The Weekly Rundown: Nebraska fans again show their value, and 2023-24 is a sports year to remembers
Nebraska fans again show their value this week, and the 2023-24 was a sports year to remember for the Huskers.
We hit on that and more as we start your Monday with The Weekly Rundown column.
RELATED – Steven Sipple: Matt Rhule opening doors to Nebraska’s program shows us plenty, including the head coach’s relentlessness
Sure bets
You have to feel good about these things right now:
Nebraska fans: Just in case you needed a friendly reminder of why a state of less than 2 million people is such a factor in college sports. Husker fans once again reminded us of that this past week in Omaha at the Big Ten baseball tournament.
A crowd of 13,300 showed up for a 10 a.m. championship game against Penn State with around 12 hours’ notice to get tickets and make their way to Omaha on a holiday weekend. That figure was second only to the SEC, which drew 15,686 for LSU vs. Tennessee on Sunday afternoon. The ACC drew 6,870 for its final on Sunday with Duke and Florida State, while the Big 12 had a crowd of 8,934 for Oklahoma State vs. Oklahoma.
It’s simply amazing how much impact Nebraska fans can have. Nebraska fans remain the most valuable asset to Husker athletics. Love or hate the Big Red, the support they get at all levels is impressive.
An emphasis on measurables and upside: Length, speed, and athletic upside. Those are probably three of the most important traits head football coach Matt Rhule and his recruiting personnel department look for.
This week, we got a look behind the curtain by talking to five members of NU’s personnel department. We also saw firsthand the type of athletes the Huskers have added just in the past month, watching spring practice and seeing some of the results put up in track, both at the collegiate and high school levels.
2023-24 Husker sports year: In all, Nebraska athletics captured five titles at the Big Ten level – women’s soccer, men’s track, volleyball, men’s gymnastics and baseball. On top of that, the Husker men’s basketball team played for a Big Ten title and won a game in the NCAA tournament. The men’s team had arguably its best season in 30 years, qualifying for the NCAA tournament.
Husker wrestling also emerged as a top national team, while the women’s track team placed second in the Big Ten. We all know what the big piece still needed is. Optimism remains that success in football is coming sooner rather than later.
Will Bolt and Rob Childress: It’s hard to think of two better people leading Nebraska baseball now than Will Bolt and Rob Childress.
Give Bolt a lot of credit for the staff moves he made this off-season to elevate Childress to pitching coach. We saw some vintage Childress work with the pitchers this week in Omaha. NU’s had 56 strikeouts in six games, setting a new Big Ten tournament record.
Meanwhile, Bolt’s offense set a Big Ten tournament record with 17 doubles in six games.
High Jump State Champion 6’8”Back 2 Back Team State Champions pic.twitter.com/28msw73DBv— Quinn Clark (@QuinnClark_1) May 26, 2024
Surprises
These were my surprises of the week:
How much Quinn Clark remained under the radar: These were incoming wide receiver Quinn Clark’s numbers this past weekend at the Montana state track meet: 6-8 (high jump – first place), 23-1 (high jump – second place) and 46-6 (triple jump – second place). Earlier this summer, the 6-foot-6 Clark ran 4.4 seconds in the 40-yard dash at Nebraska’s camp.
Clark is the son of the late Ken Clark, an All-Big Eight running back at Nebraska (1986-89). Given his size, pedigree, and numbers this past year, it’s crazy how much he remained under the radar. Clark looks to be one of the steals of the class right now on paper.
How quickly Omaha Westside and Bellevue West moved their game to Thursday: I’m not necessarily surprised the Bellevue West vs. Omaha Westside game has been moved to Thursday, Sept. 19. What surprised me, though, was just how quickly both Warrior athletic director Tom Kerkman and Thunderbird AD Jon Mauro reacted after the news hit this week.
I’ve known both Kerkman and Mauro for nearly 30 years. Both are very smart people in leadership positions. They were smart enough to immediately recognize that as much as they didn’t like moving their game to Thursday, it was common sense.
If there is a path to moving your game away from competing head-to-head with a Nebraska football home game that draws nearly 1 and 20 people in the state to Memorial Stadium, you do it. Strong leaders make decisive decisions. I’d imagine we’ll see many more follow.
The Big Ten’s quick decision to move the championship baseball game to 10 a.m.: I was a little surprised how quickly the Big Ten decided to move Sunday’s baseball game from 2 p.m. to 10 a.m. because of a small threat of storms in the area.
Those storms never showed. It was an absolutely beautiful Sunday. I would have loved to see how many more Big Red fans would have made it to Charles Schwab Field for the game at 2 p.m. instead of 10 a.m.
You couldn’t have asked for better weather. The 70-degree weather at Saturday’s game felt much warmer because of the intense sun and lack of breeze in the ballpark. It might be me if you see a sunburned guy walking around Lincoln this week.
Ed Foley, Christian Jones and Matt Rhule. (Photo credit: Casey Fritton/HuskerOnline)
The jury is still out
Questions still surround these things:
The future payouts athletes receive after the House vs. NCAA case: What doe the future pay structure of college athletics look like after the House vs. NCAA case that is set to go through? All we know now is that power conference schools will be able to pay between $21-22 million annually in the future, and that number will continue to increase.
The number will be set at 22 percent of a school’s annual revenues. Whatever the outcome, Nebraska is in a very good position. Nobody knows how that money will be split between a school’s sports programs and how much Title IX will be a factor in any of this.
Title IX has never been about money and payouts but rather about creating equal sports opportunities and roster sports for female athletes.
Does Nebraska have a first-team All-Big Ten player on its 2024 roster?: The first college football preseason magazine hit the shelves this past week. Lindy’s hit local bookstores on Thursday, and what jumped out to me was Nebraka’s lack of preseason All-Big Ten players.
Lindy’s has the Huskers with one second-team All-Big Ten player (DL Nash Hutmacher) and two on the third team (DL Ty Robinson and OL Bryce Benhart). To put that into perspective, Iowa had four on the first team, one on the second team and three on the third team.
NU’s lack of preseason All-Big Ten players is a reminder of just how far back Nebraska is viewed by conference experts. Do they have a player who can elevate up to the first team?
Christian Jones’s official visit list: Four-star industry-rated linebacker Christian Jones is one of the top 2025 players in Nebraska. However, his recruiting plans for the summer remain a mystery.
Jones has yet to unveil his official visit plans for June publicly. Will those drop this week?
Two Nebraska football productions have been nominated for regional sports Emmy Awards, including “A Look N.” Congratulations @itsjlitt! #Huskers pic.twitter.com/WgYOGElZmS— Sean Callahan (@Sean_Callahan) May 25, 2024
This has my attention
Moving forward, this has my attention:
Unlimited on-field assistant coaches: Will we learn anything official this week about the future of having unlimited on-field paid assistant coaches? All signs continue to point to this passing.
High school games in Memorial Stadium: I gave Kerkman the idea this week about having high school football games in Memorial Stadium on Saturday, Sept. 21. Would any teams be interested in doing that? Is it even possible to have the stadium prepped and ready to host fans that quickly after a night home game?
I’m sure AD Troy Dannen is open to anything if it makes sense.
Midwest Regional Sports Emmy Awards: Major props to recent UNL graduate Jordan Litten, who has worked with the Nebraska football program in the film department for the last few years. Litten is the architect of the YouTube series “A Look N,” which gives an all-encompassing backstage pass to Nebraska football.
The show has been nominated for a regional sports Emmy, up against productions by the Denver Nuggets, Oklahoma City Thunder, and the Colorado Avalanche. What a significant achievement for Litten.
Kickoff times: Who doesn’t like a good supply of kickoff times for the 2024 football season? We should get plenty this week for the first three match-ups, homecoming games, and Black Friday.
Sean Callahan can be reached at [email protected] 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.
Never miss breaking news or another HuskerOnline article again. Click HERE to sign up for HuskerOnline’s Daily and Breaking News Newsletters.
The post The Weekly Rundown: Nebraska fans again show their value, and 2023-24 is a sports year to remembers appeared first on On3.
Welcome to Billionaire Club Co LLC, your gateway to a brand-new social media experience! Sign up today and dive into over 10,000 fresh daily articles and videos curated just for your enjoyment. Enjoy the ad free experience, unlimited content interactions, and get that coveted blue check verification—all for just $1 a month!
Account Frozen
Your account is frozen. You can still view content but cannot interact with it.
Please go to your settings to update your account status.
Open Profile Settings