Uh, do those two losses you think offset for each other and it's, uh, you know, pretty equal footing? How do you view, uh, the Oregon offense versus Nebraska's defense in light of that news?

Well, I mean, the, the, the, the weight would be more on the quarterback who's a potential first-round NFL draft pick in the spring, I think.

Uh, and that would've been interesting.

Like, if he would've come back, how rusty would he have been? You know, what would that have looked like coming off of that concussion a few weeks ago? And so now it's, it's become, hey, is it Dylan Raiola in the reunion game with Nebraska? Is it Brock Thomas, the, the local Eugene kid walk-on who came in and gave them some life last week against UCLA? Uh, and, and you hear Nebraska talk this week, like I don't, I, they, they didn't seem too concerned with which quarterback it was, just in the sense that Oregon's going to do what it does.

It has, uh, a ton of s- of skill guys with speed that, that the Ducks want to get them the ball in space.

And so that, that objective won't change in try- for Nebraska in trying to limit those receivers and, you know, multiple five-star, former five-star prospects, and running backs that can break it on a, on a given play.

So yeah, it'll be, it'll be a little bit different for them.

W- how much is left in the tank do you think for Nebraska, and can they pull off, you know, an empty the tank kind of performance here headed into the bye?

Evan, what do you think of the matchup here? What areas of concern are there for you? Where do you think Nebraska may have an advantage, may be at a disadvantage?

Well, I mean, the big story, of course, is going to start with who the quarterback is.

And Dan Lenning spoke out west to their local reporters today, and so they're going to let their availability report do the talking.

So what do you want to bet? It's going to be questionable for Dante Moore tonight, which, you know, not exactly definitive.

But, you know, that'll be fascinating.

I mean, it's either going to be, hey, this is the return of Dante Moore after the concussion and multiple weeks off, and what does that look like? Or...

the Dylan Raiola reunion showdown, probably.

Evan, if you were to pinpoint one of those battles between Nebraska and Oregon, which one do you think is the most important for Nebraska to win to be able to walk out of there with a victory?

Right

...

Riley Van Poppel as well, and you're just like, "Okay." I mean, they...

That, that's been a rushing attack that's been dynamite for Indiana, uh, this year and, of course, last year during their undefeated season, too.

And so it, it almost kind of felt like the, the, the Brandon Marsh, you know, Decker stuff was sort of secondary to, uh, to, to them being able to run the ball.

And to Nebraska's distinct credit, I mean, they're able to shut it down, and, uh, their, some of their guys said afterwards they felt like they had Indiana pegged just in terms of where the running back was lined up and what the tight end positioning was.

And, and it turned out to be that way.

Like, i- you're, you're facing the heartbreak of not being able to get over the hump and being stuck feeling in this close space with realities of like, "Okay, this team fe- feels different maybe than some of the others."

But I, I wanna see how they kinda, you know, stand up.

No, totally.

I mean, I, I don't think the talent is, is that ridiculously wide, the talent gap between these two teams.

Uh, certainly last year the Hoosiers were loaded, maybe they will be again.

But, uh, there are a lot of similarities too.

I mean, these, these are both teams that are financially supported, that are both backed now by, by fans that, uh, you know, that have decent rosters.

And so it's gonna come down to all, all the little stuff, the techniques and the fundamentals, and a, a play call here or there, a turnover.

What's the degree of worry on that? Or is there kind of the thought that maybe knowing the opponent coming in, you'll rise to the occasion?

Evan, uh, is stopping that Indiana rushing attack, tied for third nationally in yards per carry, is that the most important piece of this game for Nebraska defensively on Saturday?

Yeah, I mean, it is in the sense that, like, you wanna stop the run against any opponent in football first.

But, like, Indiana's...

They can beat you in a bunch of ways.

Like, I thought Matt Rule's description today of Indiana as sort of like a, like a modern version of a triple o- uh, triple option offense, was pretty apt.

Because yeah, like, you can, you can, um, invest resources in stopping the run, but then Indiana's gonna hit you with that vaunted back shoulder pass that they do so well, and they've got Nick Marsh out there and, and a bunch of other guys who, uh, you know, continue to look the part.

You've got a guy in Josh Hoover who's a legitimate pro prospect and can do his thing through the air and, and, you know, they have an offensive line that's quality.

Uh, where, where do you sit today when you think about Nebraska's running game and if it becomes maybe more QB dependent than what we saw through the first three games?

And last year's team led Maryland by a couple possessions before the turnover bug And I'm not saying Nebraska shouldn't worry about Maryland, but are we maybe giving Maryland too much credit? Are they occupying too much space? Or is there still just not enough trust or faith or confidence or benefit of the doubt given to Nebraska teams in terms of fans just waiting to buy in on what they're seeing from the 4-0 Huskers?

Yeah, I think that's all fair.

Nebraska...

in recent years, just has not been a team that's handled success well.

When it gets ranked, it doesn't last.

They lose a game and they drop out.

If they win a couple in a row, then it doesn't continue.

But do you think that, you know, their ability to be up to this point, business as usual, is probably aided by the fact they went out and probably researched and got more mature players, guys that needed to come in and play roles versus coming in and trying to thrive for themselves?

But right now, who do you like as the fourth option, if there is to be a fourth option, or maybe somebody that is back in the pack ascends with one of these perceived top three teams dropping out for a playoff spot?

Yeah, I mean, like today, a team that can control its own destiny at this point is Iowa, honestly.

I mean, they just went and won at Michigan and, you know, kind of brought that reverse karma out there to the big house.

And, like, it's all in front of it.

Like, they've got Ohio State coming in this weekend, game day.

Ohio State's clearly got the skill talent advantage, but it's in Kinnick.

That's a program that – It just finds a way to play the game at its speed, like it's going to play on its own terms, and it's going to hang in the trenches and everything else.

Is Nebraska's pass rush, run defense, is that sustainable moving forward, do you think?

On offense and defense, besides Klandria, on offense and defense, and particularly on defense, what big money players or money players, per se, have to be money come Saturday at 4 o'clock?

Yeah, good question.

I think, you know, defensively, I kind of look at the front seven as that group that needs to take the leap.

I thought...

What we saw from the linebacker group in the first three games was probably most encouraging.

So you have Owen Chambliss now another week healthier coming off that hamstring.

You'd expect him to play a big role.

we're talking with evan bland of the omaha world herald on our aloe fiber vip line evan nebraska michigan state has been a fun series throughout the past right obviously mentioned the the nebraska and pat mcgerald connection and how the wildcats gave nebraska fits how much do you enjoy just the nebraska michigan state uh you know match up those teams getting on the field together

And if you were to kind of look at Nebraska's offense, where do you think Nebraska can lean or may have success Saturday night? offensively here, where are they going to go?

Yeah, I thought Pat Fitzgerald had a good comment about that when he was talking about Nebraska this week.

He's like, man, if we stop this, then they go to that, and if you stop that, then they go over there.

And I think that's maybe the quality of the Nebraska offense that seems like it'll translate the most to the Big Ten.

I don't think you're going to see the rushing yardage that we saw Nebraska put up against the MAAC teams or the FCS But, like, I think they show that they can do that, and they show that they have a versatile attack, right? Like, how many years, when you think back in the last handful, did Nebraska have, like, one transfer receiver that you felt good about or maybe one running back? And right now they still have – Three co-starters with Jamal Rule leading the way there.

You've got a legitimate four deep on your receiver chart at this point.

You figure Luke Lindenmeyer is going to continue to be more involved moving forward.

Whenever you think about whether this offense would translate, and I particularly look at the running game, do you have more confidence that it's going to translate to Big Ten defenses because of the guys in the skill position places like Jamal Rollers, because of that offensive line and what they've put together?

BetMGM operates pursuant to an operating agreement with iGaming Ontario.

as will be at that time.

Maybe it'll be 24.

Maybe it'll be something beyond that.

I think probably the playoff piece is the one that it tells you a little bit about just because you can afford to play a team like that, at least in the current scheduling structure, and still be in that top 24, top 25 mix.

in ways that maybe you couldn't be in a 12 team format like we have now where, you know, losses are held against you more than just the boldness of playing a tough non-conference game.

So I think it maybe gives you a little bit of a look at what it'll be, but then, yeah, I mean, it's fun to think back on the history.

But it seems like Husker fans are pretty jaded by the conversations that have happened around, you know, some marquee games that were taken off the schedule or attempted to have been taken off the schedule.

Multiple choice for Evan Bland.

I might go A and B on that the most.

I do think this non-conference season for Nebraska really does remind you, man, it can kind of drag on if you're not challenged at least once.

You look ahead and they're playing Oklahoma and Arizona, Oklahoma State, and some of these other challenges down the road that are going to be more compelling.

That just adds some life to those early games.

This week kind of feels like it's been a little bit of a slog.

Even the prospect of playing Notre Dame in a future September I think is definitely more appealing than what it is now.

What's your reaction to Nebraska placing 17th inside the top 20? projected NIL spending first, and then what do you think of Nebraska being sixth in the league if these numbers are true between that $31 and $35 million number for Nebraska football?

Evan, what do you think was the biggest improvement from Week 1 to Week 2 for Nebraska when you compared their Week 1 win over Ohio to Week 2 victory over Bowling Green?

I mean, I think it was just a little bit more cohesive, a little cleaner on the operations.

You know, to me, the biggest takeaway, like I try to look at some of these games when Nebraska is a big favorite playing overmatched opponents.

I try to find things that will translate when the schedule turns to the Big Ten.

And I felt like the thing.

that stood out the most from pulling away from Bowling Green was just the play of Anthony Calandria, the quarterback.

He made some throws in that game that absolutely will translate over to the big 10.

Evan, through the first couple games and just kind of getting your feel for it, do you think this is going to be a defensive-led team or an offensive-led squad? Which unit do you think is going to be what this Nebraska football team is known more for?

Where do you think Nebraska can stand to make the biggest gains, whether it's just in-game comfort, game shape, whatever it is, in terms of improvement from week one against Ohio to week two at Bowling Green?

I think generally, especially given the caliber of opponent, you want to see Nebraska clean up in the areas that it can control.

You want them to cut down on penalties, certainly from what they had in the opener.

That was about as rough or rougher than at any point that we saw from Nebraska last year.

So you'd love to see that get cleaned up.

The special teams in general, I think, it would be nice to see that unit be a little bit more of a difference maker than what it was in the opener, you know, flipping the field, setting you up for field position, you know, not, not going off sides on kickoffs, which is kind of hard to do, but they did that.

And then, you know, probably just build too on what you had, like you had a turnover free day from Anthony Calandria in the offense.

Was Anthony Calandria what you expected in terms of live game action? What did he do that fit your initial impressions of him and what maybe surprised you about his week one performance?

Yeah,

you know, there's something to that.

Good teams win, great teams cover.

So Nebraska was able to do that.

I guess I kind of looked at it through the lens of okay, what were the concerns coming into the season, and then what did Nebraska do to calm those or maybe continue that conversation? Anthony Calandria not having any interceptions or lost fumbles was encouraging, for example.

Or the running back by committee approach led by Jamal Rule as a true freshman.

That looked pretty good in the opener.

Did you see enough physicality from the offensive line on Saturday?

Learn anything new about Frank Solich from your chance to talk and write about him?

Yeah, you know, I wanted to write.

It wasn't a profile or feature on him necessarily.

I really wanted to tie it around him.

this game this weekend and, and yeah, what it means to him to be back.

But I think maybe the thing that I was most interested in was that he did take so many things that have been great about Nebraska and brought them to an Ohio program that really had no history of success at all on the football field before that.

And so I, he comes in and first it's just the credibility of his name when he's hired in 2005 and they, and they say, okay, we're going to invest in better facilities and we're going to fully fund our team in the off season.

Evan, do you think, like, obviously this game, obviously Nebraska against Ohio, but obviously with Frank Solich moving back and then obviously his tremendous success at Ohio, and he had tremendous success here, does it, in your mind, kind of force, I guess, media members, but then obviously older fans and maybe the younger and upcoming fans really to appreciate, you know, his legacy here, you know, being obviously from Lincoln and then obviously being a great coach and an offensive coordinator and then have really good success here at a short time in Nebraska?

So you got to sit down with him, and this has got to be special for a guy who, quite frankly, hates the limelight.

Right.

Yeah, I don't think this was a deal where he wanted to make a radio tour or go on TV or anything.

So it seemed appropriate to just kind of chat a little bit about his reflection of the moment.

I thought it was cool.

So he lives in Lincoln now, and he went to a bunch of Nebraska games last year.

hung out with Tom Osborne up in his box.

them will happen first, one of them will get fixed, and the question is not, will either of them get fixed?

And, and Evan, how fluid do you expect that running back situation to be whenever we're looking ahead to a game like Ohio and, and Bowling Green? Do you think they'd like to have that kind of set in stone before Nebraska takes the field against Ohio, or do you think this is something where the coaching staff would feel comfortable letting the competition play out into the season in October?

Yeah, I think the latter.

I think you let it play out.

And like the ...

To, to me, like the question of who gets the first carry is sort of immaterial.

Like I think it's gonna be a committee approach regardless.

Like, Akin Nelson can be that explosive home run type guy that we saw in flashes at the Las Vegas Bowl.

Do you, do you think that while pass pro's important, do you expect the backs to be in a lot this year to, to protect the quarterback?

Have you been able to pick up any clues on where you think Nebraska's offensive staff is leaning in the running back room led by EJ Barthel?

Well, I think they really continued their consistent messaging that we've heard all offseason, which is they feel like they've got multiple guys that can be the guy, and we'll see how it plays out.

But I did think EJ Barthel was a little bit more, a little bit bolder maybe in his outlook of the room.

This time, from what we've heard in the past, saying they feel like they have multiple guys who could be starters and, you know, even going as far as to say that maybe collectively, this is the strongest the running back room has been since he's been at Nebraska.

And of course that includes Emma Johnson a year ago as an whole America performer.

Um, so they, they do feel like there's a little bit more depth there.

Um, you know, this, this is sort of the approach that Matt rule offenses have taken historically is to have that committee approach where it's not like last year when Emma Johnson dominated the carries and was good doing it.

that voice you hear on our aloe fiber vip line is evan bland writing for the omaha world herald joining us here on old school let's switch rooms here evan and talk some tight ends we heard offensive coordinator dana holgerson really challenged that group a couple times saying they weren't where he expected them to be at that point what'd you hear from marcus satterfield about his room and the progress they've made since dana holgerson made those comments

How would you rank your concern? If we go on a scale of 1 to 10, 10 being the worst, 1 being not concerned at all, what is your concern with this defensive line and their ability to hold up in the Big Ten?

Maybe around 6, and I think that's down from maybe 7 or 8 in the winter.

I think you've got...

Your starters more or less set in Riley Van Poppel and Whittington.

You know, they haven't set that, but you can kind of tell, like, those are two of your best performers.

You know, the discussion from Rob Orich and defensive coaches was let's try to find six – D tackles or just interior D linemen, uh, to, to use in a rotational setting in the big 10.

And so I think you look at still a photo, uh, would be one Tyson Terry, uh, has come along like he was kind of out of sight, out of mind with his injury last year.

How are you going to fill the butts in the seats, Evan, if it was up to you?

What'd you, uh, like and, uh, what'd you hear from what Jeep Wade had to say yesterday?

Yeah, interest- He, he's always interesting to hear from and to watch during the open practice session, too, when he's in his element.

You know, I, I thought offensive line to me was, going into camp, one of the most set positions on the entire roster, where you had a pretty good sense of who the starting five would be and how that would play out.

I do think this week sort of opened the door to at least a little bit of intrigue when you see Trevyn Valade wearing the, the yellow, uh, injury jersey.

Doesn't look like anything major, but he's been a little bit limited in practice, and so that's allowed Gunner Getula to come in and take those snaps with the ones.

And obviously Getula's a multi-year starter who was, uh, missed a lot of the last year recovering from a knee injury.

He's full strength, really I think took advantage of his downtime through strength training, and learning the scheme, and, and taking that next step mentally.

What did he have to say, and what was your interpretation of where, where he thinks that interior defensive line rotation is at right now?

[laughs]

... that'd be the great, uh, that'd be a nice lead in.

[laughs] Um, but [laughs] but no, it's, uh, y- y- camp is, camp, uh, the open practice is always interesting.

You know, you kind of go into it and you have to have takes and observations.

And for me it's, I- I try to use it to just sort of add a little bit of color to different things that maybe we already know or think we know.

And so, like, I, I spent some time with the receiving group on Tuesday and, and just was really impressed.

Like, I kind of ...

And Evan, we've spent a, a good amount of time talking about this, but, uh, w- as you do kind of mentally prepare yourself for some of the personnel and some of the guys who have made some strides, is it still fair to say defensive line and running back room are the most intriguing positions as we, we make it through the first full week of fall camp?

That's what we've heard consistently.

That's where Nebraska's invested a ton of resources in improving from the exploits of Jeep Wade and how he's developed guys, including at his previous stop, to the three transfers that they brought in, plus Elijah Pritchett, who's probably Nebraska's best NFL draft prospect at this moment in time.

So if you have doubts about the quarterback or about the running back, it starts with the offensive line.

If that group is as advertised and is what Nebraska evaluates it to be, then those other position groups have a little bit more margin for error and how much uh you know does that come up during this any given season about how you have to win in the trenches and you have to be able to move another man off of his spot um when he doesn't want to move like it looks like nebraska has guys who are able to do that and you've got some depth there too when you talk about gunner gatula and tyler knack and some of these younger guys uh beyond that who maybe haven't played a ton so i I think I'm looking at that.

I think I'm looking at Calandra himself as somebody who gives Nebraska's offense the freedom to have an explosive play even when things don't come together perfectly on a given snap, just with his legs and his ability to freelance on occasion.

I think that's something to be excited about.

And then I think Rob Orich, too, coming in as a defensive coordinator who had a ton of success at San Diego State, who knows what he's looking for, who, by all accounts, talking with Nebraska players here recently, has been a dynamic teacher and somebody who has installed that scheme already to the point to where it doesn't necessarily feel like it's brand new anymore.

As you look at Nebraska's freshmen and redshirt freshmen, are there any guys you have circled that you think, hey, if they have a good fall camp, if they earn themselves some playing time here in 2026 – they could be guys that change the complexion of the scene that changed the way we talk about either the offense or the defense.

Who stood out to you that you were able to listen to on the Nebraska roster yesterday?

Yeah, I love the setup.

It was something, uh, I know, and fans don't maybe necessarily care, but, like, y- it, it's a setup where there were a couple of guys at the front podium in the media room, and then they had a couple of groups of four out on the field.

And so you could just kind of walk around and talk to guys.

And I think, like, the, the effect of that, as far as a fan would be concerned, is, like, players are much more conversational in that setting when it's just, like, you're talking to a couple of guys as opposed to giving a State of the Union or something like that.

So, uh, really enjoyed bouncing around.

I thought, uh, Paul Mubenga, one of the offensive guards, was thoughtful.

What do you make of that new look offensive line in terms of the, the traits that Jeep Wade was looking for, maybe as opposed to the Donovan Raiola style offensive line? Do you, do you notice any sort of a, a concerted effort in terms of the personnel and the play style that the Jeep Wade preferred to Donovan Raiola just through, you know, spring camp and the start of fall?

What do you make of the silence surrounding the football program during the lead-up time into their season here in just a month or so?

Yeah, I mean, again, I think some of it is self-awareness on the part of Nebraska.

I mean, Matt Rule said in the spring, he acknowledged, like, look, there's probably not a lot I can say that's going to win over a fan right now after what happened in November and December.

It's going to come down to winning the line of scrimmage and executing in close quarters.

situations tight spots during the season and so you contrast this spring with a year ago matt rule was rolling out podcasts which they used as recruiting branding opportunities uh they had the chasing three pod uh chasing three documentary that they had behind the scenes That they invested a lot into and released that, I think, on a couple of different occasions to fans.

So there was, I think a year ago, it was about building awareness.

And there was this anticipation of the year three Matt Rule phenomenon, which played out at Temple and at Baylor.

How does this Nebraska Cornhuskers team kind of come from that middle of the pack and make a jump in the Big Ten to some of those bigger dogs, like possibly the Oregons or the Indianas, and start competing with those types of teams?

When we talk Orich and the personnel he has and what they've brought in – What's your anticipation for this defense when it blooms, so to speak? What's a fair ask for Orich and company?

Well, I think when it comes to pass rush and the defensive line, there are a couple things that interest me.

One would be just his willingness to blitz.

Like you saw that at San Diego State quite a bit.

They brought pressure from different places, disguised where it was coming from.

And I think Nebraska, that would contrast with what Nebraska's done these last couple of years where it's been a little bit more straight up.

I mean, you probably have to go back to – The 2023 Tony White defense really where that was the last group that I think confused opposing offenses.

Do you think there's a few of them on this current roster Nebraska's going to have for 26th?