said. “I’m excited. It should be an amazing, amazing football game.”

Colorado is Nebraska’s second opponent of the season. UTEP, which visits NU on Aug. 31, is the first foe. The Huskers have not won their season opener since 2019. Since, NU has lost four straight conference games — at Ohio State, at Illinois, vs Northwestern in Dublin, Ireland, and at Minnesota —to open the 2020-2023 seasons. 

So Rhule and Co. are working on simply starting 1-0 next season. And before that, Rhule said Tuesday, coaches are reviewing spring camp and hoping to see team chemistry coalesce in May, June and July, before training camp begins. 

I’m more interested in the summer, I’m more interested in the development, I’m more interested in the team,” Rhule said. “…The time you spend together, as a college football team, really can define the season.”

Nebraska will also have a bevy of official visitors and camps in June, as well. NU typically tends to add at least four-to-six commits in the month — last year, the Huskers grabbed 12 verbal commits — through a combination of successful recruiting pitches and scholarship offers made during camp evaluation.

Rhule said he likes to see prospects live, for hours of drill work, as he determines who might make a good Husker. 

“I’m not arrogant enough to think that I can watch a film and know what someone’s going to be in five years,” Rhule said. “I’d much rather have that chance to coach them and watch them and be around them. You also find out a lot about their character, about their mental toughness, about their competitiveness.

“Being resilient, being tough, there’s no substitute for that.”

Rhule had a raspy voice during the interview. He hasn’t had much sleep between recruiting visits and a variety of TV and radio spots since the end of spring camp. 

“That’s the job,” Rhule said. “People in the state work hard. They expect us to work hard. They expect us to grind. We’re lucky to have the resources here to fly all over the country.”