Lincoln, Neb. – Thursday night marked the dawn of a new era for the Nebraska football team, as first-year head coach Mike Riley and the Husker football team opened up 2015 Fall Camp. The Huskers practiced outside on the Ed and Joyanne Gass practice fields for just under two hours with no pads.

Riley said that he was impressed after the first day of practice, but did mention that there is still a long way to go until the Huskers kickoff the season against BYU on Sept. 5, in Lincoln.

“I was pleased in general that after just one spring we were able to come out here and get into some formations and run some plays,” Riley said. “Some of it looked like football, and that is pretty good. That is a function of them learning some stuff in the spring and having some carryover.”

Riley was met by the entire group of Nebraska Regents Thursday night, something that only reiterated how great of a place NU is.

“Well I think that is just another sign of what this place is all about—with the interest and the passion that they have for the University and obviously the football program,” Riley said. “I thought that it was awesome they came here tonight, it was nice to be able to say hi to all those folks. I told them that I did appreciate them coming and we are proud that they are here and we are proud to be here.”

According to Riley, the reason why the Huskers are using a night practice schedule is to help out with players still in summer school, while also giving them a chance to practice in ‘nice’ weather, compared to the Nebraska heat during the day.

“The weather was unbelievably nice, it was like perfect weather for practice. We did this probably for a couple of reasons, we still have some players that are taking some summer school and those classes are in the morning,” Riley said. “As I learned about that, I started to move things later in the day and then I thought a good progression would be to have in the early afternoon a meeting and then have a walkthrough and practice at night.”

True freshman running back Jordan Stevenson impressed during his first day of camp, as Riley mentioned, it has truly been a whirlwind past two weeks as Stevenson found his way to Nebraska after originally planning to attend Wisconsin.

“He really just jumped right in and it looks to me that he made some plays tonight,” he said. “So we are just going to keep coaching them and let those guys keep playing and growing.”

Riley mentioned that senior defensive tackle Vincent Valentine sat out practice Thursday night due to a knee bruise. Valentine is expected back in a day or two.

Check back at Huskers.com for more coverage throughout the week as the Nebraska football team enters into the 2015 football season.