Nebraska football to host talent show at end of fall camp

The Huskers’ talent show, a yearly team tradition where players must perform in front of their teammates, is set to take place Friday night.

“Tonight will be ‘make fun of Coach Rhule night’, and I told them how tonight goes will directly affect the (practice) schedule on Sunday, so we’ll see how tame they are,” head coach Matt Rhule joked.

The evening will offer a light-hearted break from the busy four-week sprint of fall camp the Huskers are now wrapping up. As Rhule evaluates Nebraska’s practice efforts, he’s pleased with the results thus far.

After completing the highest volume week of fall camp, Rhule was hopeful that he wouldn’t see players slack off or decrease their efforts this week, something which never occurred.

“There was never a practice that I was disappointed in,” Rhule said of Nebraska’s fall camp.

NU’s Monday practice did test that takeaway, though. The Husker coaching staff opted to hold its veterans out of practice and have them serve as coaches instead, with the team’s younger players receiving more reps and learning opportunities as a result.

Rhule believes the Huskers have formed a stronger, more united team in the past month, and he pointed to a selfless decision by punter Brian Buschini as proof of it. With Nebraska having awarded its single-digit jersey numbers, a slight reshuffle of the No. 18 jersey was needed with linebacker Princewill Umanmielen, wide receiver Isaiah Neyor and Buschini all set to wear the number.

As the shortest-tenured Husker, Neyor was set to give up the number and switch — only for Rhule to walk out at practice to Buschini wearing No. 13 instead.

“That might seem like a little thing, but it’s not to me,” Rhule said. “I love that character and that integrity.”

Nebraska’s practice efforts will continue Saturday with a final scrimmage one week ahead of the team’s Aug. 31 season opener. Rhule likes what he’s seen from NU on the practice field, but he knows the true test of the Huskers’ offseason progress is still yet to come.

“All that’s just words if we don’t play that way next Saturday,” Rhule said. “Practice doesn’t mean you’re going to win a game, practice just gives you an opportunity to compete to win the game.”

* Rhule separately informed all three scholarship quarterbacks on Wednesday about the decision to name Dylan Raiola as Nebraska’s Game 1 starter.

Rhule said he met with Heinrich Haarberg and Daniel Kaelin in his office, then informed Raiola he’d been named the starter as they walked off the practice field.

“In our world, it’s maybe not as big as it is outside,” Rhule said.

Raiola had to earn the job, Rhule said, having impressed coaches with his arm strength, situational knowledge, ability to make checks at the line of scrimmage and ability to execute run-pass option looks.

Where Raiola needed to progress was in his pocket presence, and after showing the freshman clips of how Tom Brady avoids off-balance throws, Rhule felt he’d seen improvements from the quarterback.

“Dylan’s worked so hard at his pocket presence and once he cleared that hurdle, I saw how close the other guys were coming and I feel like he’s the starter,” he said.

* Nebraska would be open to playing future nonconference games at neutral sites, perhaps internationally, Rhule said.

College football’s Week Zero slate this Saturday includes a conference matchup between Florida State and Georgia Tech which will be played in Dublin, Ireland.

Nebraska took part in the event two years prior with a matchup against Northwestern. Rhule said he would welcome an opportunity to play an overseas game “as long as we have a bye next week.”

Nebraska is set to play a neutral site nonconference game in August 2025 when the Huskers face Cincinnati at Indianapolis’ Lucas Oil Stadium.

“I think when you’re playing nonconference games and you can play them at neutral sites, that’s interesting,” Rhule said. “It’s kind of a cheat code for us, because Husker Nation will turn a neutral site into a home site.”