Week Three Might Be A Big Coaching Challenge for Matt Rhule

The last two times Nebraska faced FCS teams, they beat Northern Iowa 39-3 in 2024 and last year when they downed Houston Christian 59-7.

Like those opponents, the University of North Dakota is an FCS program. UND is a member of the Missouri Valley Conference and plays its home games in Alerus Stadium which seats 12,283 fans.

UND went 8-6 last year under first year head coach Eric Schmidt. They lost to Kansas State 35-38, lost at home to powerhouse North Dakota State (10-15) and lost in OT to South Dakota State 31-14.

Just a couple of plays kept the Fighting Hawks from having 11 wins and competing for a national championship last year.

But Danny Boy, you’re talking about an FCS natty-not an FBS championship with the Big Boys in the Power Four conferences.

And for the record, Nebraska is 2-0 against the Hawks lifetime winning in Memorial Stadium in 1961 (33-0) and in 2022 (28-17).

So what’s there to sweat about?

Maybe nothing. But I’ve been saying for years the Nebraska football program can not afford to overlook any team. The Huskers aren’t good enough right now to do so.

Husker fans remember all too well when NU lost to an unranked opponent. In 2017, the Huskers lost to Northern Illinois (17-20), to Troy in 2018 (19-27), to Georgia Southern in 2022 (42-45) and to Colorado in 2023 (14-36).

But what about UND this year? Don’t look now, but UND is 3-0 and is averaging over 50 points a game on offense and is surrendering about 23 points per game on defense.

Yes, their wins have been over LIU (42-21), St. Thomas (62-26) and Portland State (41-23), but UND knows how to win.

North Dakota has nothing to lose. They won’t be intimidated by the venue or the 85,000 partisan Husker fans.

The Fighting Hawks already have one win over an FBS team. On September 19, 2015, UND downed the Wyoming Cowboys 24-13.

Admittedly, the Cowboys weren’t very good that year finishing with a 2- 10. But still....

Okay, maybe Rhule has nothing to worry about. But make no mistake: the Fighting Hawks are not coming to Memorial Stadium just to get a pay check. Buyer beware.

Reasons To Relax

Through its first two games, the Huskers have seen the emergence of a lot of very talented players on both offense and defense.

Transfer player QB Anthony Colandrea has demonstrated what the coaches have known for a long time. He is a game changer. If he stays healthy, he’ll be a tough out even in the Big Ten. Several running backs have also emerged as players who can be game changers. The receiving room has shown they can also be dangerous.

So maybe this is a team that might win a few more games this fall. Let’s hope that Saturday in Lincoln, NU takes care of the Fighting Hawks in proper fashion.

Stay up to date on all things Huskers by bookmarking Nebraska Cornhuskers On SI, subscribing to HuskerMax on YouTube, and visiting HuskerMax.com daily.

Add us as a preferred source on Google