The Weekly Rundown: Game week is here for Nebraska

Game week is here for Nebraska as they prepare to square off against UTEP on FOX Saturday at 2:30 p.m.

We hit on that and more as we start your Monday with The Weekly Rundown column.

RELATED – Steven Sipple: As college football season commences, Nebraska fans can cling to a few good signs that Matt Rhule lays out

Sure bets

You have to feel good about these things right now:

Nebraska’s best opening schedule in years: This week starts a schedule that you can make a case is the most favorable Nebraska has faced in quite some time.

The Huskers will open the season at home for the first time since 2019 and begin the season four straight weeks inside Memorial Stadium. Of NU’s first seven games, they will only play one team that went to a bowl game in 2023. I’m not saying a 7-0 start is happening, but the Big Red may never get an opportunity like this teed up again in quite some time.

All eyes on No. 15: The Dylan Raiola era is officially here under head coach Matt Rhule . NU will have a big stage on Saturday to showcase its talented true freshman quarterback.

The Huskers will play on FOX against UTEP, and there should be plenty of curious eyeballs making their way to check out the Huskers.

Other notable 2:30 p.m. games are Akron/Ohio State (CBS), Miami/Florida (ABC), and Colorado State/Texas (ESPN).

Depth chart: We’ll hear from Rhule later on Monday as he sets the stage at his weekly press conference. The big question is whether we will get a depth chart handed out today.

My guess is yes, but I’m not expecting to see anything we don’t already know. The big question is what the kicker and running back positions will look like. They can also avoid some of those questions by putting an “OR” on the depth chart.

Surprises

These were my surprises of the week:

The Miami freshmen: After not having much success with recruits from Miami, Nebraska appears to have hit at a high rate with the class of 2024.

Four different Miami-area freshmen could burn their redshirts in 2024 – WR Jacory Barney , LB Vincent Shavers , DB Amare Sanders and LB Willis McGahee IV . I’m not sure anyone could’ve predicted this a month ago.

Blye Hill: You get the sense that cornerback Blye Hill is much further along than expected from his late-April knee injury. I’ll be curious if Hill takes any snaps this week in the opener.

11 transfers followed Walden to UTEP: The transfer portal has changed college sports as we know it. Just look at UTEP.

After Scotty Walden’s successful run at Austin Peay, 11 players, including four wide receivers, a star running back, and a quarterback, followed him to El Paso. I’d be curious if anyone has ever had more than 11 players follow them from one school to the next. Walden’s roster will have more continuity than some on the outside might realize.

The jury is still out

Questions still surround these things:

Kicker: What will Rhule decide on the placekicker position between Tristan Alvano and John Hohl ? We might see both have a role in the opener.

Adjusting to the new rules: This week will be the first time we see some of the new rules for 2024 in action. The big ones are technology on the sidelines, including tablets and helmet headsets for designated players.

There will also be a two-minute timeout at the end of each half, similar to the NFL’s two-minute warning timeout. Another notable new rule is that horse collar tackles are no longer allowed inside the tackle box. Any horse collar tackle now will result in a 15-yard penalty.

Playing a game overseas again: I asked Rhule this week about his thoughts on playing a Week Zero game in Ireland in the future. He would entertain the idea as long as the Big Red has a bye week after the game. However, when he first got to NU, he was told another overseas trip was not on the table. My guess is former AD Trev Alberts was not interested in a return game to Ireland. A lot went into that 2022 trip.

I can tell you the organizers in Dublin of the Aer Lingus Classic would love to have the Huskers back. It’s a high-risk, high-reward trip—just ask Florida State. I felt for the nearly 30,000 Noles fans who made the trip to Dublin. Nebraska fans from 2022 can relate.

This has my attention

Moving forward, this has my attention :

QB Dayton Raiola: After a tough first outing, 2026 Buford (Ga.) quarterback Dayton Raiola bounced back in a big way in a 29-28 win over Benedictine Military School.

Raiola threw four touchdown passes in the second half, including the game-winner to running back Ethan Ervin . Ervin is the younger brother of current Husker running back Gabe Ervin Jr. Buford went for two with 1:05 left to pull ahead and win the game. Buford lost its first game to 5A No. 1 Milton 13-10, while Benedictine is ranked No. 4 in Class 4A .

Keith Williams: Don’t sleep on assistant tight ends coach Keith Williams and the job he’s doing. He’s quietly becoming a valuable piece in Rhule’s recruiting operation, and I expect to see him out on the road this fall.

Casey Thompson: Oklahoma put out its first depth chart this week. Former Husker quarterback Casey Thompson will enter the season third-string for the Sooners. Thompson is a seventh-year senior.

The sellout streak: We haven’t heard from Nebraska yet about the status of the sellout streak for the upcoming season. When will an announcement be made regarding the status of Saturday’s game and ticket sales?

Looking at the ticket map , which allows you to zone in on what seats are available, I would estimate that about 500 seats remain for sale, including a large swath of nearly 150 seats at the top of section 20, which are generally returned visitor tickets.

Sean Callahan can be reached at sean@huskeronline.com and is heard daily at 6:45 am and 5:05 pm on Big Red Radio 1110 KFAB in Omaha during the football season. He can also be seen on KETV Channel 7 in Omaha during the fall, and each week, he appears on Nebraska Public Media’s Big Red Wrap-Up Tuesdays at 7 pm .

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