Husker Mash: A strong link between Rhule and Campbell; a way-early Husker football line; weird old scores
Welcome to the Husker Mash, a routine breakdown of the Nebraska athletics stories to know and whatever else interests us along the way.
It's important – one might say necessary – to have a head football coach and head strength coach who are aligned in vision.
In the case of Matt Rhule and his strength coach Corey Campbell, who spoke to media on Wednesday, their initial connection is intertwined with another important figure to both men.
Both shared the same strength coach in college. John Thomas was Campbell's strength coach for his position group at Georgia and he was also the head strength coach at Penn State when Rhule played there. Thomas held that leading position at PSU from 1992 to 2011.
So when Rhule and Campbell crossed paths meeting while Campbell was working in his first job at Cincinnati, that link with Thomas was a useful starting point for both in their relationship.
"From there, we shared similar ideals," Campbell said. "Understanding what it took from a walk-on standpoint to be a contributor on your college football team, but also to be coached by the same strength coach. Those individuals have a good eye in seeing the qualities of young men but also who meshes well together. So when Coach (Rhule) went to Baylor and Coach Thomas reached out and he made that introduction it was a bond that was well received."
Campbell added that from the minute he conducted an interview with Rhule in 2017 at Baylor, it felt right.
"It was like, 'Hey, if Coach Thomas signs up with you, you're pretty good in my book,'" Campbell said of Rhule's initial read on him. "I'm still with him now so I guess I was pretty good in his book."
While Rhule hires staffers for roles who know the things he doesn't, Campbell said the head coach is also in "constant communication" with him as the Huskers look to be ahead of the curve on strength and conditioning and everything associated with it – like recovery after workouts.
"If he sees something that pops up that might be a good idea, he'll shoot that info at myself and say, 'Hey, Coach, check this out. Is this something that we need to incorporate that we aren't?'" Campbell said.
Campbell believes the recent experiences they had in the NFL serve this staff well in that pursuit of regeneration after workouts.
"Those guys, as they get a little bit older, a little more wear and tear on their bodies, it is super imperative to get those guys to Sundays, right?" Campbell added. "So you have to maximize your time in that week. In order to do that, you have to stay on the cutting edge of what you can use from a technological standpoint to keep these guys ready and available."
When it comes to the new facility opening in the summer, Campbell said having the right setup to aid athletes with recovery is a primary piece. Campbell had "a ton of input" in how the space is being set up and is appreciative of it.
"It's our job to supply these athletes with the best of the best and that's very important to Coach Rhule."
Nebraska men's basketball is ranked 89th in today's NET rankings. The Huskers did jump three spots last night. But do I find NET's rankings confusing in some specific cases? Certainly.
It makes me wonder exactly how good the computing is when you have 11-16 Ohio State, on a complete freefall, ranked No. 67 in those rankings. Huh?
In any regard, the Huskers just have to keep handling what's in front of them. After winning as underdogs lately, they'll actually be a favorite in hosting Minnesota at PBA on Saturday.
The Huskers need to just keep taking the floor knowing their margin for error is thin. Everyone has to maximize his role.
"We just to have the exact same approach as what we've had," Husker head coach Fred Hoiberg said Thursday.
Nebraska (14-14, 7-10) has won three in a row and four of the last five to make postseason play a possibility, but beating league cellar-dweller Minnesota will be critical to that cause.
Enjoyed this answer from senior point guard Sam Griesel. It came when asked about the feelings the Lincoln native has had during this recent run for Huskers hoops. Said Griesel, "First off, I want to make it clear that we're not done."
Is it too early for lines for college football games? Yes. Are there some early lines for college football games? Yes. And does it get me a little excited to see them even though it's premature? Yes.
According to these early line drops from FanDuel, the Huskers are a 6 1/2-point favorite for that Sept. 9 game at Boulder against Colorado.
That's the only Husker game listed. Nebraska has a game at Minnesota on Thursday, Aug. 31, before CU. And Nebraska head coach Matt Rhule and staff would likely tell their team they just have the day in front of them right now to worry about.
Colorado's opening game a week before Nebraska is also on the early odds sheet. The Buffs are 17 1/2-point underdogs for a road contest against a TCU team that will be reshuffling some key pieces after a national championship appearance.
Malachi Coleman makes being fast look rather effortless.
We'll finish it off with a little nugget I'll call: Strange Scores From Husker History.
Just rolls off the tongue, doesn't it?
Anyway, today's entry is Nebraska's win over Missouri in Lincoln in 1988. Final score: 26-18.
Weird game, weird score. Mizzou (2-4-1) wasn't good and Nebraska was 7-1 and ranked No. 5 in the country. Yet the Huskers had just 17 total yards and one first down at halftime. It was 9-0 Missouri early in the third quarter until Steve Taylor hit Todd Millikan for an 82-yard touchdown pass.
Back-and-forth from there. Missouri led 18-17 until Bryan Carpenter ripped off a 49-yard touchdown with 8:24 left. A missed two-point conversion and tacked on Husker field goal supplied the final oddball score.
The 1988 season had its share of strange numbers for Nebraska. NU lost an early-season game to UCLA 41-28 in which the Bruins scored 28 points in the first quarter before that sort of thing ever happened to NU. I remember the game was so disgusting in the Christopherson house in Omaha that the TV was briefly flipped over by mom or someone to the 'Miss America' pageant. Only briefly. Nebraska wasn't winning on that stage either.
How the Huskers got on the board in that UCLA game remains one of the great comedic moments in officiating history.
That year also featured Nebraska's 63-42 scoreathon win over Oklahoma State and Barry Sanders on Oct. 15, the same day Kirk Gibson hit a rather dramatic home run in Game 1 of the World Series
And Nebraska won games in back-to-back weeks to finish the regular season against ranked teams while scoring a total of 14 points The Huskers beat Colorado 7-0 in Lincoln and Oklahoma 7-3 in Norman to secure a spot in the Orange Bowl. Nebraska was treated rudely there in a 23-3 loss to Miami to finish the Husker year 11-2.
But in the middle of that season was a strange, little game against Missouri. Easily forgotten but that score still gets stuck in my brain for some reason.
Yet I can't remember where I left my car keys half the time.
