Nebraska football hires O-line coach, whiffs on DC, plus more Huskers news

There are plenty of things to discuss in the world of Nebraska athletics on this Sunday morning. For starters, the Huskers have advanced to the NCAA volleyball round of 16 with a 3-0 sweep of Kansas State on Saturday night.

The Huskers rolled through their first two matches of the NCAA volleyball tournament without losing a set or breaking a sweat, it seems. Nebraska volleyball will play Kansas next. Louisville, the former team of Dani Busboom-Kelly and the national runner-up from last season, will also be part of the regional as the No. 2 seed. The Cardinals will do battle with Texas A&M.

If the favored seeds win, Nebraska’s head coach would face her old team in the national quarterfinals for a berth in another Final Four for the Huskers, although maybe the first question is whether or not Nebraska will lose a set next weekend.

Andi Jackson and Harper Murray each had 10 kills last night. Bergen Reilly, the Big Ten Player of the Year, finished with 34.

Huskers find a new offensive line coach, and he’s impressive

After firing DC John Butler earlier this week, Nebraska football fans were wondering about offensive line coach Donovan Raiola. On Saturday, Huskers fans got their answer.

Raiola is out as the Huskers’ O-line coach. Rhule acted quickly to replace him, too, hiring Geep Wade from Georgia Tech. Wade is exactly the kind of O-line coach the Huskers needed.

He’s got more than two decades of experience. Wade has been with Georgia Tech for the past three seasons, and in that time, Georgia Tech was in the top two in the ACC in rushing during his first two seasons. The Yellow Jackets were also 18th nationally in total rushing yards and fifth this season in sacks allowed (9). Georgia Tech has led the ACC in fewest sacks allowed in each of the past three seasons.

You don’t get more proven than that. He’s also had 22 all-conference selections during his time as a coach and five NFL draft picks.

Great move by Nebraska football head coach Matt Rhule. Wade will coach Nebraska during its bowl prep. The bowl game has also been reported. The Huskers will play Utah in the Las Vegas Bowl on Dec. 31.

Huskers whiff on Toledo defensive coordinator

Vince Kehres was in town over the weekend to interview for the Huskers’ DC opening. However, he left town without a contract and agreed to terms with Syracuse later on Saturday. via Pete Thamel.

Kehres didn’t have any Power-4 experience. But his defenses with Toledo have been elite, including a unit that ranked fourth in scoring defense this season with 12 points per game allowed. The Rockets also surrendered just 2.8 yards per rushing attempt.

It was reported that there was wide interest from coaches in the Big Ten and SEC in the Nebraska DC job. We’ll see where things go, but it stings to lose Kehres, especially to Syracuse. That shouldn’t happen.

Huskers to do battle with Creighton

The Nebraska men’s basketball team will put its 8-0 record on the line Sunday against arch-rival Creighton. The Huskers won in Omaha last season and will look to make it two in a row over the Bluejays, who are 5-3.

Creighton is ranked 53rd in the Kenpom rankings. Nebraska is 47th. Creighton also defeated Oregon by 10 points on a neutral floor.

The Huskers are 6.5-point favorites, and if they can win this game, they should wind up 11-0 heading into Big Ten play. Each of Creighton’s top four scorers are former transfers led by Josh Dix (12 ppg). Blake Harper and Nik Graves also score 10 points per game, as does Owen Freeman, an Iowa transfer just like Dix.

Creighton isn’t a very good defensive team. They don’t force turnovers, block shots, or take the ball away. They rank 218th in field-goal percentage defense. Nebraska basketball should win, and I predict they’ll cover the spread (85-77).

Tip-off time is set for 4 p.m. (Fox Sports 1).

Huskers defeat Penn State in Big Ten women’s basketball opener

Amiah Hargrove came off the bench to score 26 points on 4-of-5 shooting from 3-point range to lead the Huskers to a 101-83 win over Penn State in women’s basketball. It was the Big Ten opener for both teams. Britt Prince added 20 points and six assists. She didn’t have a turnover and buried two triples as Nebraska women’s basketball improved to 9-0. The team might not be ranked in the AP or Coaches Polls, but the NET ranking has them in the top 20.

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