1-on-1 with DP – 93.7 The Ticket KNTK - Nebraska Open Practice: what should we expect at Memorial? - August 2nd, 2025

Episode Date: August 2, 2025

Nebraska Open Practice: what should we expect at Memorial? - August 2nd, 2025Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

It's time to go one-on-one with D.P. Coming at you live from the heart of Lincoln America, a 93-7, the ticket and the ticket FM.com. Here is your host, Derek Pearson, brought to by Canopy Street Market. Boom. In your face. In your face. In your face.

Saturday, sports live on the ticket. Greatly appreciate you hanging out with. this for the next hour. Disclamor in advance. We honor the Gump family rule with one-on-one. You're never quite sure, which you're going to get down several rabbit holes all at the same time in continual. Where we start is not where we're in, but that's why you show up because you never know what's on the menu. 402-464-5-685 is the starter hamann text on. You want to be a part of what we're doing for the next hour. You're on your way to Fan Fest.

If you're on your way to the Husker Open practice, if you're on your way to the salt dogs, whatever you're doing, if you're in the car, in the garage, at home at the crib, chilling, feet up, preparing yourself for a Saturday afternoon,

evening filled with lots to watch and lots to talk about. You can follow on the streams. Of course, the Royals were on the brick and mortar. So if you're in the car, you've got us on your phone and we appreciate it. Download the ticket app if you can so that we can go where you go.

Wherever you go, we want to go. So take us with you via the ticket app as we go through. A couple of things on this Saturday. And I think the simple way to go through on a Saturday afternoon is the top story. And the top story in Lincoln, Nebraska is the Husker. open practice, first eyes on, first view, first sharing with the public, the work that's been done in the all season, the work that's been done in the film room, the weight room, the body changes, right, the shifting of the physical presence of Nebraska football. The introduction and reintroduction. The introduction is interesting because there's a lot of, there's a lot of new talent wearing the Husker colors in the end.

and to see them move against what we know. So what we think we know versus what we know. We've seen there are certain players that are returning in positions, and they're the measuring sticks, good or bad, high or low. Those measuring sticks exist. But then to see the transfer portal, the freshmen coming in, the red shirts, and see them in their newest, latest form,

as Huskers, as we can possibly see them. And open practice is a GPS. And we have to remember it's not the mission. It's not the final project. That's not the end goal. Open practice is just a GPS. And it's literally just telling Husker fans, if you want to know where we currently are,

if you want to know where we currently sit as a program and as a team, one, the program is the overall universe. It is all the rules. standards that have been set in previous years. And then all the standards that need to be changed in order for them to be whatever version sits at the end of a GPS for Nebraska football, whether set by Matt Rule, whether set by Husker Nation and the fan base. And I guarantee you they're not the same. They're not working off the same GPS. So we effort to get to the same GPS for sanity's sake.

For sanity sake, to get to know and go, listen. I make a point to say that in most sports conversations, you can divide the universe into thirds. There's a third that wants to believe the very best at all times, no matter what, there's a third that wants to believe the absolute worst possible pessimistic view that's possible. And then in the middle, there's a realism core.

There's a vacuum of realism that, quite frankly, they will consume data and information, and then they will lean towards either end of the spectrum based on what they see and what they know. Now, the middle part is open to what they know and what they think they know based on history. The long extreme is that there's abuse to the fan base that, you know what, quite frankly,

they haven't had a ton of success to build their belief. system on. There hadn't been a lot of recent success to say, everything tells me that directionally we're headed in the right direction. And we can expect seven wins, eight wins, nine wins. So imagine that six wins, six losses, five wins and more are on one third of the spectrum, only five losses and less on the third. And then, in the middle. It is, listen, we're going to ride with you, but

quite frankly, we're not surprised what direction we got to move in, so we're going to be flexible fluid in where we plant our flag. And I did, like I say, if you described it as as Memorial Stadium, that I don't know, I would say that the third covers

10-yard line to 10-yard line in both end zones. Right, those are the folks that, listen, I know you tell me you're going to win, but I'm not buying it until I see it. Then there's the 10-yard line to the 35-yard line of folks who are like, I don't know which way this is going to go. So we're going to sit where it's easily maneuvered one way or the other.

Then in the middle of the field, there are the folks who believe. And they will consume every bit of data that says, this team this team is going to win anywhere from eight to 11 games I don't know how many people are saying 12 I don't know don't know those are the folks in the sky streets and it's very exclusive and most of our tickets don't get us on that floor like we have no reason like literally we're above it all and we figure

we don't care what the what the masses are doing we're just sitting in in full And then there are people in the parking lot who expect every game to go horribly wrong and they don't even bother to come in. So tonight at open practice, fans are going to pour in and I hope that the numbers are ridiculous. I don't know what the advanced ticket sales were for this thing.

And I don't know what the walk-up is going to be. I can tell you, as we sit on 11th and O Street, what I would love to see is a sea of red moving towards Memorial Stadium. At 3 o'clock for a 4th and 0.4.5. 30 fan fest. I would love to see. Now, there are a ton of cars on the move, but foot traffic. People who have made a day of this, they're not rolling in at 3.30 to get there at 3.30 to get in line so they don't have to wait. No, I'm, I'm interested in the people who

posted up, went to lunch, went shopping, got full Husker gear. I'm going to count the number of red shirt I see walking by this window in the next hour, just to give me some idea about what the temperature of the room is. And that's what today is for. It's one to allow fans to get beginning to believe and to get hyped up. Do they believe how much belief and trust? And trust is a big word when it comes to Husker fans. Do they trust this year's team and or do they trust this year's

the current state of affairs for the Nebraska football program are the standards in play so that, one, it's worth seeing. Is it worth seeing? Now, if this was, if this practice was televised, the television numbers would be crazy. That's a whole other conversation for a whole other day on why they're not televising this thing. Why do you not want people to be excited about your program. Why do you not want them to see everybody, people who can't get here, to see the talented players or the talent or the work that's been done? Why would you not, like, who has a pretty house with great furniture and you don't allow anybody in it? Like, that's not why you do it. You have, you have to believe that this is glorious. This is gorgeous. You want to think Nebraska football,

this is gorgeous. This is a drive-up. This is. bigger than the Christmas lights. This is bigger than anything else that goes on. Quite frankly, it's an opportunity to go in the Grand Dame that is Memorial Stadium, celebrate the beginning of football season, celebrate this year's football team, celebrate Husker Nation, wear the colors, cheer the cheers, and know more about what's happening. That's not what's happening. Several reasons have been shared, right?

That, you know, well, quite frankly, you don't want people all in your playbook. They don't really want anything shared. But listen, I don't care if it's $400,000, $40,000. If you allow today's fans into the stadium, they're going to take pictures and video. Part of the deal. Plus, you charged them. You charges them.

So guess what? If I'm paying, I'm going to do what I want. I'm going to do what I want. Now, as media, there's an open shooting window starting at 645 to 7 o'clock, 15, 20 minutes, where we can shoot video and pictures. But then, you know, once it starts,

you're going to leave the field, you got to go sit up in the seats and be a fan and take notes and be productive. Now, what we know about sports media and in a more finite vacuum, Nebraska football

media, none of the media that covers the event watches practice the same way. Some are there validating and confirming what they've been told. Some are reporters. I tell you what I see, good or bad. I'll confirm some of it as much of it with the coaches and such. there are those that are watching the fans to see what the reaction is, taking the temperature in the room.

Is this hot? Is this fire? Is this cold, tepid, meh, Luke? There's a whole bunch of different phrases this can go towards. But media watches. Then there's media. They're football guys. They're football guys who, okay, I'm going to consume data and I want to see who's moving

how, who moves with athletic arrogance, who moves with. confidence, who's tentative, who knows what they're doing and who is guessing, who is in shape, who is fatigued, who gets chewed out the most, who gets the most out of boys, all of that. Well, the same applies for the fan base that there's some fans that are going to see. Wait a minute, let me see Slim down Ryola. Let me see Dylan. Let me see Dylan Slim. Let me see what we got.

Let me see Emmett. How explosive is he? Right? Is this timing good? Is he, and there are different people, there are different ways to consume what's about to happen at Memorial Stadium. And there's no wrong way to consume what happens tonight. It is an opportunity. That's really what, if you want to define Saturday football,

this weekend, this Saturday night at Memorial Stadium, opportunity. Opportunity to see, opportunity to consume, opportunity to get informed, opportunities for the players to show the coaches that they're reliable, trustworthy, and competent, right? Nothing as a coach, I can tell you, nothing. Nothing makes the skin of a coach crawl than to look bad in front of the fans for the first view. And there are rules for it. First of all, you got to know how to line up. You got to know how to look. Are you dressed, you dressed apart? You looked apart? Okay, presentation.

Just think open house. Just think of tonight's an open house. Does look, is the host healthy? Did they comb the hair today? Did they, okay. Do they know how everything works? Do you know where to line up? You know which group you belong in?

Which group of you? Group one, offense. Don't be the guy who just runs out there because, you know, you got excited in the moment. It was too big. You're not really an athlete. You're just, no, don't be that. know what's happening, know the formation, know the motion,

know your responsibility, know the execution point, know the snap count, right? Nothing's going to drive coaches crazy. They didn't have false starts tonight in front of invited guests. Can you line up on the ball? Don't jump off sides from the defensive side. Do you have the right codes? Are you audibly?

Are you communicating, right? Do you know what the person, what you're doing and what the person next to you is doing? as a linebacker, do you know what your defensive alignment tackle is going to do? What gap responsibility? What's the run fit? Oh, what is your key? What's your code?

Defensive back, safety, identifying first steps, hand placement, all those things, right? You can go through and then the communication between coach and player. Is it crisp? Is it on time? You're giving your quarterback enough time to get the play called in, get you guys lined up, get them to the line of scriments, see what they need to see, and then in a flip of a switch, turn that into a productive

Division I, Nebraska football, offensive play or defensive play. Can you do those things? Hand placement, eyes. Are you communicating at the high level? Are you getting it right? Because the coach will go crazy. If you're jumping off sides,

you come to understand Snap count, what have we been doing since January? What have we been doing? What have we been doing since camp open? We can't get snap counts right. That's the stuff. Oh, circle that. Because that is, I just, coach, the moment was too big.

Well, it was too big. This is the first time that we've had practices and snap counts with people here. There'll be noise behind it, we hope. If it's quiet, oh boy, different, different point of discussion. If nobody's there, different point of discussion. Because the number of fans, who show up for this thing will deeply impact what these players think about this year's program. If there's over 10,000, the players are going to feel like, man, they really love us.

If the building's empty, you have to kind of think, well, what are we, what's all this for? What are we doing? What are we doing? You've got to punch the wall and figure out, okay, well, this, this didn't work. It is a chance for gamers, gamers. Gamers, not in the, in the, not in the sit at home on the computer gamer type. Gamers, those folks who through all of practice, all of drills, all of those things, those folks who execute better when it's live, when it's live, when they start to feel like,

hello goodness, it's opportunity to make a play. And if I make a play in front of fans, fans are going to take it to the streets. Fans are going to take it to the streets. Hey man, do you see? Do you see, oh boy? That was work.

And I don't, here's the other part. I'm not sure there is anything that could happen tonight that will change how a fan feels about this team. I'm not sure.

I'm not sure. Now, you know, what kind of work are you going to see from Dylan that makes you feel better or worse than what you already know about him? What can him, if Emmett bangs his head on the gopoles twice, that might change some things, right? A couple of interceptions, that'll change some things. Sacks will change the room. Sacks will have some people talking. It'll have some people talking. Yes, it will.

Yes, it will. Coach Riala will have a different conversation if there's pressure on his quarterback tonight. What do you mean? You don't know, you didn't know the coverage. You didn't hear the audibles. You didn't know what we were calling. You didn't get there.

Okay, how do we fix what's wrong? And remember, the grading system for a night like tonight is different. I'm not sure that we've been told what the priority in focus is for each position, each player, each group. what does the successful Saturday night look like for Dylan Raola? Is it purely leadership? Is it being bigger than the moment? Is it in charge of the moment and control?

Is it getting people to the right place in the lineup? Is it coding, getting the timing right, snap, motion, getting all that ball out of his hand without pressure, not throwing into traffic, not making bad decisions with the ball. What does that look like? Everybody would be happy if there's no pressure on. him and we just run the ball and throw the ball with ease. What does the successful Saturday night look like for Emmett Johnson? What does that look like? We don't know. We don't know the play call list.

We don't know who he's going to run against. Is it ones against ones? Is it ones against two's? One's against fives. Like we don't know. I don't know. Because if he runs for two touchdowns over 50 yards, but it's against the fourth team, what do we know? Who's covering the starting receivers? Man coverage, zone. coverage, what are we doing? Who is that secondary going against? Are they going against the starters? Are they really the starters? Or are they just people who are lined up in the first group? They're the healthiest, maybe? Probably those that know the formations and play calls the most.

And if you don't think that's a statement out loud that, wait a minute, he's not in the starting group because he hasn't picked it all up yet. This is data. This is all data. This is all information and opportunity. Opportunity for the fans to have a better idea. Does this group look faster than it did last year? You can ask a different question

and say, wait a minute, does this skill position group look as fast as the top of the Big Ten Conference? Different question. Does this team look fast and does this team look Oregon fast?

Does it look Ohio State fast? Does it look USC fast? Does it look high? Iowa fast. Does it look control? Are they effective? Do they make mistakes? Mistake-free football puts you in the top third of the Big Ten conference.

Just don't give the ball away. Don't give the ball away. Don't have false starts and offsides. We won't even add no holding calls on the offensive line or no passion interference or holding calls on defense. I won't even add those. To get to the top. of the big 10, the top third, if you want to think about this way,

Nebraska being in the top six in the Big Ten conference, that means some things have gotten incredibly well, remarkably well. From the scheduling to health, to adapting to new coordinators, right? Because we have new coordinators on both side of the ball. You have new group leaders in important groups. But to move, if those new coaches and coordinators are focused, and driving the concept that simply let's not beat Nebraska. Line up on side.

Understand the snap count. Don't grab. Don't grab. I was taught this early on in life, and then it was confirmed by the late great George Allen. George Allen, Hall of Fame coach, Rams, Redskins back in the day. and at a camp early in my life in D.C. going to a camp,

and he said, don't grab. Don't grab. Grabbing is a sign that you have failed in your execution. Grabbing is unskilled. Grabbing is chaos. And it haunted me as a player and as a coach. To preach that and teach that. Because grabbing means that as an offensive lineman, it means that either your balance is off, your timing is off, your location is wrong, eyes, body placement core is not intact, and you weren't violent and explosive with your hands.

And you got in trouble. And so what did you do when you got in trouble? You panicked and you tried to regain control by grabbing. The reload in offensive line play is, to move your feet, sink your hips, retract and explode your hands again. If your hands stay, the holding calls are when the hands stay in chaos, actively in chaos. If you're within the frame grabbing, they will say that's a control thing. If the hands are moving, it's a change of control and they will throw the flag. as a defensive player with a ball carrier, if you're grabbing, it means you still haven't taken the step that you need to get to contact.

That's what grabbing does. If you're in coverage and you grab, what it means is your leverage was wrong, your balancer's wrong, your read was wrong, and then your thinking was wrong. Your brain is wrong. You're not beat yet.

Adjust, adapt, get back into your skill box, and get to work. If it's resinking, resetting, reloading, whatever it is, do that. That's what you watch tonight. How much grabbing is going on? How much chaos is happening? How many times did a receiver panic?

Did they panic? Were you calm? Panic is for a receiver is your last step top of the route, not back to Tristan as he throws to me the out. My last step has to be a statement of dominance to my quarterback. It has to be. He has to know that no matter if I'm even, I'm leaving. If I am even with my defensive back where the ball is released, top of the route, my next step back to the ball makes that throw, a dominant throw, and a good decision.

And if I'm being grabbed, it's because I allowed it. And now I got to get aggressive. I need to chop his arms off. Or be explosive enough that when I step at the top of the route, I create separation. and if I do that, then I need to bring two hands to the party. Every thrown ball, Tristan's going to trust me enough to throw me the ball at a critical situation and they're all critical, that I need to be honorable and in control enough to bring two hands to the competition.

One hand, it means I'm being lazy or I've allowed myself to be grabbed. Two means I completed the task, every task. know the play, be prepared, line up, exposed off, first off the line of scrimmage, get into my break, separate, leverage, step to the ball, finish, complete, tuck, and then, and then, and then, if you want to watch tonight and tell me who the great receivers are, watch after they catch the ball.

Do they change level and location? I need you to not be where you were when you caught it. quickly on purpose, quickly on purpose, because there's some big meat eaters inside and some finishers over top. And if I'm right where I was when I caught the ball, I'm easy to find. And the easiest person to hit in football

is somebody we know where they're at. So guess what? Yards have to catch level location. as you watch this thing tonight, it's an opportunity to see more. It's an opportunity for players to tell you and show you who they are. It tells you if the timing's right,

if the verbal is right, all those things. It's going to be a great night at Memorial Stadium. If you don't have plans, go down there. Look, they've got $20 tickets, $30 if you want to be in the suites, but the weather's nice tonight. That may not be necessary. Five and under free, I believe. And I believe the $11 and there are $11 tickets, $10 tickets for kids and teenagers.

So if you're not doing anything, there's the first red shirt. There's the first red shirt. We've had 11 people walk by. That's the first red shirt. Just keep note of it because it'll tell you everything. There is data. Tonight is for data. We'll continue to talk about it.

And then we'll take a break. Come back. Thank you for being on the street. DP one-on-one. We'll be right back. You're listening to one-on-one with DP. Brought you by Canopy Street Market on 93-7 the ticket

and the ticket-fm.com. Welcome back. One-on-one. It's the first real Saturday of Nebraska football season. It's the first real Saturday that

You can identify some of the personality, some of the things behind the scenes, and some of the things that will have a greater impact on Nebraska football in the Big Ten football season. And I was saying that I spent the four days at Big Ten Media, Big Ten Football Media days. And it is an annual right of data, of just data consumption. to see how people carry themselves in a natural state. People telling you who they really are. So you're seeing the off-season work. You see the body types.

You see the shape and conditioning. You see how they walk into the room, right? When you have 54 of the best players in the Big Ten conference, now these aren't all the best players. but each team brings three players. And then watching the coach and how the coach walks in and what his mindset is. And they will tell you there was not a coach there that wouldn't tell us

why he was there, what he was all about, what the program was about, what the players were supposed to be about, what it was going to look like. And it is a thing that when you get amongst that level of human being, you size each other up. You look and see, wait a minute, The head to toe, huh, huh.

Oh, that's who you are. Oh, you got on heels, bro. You got on stacked heels, man. What's the problem? What's the problem? You know, that tie don't go with that suit, bro. Like, that's not a good, oh, you didn't even wear a tie. Oh, okay.

Oh, you wore the pocket tie. Oh, you wore the pocket square. Okay, partner. Make a statement. Make a statement. You see the coaches. You see the players. And they fall in different dynamics.

There were quarterbacks there. And I'm sorry to say it, but there are two people I look at first on a team to tell me who they are. Tell me who you are. Show me your quarterback. Show me the person that is your greatest, most consistent, and impactful decision maker.

always, always, always, always, always, always. You cannot name a successful, a Big Ten champion who didn't have a leader at quarterback. Didn't matter how tall he was, didn't matter how much you weighed, how he made decisions in critical moments. Big Ten championships is critical mass, baby. If you can't make good decisions, it is a problem. And yeah, eyes to Dylan Raola and watch how he maneuvered. maneuvered in the space and how he communicated. And there was a level of comfort.

That's impressive. He did not look like as Mr. 30. The moment didn't look too big. He looked like an athlete. You had to. Yeah. You walk in. But then,

but then the thing that you do, and it's natural to it is to look at other quarterbacks. and I can tell you what, Niko walked in like, thanks for having this party for me. Now, there's some disconnect, because you got to know, hey, bro, this wasn't for you.

I appreciate the thought, but this wasn't, you are quarterback number five. If that, now, he may end up having the most impact on the season. He may actually be the, the second or third most impactful quarterback in the Big Ten football conferences year.

But if you want to measure, if you think Nebraska is going to be great, not good, great. And great is just upper third. Everybody's happy if Nebraska's in the top six in the Big Ten conference. Not ideal always. There's to me be some folks to say four, fourth is doable, getable, attainable. You know, Oregon has a down year. USC has a down year, right? If you're able to beat USC,

you could say that there's a possibility that Dylan can be in the top four, quarterbacks in the big ten. Top three, top two is a reach, right? Top two is asking a lot. Because you have to play in meaningful games late in the season and the postseason. In order for, and I don't mean pinstrike bowl.

You have to play a meaningful postseason game against some good competition and be in consideration. The second position you look at, and I can tell you, I'll give you the list, that Drew Aller from Penn State literally walked in as though all of this was for him. All of it. All of his people were there for him.

All of your people were there for him. He just walked through like, give me my flowers. Give me my flowers. We about to do this. We about to do this. I don't know. I don't know. what y'all came to do, but I came to win the whole thing.

Nothing else is acceptable, and look who I brought with me. There's no other quarterback that showed up that way, but I can tell you, Billy Edwards Jr. walked in with Fickle, patting him on the back and praising him like Paul Heyman does Brock Lesnar. Like, he walked, Fickle walked in and presented his new quarterback. Like, hey, gang, you know, I'm used to bringing in some really good-looking girls at quarterback, but I've got a looker. Mine is 6, 5, 230 pounds, and he's going to throw for 3,000 yards, whether you like it or not. The old Wisconsin Way doesn't exist anymore.

I've got a gunsling at quarterback. In walks Braun from Northwestern looking like he just left the gym before he put the suit up. pumped up, jacked up. It was, oh, he walked through there, like, let another one of these coaches take a false step. I will put him on his back. I don't care who it is. And he walked in with Preston Stone,

his new quarterback straight out of SMU. And Preston Stone looked like the cover of Sports Illustrated playing quarterback. Coming straight from Dallas, Texas, with money. He looked, hey man, I'm built for this.

I'm built for this. If you don't know me, get to know me. I'm not scared of nothing from Texas, Oklahoma, none of that. I've already beat everybody that y'all going to have to beat. So sleep on Northwestern if you want.

But the second position to look at are the silverbacks. Those left tackle, they just move different. They just loom and lurk. It looks, it's almost like you turn the corner and you just go, where'd the sun go? It was brightly lit in here.

And here's this six foot six, 330 pound behemoth with arms long and thick. and a bit of a snarl. Getting several left tackles in the same space is pretty spectacular, as they want to say it. Because all of those eat metal defenders that exist, all of those I chew steel and spit out iron guys, right, run through the wall, boundary setters,

you know who calms them down? Those silverbacks sitting left tackle. There's are the first ones off the bus and the last one's off the field. And the Big Ten has some. Man, they have some. You just to walk in and just go, what? Where are you shopping for this type of a human? And here's the thing.

They were all with long, thick arms and tiny waist. and it was like bohemous feet, just giant feet and hands. And you shake hands with them, I have pretty substantial hand game. But you shake hands, you go, what is happening? What is happening to my hand? It is spectacular to watch Big Ten football football. 54. We got to see 54, let's just say for General.

I see, 54 of the top 200 Big Ten players. Because there's some underclassmen, and then there's some folks that just, they're so talented, right? Ohio State sent eight people to the NFL draft. They could only send three to Big Ten meeting days. So that meant there were five people who were in the top 100 players of the Big Ten and in the country who couldn't make it to media, football media days of the Big Ten. The same can be said for Michigan, the same can be said for Oregon.

Tonight in Lincoln, we get to see the first peak and view of Nebraska this year's team. And I'll tell you, it is different looking to see and gauge this year's team versus gauging this year's state of the program. The program and the team have to meet in order for the kind of success to happen that you want to happen on a regular basis. I'm not talking about catching lightning in a bottle. I'm talking about what it would look like from a program and culture standpoint to a team and effectiveness standpoint. And how closely will they resemble themselves and how quickly. I'm not sure that Nebraska has it to risk to not be at apex level, game one, Cincinnati in Kansas City.

In order for this thing to look the way Husker fans wanted to look, they have to be ready August 28th to show up and show out. You don't want to come back 0-1. But if you come back, want to know, now we're talking. We're going to go through the schedule. Cincinnati first. More, one-on-one when we come back. You're listening to one-on-one with DP.

Brought you by Canopy Street Market. On 93-7 the ticket and the ticketfm.com. It's always funny. I have friends that are listening all over the country. And so we had a text that said, you know, when Dominicans almost beat the, almost won a championship by himself. He almost won a big 12 championship by himself,

almost being vital. But here's what happens when great players, elite players, have to play at a superhuman level and don't get team support. Now, mind you, that Texas team, with all the conspiracy and rule discrepancy and all those things, that that undefeated Texas team then got handled by Alabama in the championship game. That was just the Big 12 championship. They got a handle. Mind you, this is an offense.

And no slight to the defense. Defense, you did your thing, right? You held them to 18 yards rushing. Held Texas to 18 yards rushing, told. But Nebraska ran 35 times for 67 yards. That's my championship production. Passing game. Exactly, it was 6 of 19 for 39 yards, three interceptions.

championships are team awards. It's team accomplishment. And you can have a great player with the player shouldn't be asked to be so elite that he covers a whole sea of transgressions. But that's the thing about football.

11 people, 11 folks battling on either side of the ball, it's an accumulation of moments in the game, chaos, panic, grabbing, not grabbing, and other. There's a 13, 12 loss. I wish they had won. I wish they had the opportunity to face Alabama in the championship game.

But recent history to that had said that in the big game, it wasn't going to go well. Wisconsin enters the chat. Right? That's a 9 and 14. They played exactly as a 9 and 14 plays. They were 9 and 4. And you can tell me he was the best player in the country. But did he have the best season, the most accomplished?

No. No. It belonged to somebody else because they got it done. in the big games, the games that matter, and they made the plays that need to be made. But that was then, this is now, and ultimately what you want to see is progress, competency, accountability, urgency. Like, I need for this to matter to win. I mean, the urgency says nine wins.

I know we're celebrating nine wins because we haven't had it since 2009. I get it. I get it. I haven't had it in a decade. But is that the standard? And I'm wrong. I am absolutely wrong for asking that they do more. Doesn't mean I can't want more for them.

I want more for Nebraska. I want more for Nebraska as a program, as a team, as a fan base, as a community. I just do. And tonight is an opportunity to see what the progress is,

what it looked like, what's happening along the way, And I can say this, that Big Ten Media Football Days gave a lot of information data. And shout out to Steve Montgomery from the Sioux City Explorers came in and had coffee today as they are in town to take care of. I take on the salt dogs. And he's a baseball guy, but he's a big football guy, big football. And he asked me, he says, well, from Big Ten Media Days, what's the most impressive thing you saw? and quite frankly the honest and the answer in the most honest way I can give it

was that I saw a program that was not settling for great there was a program that's not settling for great they only are moving actioning and being the best at everything and everything over the course of those days I saw this organization this group this program moved together speak together, act together. They dressed alike. You never saw one by themselves. You never heard them speak out of line.

You never saw them move out of line. And I don't know what it means. I'm just saying the most impressive group from Big Ten Football Media Days belonged to James Franklin and the Penn State Nittenden Islands. And they moved like they were on mission. The phrase that my grandfather told,

told me was this move like it's on purpose. Penn State moved like it was on purpose. They were on a mission. Walk like you got somewhere to be and something to do when you get there. It's a big deal. It's a big deal. That'll be it for a ticket on a Saturday. We'll have replays the rest of the stream.

Royals on the brick and mortar until it kicks back over. And then tomorrow we'll start it at 7. am nxte 24 micah and cherry have a really good show set up for you j foreman inside the huddle jeff and nicole essek uh will carry you through peter ferguson and then hoss and myself a full sunday all the way through nuclear heat with bach have a fantastic saturday the weather's gorgeous outside enjoy yourselves and be kind to one another because