Rhule on radio: Playing Colorado at night on NBC “great for our fans, great for the game”
Nebraska football coach Matt Rhule has made it clear he likes 11 a.m. kickoffs.
That said, Rhule understands that the matchup Sept. 7 against Colorado — set for 6:30 p.m. in Memorial Stadium in Lincoln — generates significant excitement for Husker fans.
NBC announced Monday it will televise the affair.
“This is great for our fans, this great for the game,” Rhule said Tuesday during an appearance on Husker Sports Nightly, noting the magnitude of the rivalry while also acknowledging Colorado’s 36-14 win against Nebraska last season in Boulder, Colorado.
“For our guys to have a chance early in the season to go out there on national TV and show the country the work that we’ve done and the team that we have, I’m excited,” said Rhule, in his second season at Nebraska.
“It should be an amazing, amazing football game.”
Rhule said he regards the Red-White Spring Game as an “info-mercial” for his program. He said he’s heard from people all over the country who felt the energy and passion emanating from the scene surrounding last month’s scrimmage, which drew 60,452 fans to Memorial Stadium.
“This game (against Colorado) will be that on steroids, obviously, with a night game and all the things that we do,” Rhule said. “Our game operations will be featured for the whole country to see.”
Here and there
***NCAA rules dictate that head coaches can’t recruit on the road this time of year. But Nebraska “is taking a very aggressive approach with recruiting weekends,” Rhule said.
***Rhule praised Jaylen Lloyd and Jeremiah Charles for maintaining focus on separate sports — football and track — this spring. Lloyd, a sophomore wide receiver, finished fourth in the long jump this weekend at the Big Ten meet with a leap of 25-1 3/4, while Charles, a redshirt freshman cornerback, was sixth in the triple jump (51-10). Both players improved in football, Rhule said, while also helping Nebraska’s men capture the conference team crown.
***The coach says the summer months are a time when leadership develops on a team. “There’s not a ton of school going on,” he said. “It’s the time (players) spend together, it’s the weekends they spend together.”
As for the coaches, he said, they get time away in late June.
“My goal has always been when we start camp (in August) for the players to be excited to see the coaches,” Rhule said.
***Rhule said it’s possible Nebraska would add “a guy or two” to the roster this time of year, “but most of our team is set.”
***The coach said he’s feeling “a little under the weather” because rest has been hard to come by. “But that’s the job,” he said. “People in this state work hard. They expect us to work hard. They expect us to grind, and we’re lucky to have the resources here to fly all over the country. We’re lucky to have the interest in us that people come from all over the country in recruiting.”
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