Tuesday Afternoon Sports – Mickey Joseph Practice Comments, John Cook Practice Comments, Husker Volleyball Heads to Wisconsin, Local Sports Schedule

HUSKER FOOTBALL PRACTICE COMMENTS – MICKEY JOSEPH:

JOSEPH – ILLINOIS PREVIEW; MATCH PHYSICALITY:

Interim Head Coach for the Nebraska Football team Mickey Joseph opened his Tuesday press conference previewing his thoughts on Illinois and what Nebraska needs to match in the contest…

Nebraska has a chance for their first win over a Top 25 opponent since 2016 when the Huskers took down Oregon at Memorial Stadium. 

JOSEPH – ILLINI PASS DEFENSE IS SOUND:

Interim Head Coach Mickey Joseph was asked at his Tuesday press conference what stands out regarding the Illinois pass defense and how their stats match their play…

Nebraska is hoping Trey Palmer can continue his hot streak as one of the nation’s top receiving threats, currently leading the conference in most receiving categories. 

JOSEPH – FINDING OTHER RECEIVING OPTIONS OUTSIDE OF PALMER:

Mickey Joseph, interim Head Coach for the Huskers, was asked at his Tuesday press conference what the Big Red offense will do if Trey Palmer – one of the nation’s leading receivers – begins to be taken away by double teams from the defense…

Nebraska’s next leading receiver is Marcus Washington with nearly 200 receiving yards and no touchdowns.

HUSKER VOLLEYBALL PRACTICE COMMENTS – JOHN COOK:

COOK – WISCONSIN PREVIEW:

Head Coach for Nebraska Volleyball John Cook spoke during his Tuesday press conference about the talent of the No. 5 Wisconsin Badgers team the Huskers face on Wednesday…

Nebraska is currently No. 1 in the latest coaches poll and aims to claim the revenge match over last year’s national champion. 

COOK – JUST ANOTHER ROAD MATCH AT WISCONSIN:

Nebraska Volleyball faces a road rematch of their national championship contest from 2021 at Wisconsin on Wednesday night. Head Coach John Cook added at his Tuesday press conference that it is just another Big Ten road contest for his squad…

Nebraska has swept their past six opponents and have won every match since falling in their only loss on the season to Stanford back in early September. 

COOK – OFFENSIVE TWEAKS:

Head Coach for Nebraska Volleyball John Cook spoke to the media Tuesday and was asked what is needed to slightly improve the Big Red offensive attack…

Nebraska faces No. 5 Wisconsin on Wednesday night. 

HUSKER VOLLEYBALL REGAINS TOP SPOT IN COACHES POLL:

Nebraska volleyball is back at No. 1.

The latest AVCA Coaches Poll saw the Huskers receive 48 first-place votes to retake the top spot. NU was last No. 1 in the preseason poll before being overtaken by Texas and Louisville.

But both the Longhorns and Cardinals were tripped up last week. Meanwhile, Nebraska has won 11 straight, sweeping the last six opponents.

Nebraska’s next opponent, Wisconsin, is ranked No. 5.

ALLICK EARNS SECOND CONFERENCE FRESHMAN OF THE WEEK HONOR:

Nebraska middle blocker Bekka Allick was named Big Ten Freshman of the Week on Monday for the second straight week. 

Allick led the Huskers to sweeps at No. 12 Purdue and at Illinois last week, averaging 3.17 kills per set with a .548 hitting percentage. 

The Lincoln native had a career-best 12 kills on .611 hitting to go with four blocks in the sweep over the Boilermakers last Wednesday. She followed that up on Saturday with seven kills on .462 hitting with a block and an ace at Illinois. 

Over the last six matches, Allick is averaging 2.68 kills per set with a .542 hitting percentage. She is also averaging 1.05 blocks per set in that stretch. 

LOPERS, BEARCATS NOT IN FIRST REGION RANKINGS:

The Nebraska Kearney football team is not in the first edition of the NCAA Regional Rankings. Both the Lopers and Northwest Missouri State Bearcats are settled into the “Next Best Candidates” category. 

These rankings determine the 28-team playoff field (seven teams in four regions) come November. National rankings don’t factor into the regional ranking formula. UNK is currently 31st in the American Football Coaches Assoc. (AFCA) poll.

The MIAA is in “Super Region 3” along with the GAC (Great American Conf.), GLVC (Great Lakes Valley Conf.) and GLIAC (Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conf.).

UNK and Northwest Missouri State are both 6-2 and sitting just outside the Top 10. The Lopers host the Bearcats Saturday at 2 p.m. in Ron & Carol Cope Stadium in what basically is a playoff elimination game.

BIG TEN TO MAINTAIN DIVISIONS UNTIL ADDITION OF USC/UCLA:

The Big Ten will maintain its East and West divisions for the 2023 college football season before reconfiguring once USC and UCLA join the conference in 2024.

The conference announced expansion with the Trojans and Bruins in June, bringing the league to 16 teams once those schools join in the summer of 2024

The current geographical divisions went into effect in 2014 when Maryland and Rutgers joined the Big Ten, bringing the league to 14 teams. The Big Ten did not have divisions before 2011. The addition of Nebraska that season led to the formation of the “Leaders” and “Legends” divisions, which lasted for just three seasons before the switch to the East and West.

BIELEMA DRAWS A BLANK ON LAST MEMORIAL STADIUM EXPERIENCE:

Illinois head football coach Bret Bielema seems to have a case of amnesia when it comes to a particular decade-old game in Lincoln, but it’s not hard to imagine why.

During his press conference Monday ahead of the Fighting Illini’s game this weekend at Nebraska, Bielema was asked about his experiences with the environment at Nebraska’s Memorial Stadium…

What he forgot was the time his Wisconsin team traveled to Lincoln on Sept. 29, 2012. It was the conference opener, and the Badgers appeared to be in firm control after taking a 27-10 lead in the first five minutes of the third quarter.

Nebraska proceeded to unleash a rally that matched the second-biggest comeback in program history.

BEARS SCORE 23 UNANSWERED, SWARM PATS IN PRIME TIME:

Justin Fields threw for 179 yards and a touchdown and ran for 82 yards and another score on Monday night, converting five third downs with his legs and five more with his arm to lead Chicago to a 33-14 victory over the New England Patriots.

Fields ran for a 3-yard score in the first quarter to give the Bears (3-4) a 10-0 lead. After Bailey Zappe came off the bench to replace Mac Jones and led New England to back-to-back touchdowns and a 14-10 lead, Fields hit Khalil Herbert for a 25-yard touchdown pass to start a string of 23 unanswered points.

Chicago is at Dallas on Sunday, while the Patriots take on the New York Jets.

NEBRASKA VOLLEYBALL PREPARES FOR CHAMPIONSHIP REMATCH WITH BADGERS:

The No. 1 Nebraska volleyball team will face off against No. 5 Wisconsin in a rematch of last year’s NCAA Championship match when the teams meet on Wednesday at 8 p.m. (CT) at UW Field House in Madison, Wis. 

Nebraska (18-1, 10-0 Big Ten) is riding an 11-match win streak and is the only Big Ten team without a conference loss at the midway point of the league schedule. Nebraska’s 18-1 start to the season is its best since 2016, when the Big Red went 26-1 before a Nov. 23 loss at Minnesota. 

The Huskers have won six Big Ten matches in a row by sweep for the first time since joining the conference in 2011. 

No. 5 Wisconsin is 15-3 overall and 9-1 in the Big Ten and has won eight matches in a row. The Badgers are 8-0 at the UW Field House this season and have won 16 in a row overall at the Field House dating back to Nov. 12 of last year. 

Pregame begins at 7:30 PM on KGFW with first serve at 8 PM.

NFL SCORES/SCHEDULES:

MONDAY:

Chicago Bears 33-14 New England Patriots

Local Results & Schedules:

THIS WEEK IN LOCAL SPORTS:

MONDAY:

• KEARNEY CATHOLIC:
  • Volleyball: SUB-DISTRICTS @ Gothenburg – 6:15 PM
    • #2 KCHS 3-1 #3 Broken Bow

TUESDAY:

• KEARNEY HIGH:
  • Volleyball: A-2 DISTRICTS @ Millard North – 6 PM
    • #3 Kearney @ #2 Millard North
• KEARNEY CATHOLIC:
  • Volleyball: SUB-DISTRICTS Final @ Gothenburg – 7 PM
    • #1 Gothenburg v. #2 KCHS
• UNK:
  • Volleyball: @ Fort Hays State – 6 PM
• KGFW Sports Schedule:
  • Sports Nightly (6 PM – 8 PM)

WEDNESDAY:

• KEARNEY HIGH:
  • Volleyball: A-2 DISTRICT FINAL @ TBA
• KEARNEY CATHOLIC:
  • N/a
• UNK:
  • N/a
• KGFW Sports Schedule:
  • Sports Nightly (6 PM – 7:30 PM)
  • Nebraska Volleyball (7:30 PM – 10:45 PM)

THURSDAY:

• KEARNEY HIGH:
  • N/a
• KEARNEY CATHOLIC:
  • N/a
• UNK:
  • N/a
• KGFW Sports Schedule:
  • Sports Nightly (6 PM – 8 PM)

FRIDAY:

• KEARNEY HIGH:
  • Football: PLAYOFFS v. Millard South @ Ron & Carol Cope Stadium – 7 PM
    • #5 Kearney v. #12 Millard South – KGFW Pregame at 6 PM
• KEARNEY CATHOLIC:
  • N/a
• UNK:
  • Women’s Swimming: Homecoming Scrimmage – 5 PM
  • Women’s Basketball: @ Iowa (Exhibition) – 6:30 PM
• KGFW Sports Schedule:
  • Kearney High Football PLAYOFFS v. Millard South (6 PM – 10 PM)

SATURDAY:

• KEARNEY HIGH:
  • N/a
• KEARNEY CATHOLIC:
  • Volleyball: District Final – TBA
• UNK:
  • Football: v. Northwest Missouri State @ Ron & Carol Cope Stadium – 2 PM (Homecoming)
  • Volleyball: @ Northwest Missouri State – 3 PM
• KGFW Sports Schedule:
  • Nebraska Football v. Illinois (10:30 AM – 9:30 PM; KGFW)
  • Nebraska Football v. Illinois (1:45 PM – 7:45 PM; KQKY)

SUNDAY:

• KEARNEY HIGH:
  • N/a
• KEARNEY CATHOLIC:
  • N/a
• UNK:
  • N/a
• KGFW Sports Schedule:
  • N/a