NEBRASKA CITY – The new coaching staff, the new attitudes, and the new energy surrounding the Nebraska football program doesn’t have just fans excited to finally kickoff the season Saturday, but also former players like Nebraska City High School graduate Mitch Krenk.
Krenk, who wasn’t recruited by the Huskers when playing for the Pioneers, drove to Lincoln in the late 1970’s and asked Coach Tom Osborne to walk-on. Osborne allowed it and Krenk eventually earned a scholarship at tight end, playing for Nebraska from 1978 to 1982.
To no surprise, the rebirth of the Huskers walk-on program is near-and-dear to Krenk’s heart.
“I’m so excited about it, because Scott (Frost) gets it. Not to be too hard on the other coaches, but they never went through a program like that and didn’t understand how it makes sense to have those numbers. The numbers in practice having more people getting more repetitions in practice and developing those walk-ons.”
Krenk’s football career ended in the NFL with a Super Bowl ring in 1985 with the Chicago Bears.
Nebraska, who had their season opener vs. Akron cancelled due to weather, officially begins the season against Colorado. The Buffaloes visit Memorial Stadium in Lincoln for the first time since 2010.
Krenk says, somewhat jokingly, they’re main concern going into a game with Colorado in the 1980’s was whether or not their students were going to throw something at the team.
“They always would battle, then we got a couple touchdowns up and then we’d take it to ’em. We just had the depth, along with a lot of talent, too. We just didn’t worry about Colorado.”
The two schools have played 69 times, the first matchup in 1898. The Huskers have dominated the series, winning 49 of the 69 games. Nebraska won 18 straight games in the late 1960s to early 1980s.
Fans can listen to the game Saturday on Today’s Best Country, B103 (103.1 FM) beginning at 9:30 a.m. Kickoff is set for 2:30 p.m.
Full interview with Mitch Krenk:
Saturday’s weather for the Colorado game shouldn’t be anything like last Saturday’s
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Saturday’s weather for the Husker game against Colorado should be much different from what the area experienced last weekend.
No thunderstorms, lightning or heavy rains are in the forecast for the Lincoln area on Saturday afternoon, said Katie Gross, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service office in Valley.
“It looks like we’ll have a few showers in the area (Saturday) morning, but by game time, it should be pretty dry,” she said.
The Nebraska-Akron football game, which began after 7 p.m. last Saturday, was halted after the kickoff because of lightning. Thousands of fans stayed in Memorial Stadium in case play resumed, but high winds accompanying the storm prompted officials to call for the evacuation of the stadium about 9:10 p.m. Officials finally announced the cancellation of the game just before 10:30 p.m.
Saturday’s temperatures across eastern Nebraska should be in the low 70s, Gross said. Skies during the first part of the game, which is set to begin at 2:30 p.m., should be cloudy, she said, and should be partly cloudy toward the end.
Colorado at Nebraska
When: Pregame – 9:30 a.m. / Kickoff: 2 p.m.
Where: Memorial Stadium, Lincoln
Radio: 103.1 FM
Follow Hunter on Twitter: @TheBurnRadio
