Nebraska football ready to get right back to work with short week ahead of Big Ten opener

Sunday usually means an off day for the Huskers. Dinners with players or coaches families.

But with a short week before Friday’s 7 p.m. game against 3-0 Illinois, coach Matt Rhule said the team is back to work instead, using the time to prepare for its Big Ten opener.

“When it comes to conference play,” Rhule said. “You never know where you are until you get there.”

Despite the short week, Rhule was able to watch the Illini game Saturday — with Nebraska’s 34-3 win over Northern Iowa not starting until 6:30 p.m. He saw Bret Bielema’s squad pull away in the second half for a 30-9 victory over Central Michigan, helping Illinois debut at No. 24 in the rankings.

Friday is also the Illini’s Big Ten opener, and they enter at 3-0 for the time since 2011.

This is the second straight year the teams are playing on a Friday. Last season, NU came away with a 20-7 win to improve to 3-3.

This season, Rhule’s squad is 3-0 — its best start since 2016 and ranked No. 22. But they haven’t won anything in the Big Ten yet.

“I kind of refer to this as a preseason,” Rhule said Saturday. “In my mind, we’re learning how to win.”

Said quarterback Dylan Raiola: “You treat those three games like real games. But you really find out your identity before you get into these conference games that mean everything.”

The freshman said the preparation for Illinois started Saturday night, and he planned to watch the UNI game before Sunday’s practice.

“We’re mature,” Raiola said. “We’re going to do whatever it takes to win.”

Rhule said one key heading into Big Ten play was that many Huskers have already seen the field. Getting the second unit valuable minutes helped the starters stay fresh, and get others meaningful experience.

NU opened the season by beating UTEP 40-7. Nebraska outgained the Miners 507-205, holding them to 56 rushing yards.

In their second game, the Huskers rolled to a 28-0 lead at halftime against rival Colorado. The Buffaloes scored the only points in the second half of NU’s 28-10 win, but Colorado mustered 16 rushing yards.

Against Northern Iowa, the Panthers controlled time of possession 38:07-21:53 but the Huskers won every other major stat.

Defensive back Isaac Gifford said the first three games have been good. The first two opponents relied heavily on the pass, but UNI’s use of 12 personnel and reliance on the run was valuable for the defense.

“We needed to see that before we got into Big Ten play,” Gifford said. “They really came in here with the Big Ten offensive mindset.”

Nebraska has had fairly comfortable leads at halftime in each game, and hasn’t had to sweat out a close second half. Receiver Isaiah Neyor said that will change in conference play, and the team’s mindset has to be on finishing strong in the fourth quarter.

“We’re going to make the emphasis to play harder, play smarter and compete to the best of our ability,” Neyor said.