Huskers – Page 103 – North Platte Post Archive

Conroy Collects Big Ten Honor

Posted on September 29, 2014

Senior forward Mayme Conroy earned Big Ten Offensive Player-of-the-Week accolades on Monday after scoring three goals in two games last week.

Conroy, an Omaha, Neb., native, tallied two goals in Sunday’s 4-3 overtime triumph over Maryland, including the game winner in the 96th minute. Her first score of the game came in the 22nd minute off an assist from Katie Kraeutner.

On Thursday, Conroy delivered in the 37th minute against No. 25 Rutgers, helping the Huskers’ to a 1-1 tie at the Nebraska Soccer Field. She took three shots in 105 minutes of action while facing the Scarlet Knights.

For the season, Conroy has five goals, two of which were game winners, and one assist for a total of 11 points. She has started all 11 games and has compiled 26 shots, 14 of which have been on goal.

The Huskers (5-4-2, 1-2-2 Big Ten) hit the road for a pair of matches in Michigan this week. NU faces the Wolverines on Thursday at 2:30 p.m., on Big Ten Network, before battling the Spartans on Sunday at noon.

Lady Huskers Ready for Record TV Exposure in 2014-15

Posted on September 29, 2014

Lincoln – The Nebraska women’s basketball team hasn’t started the 2014-15 season yet, but the Huskers are already setting records with the potential of 16 regular-season games being nationally televised, Coach Connie Yori announced on Monday, Sept. 29.

The Big Ten Conference and Big Ten Network officially announced its TV designations for women’s basketball on Monday afternoon, and the Huskers will fill the BTN airwaves with nine guaranteed regular-season appearances on the network and the possibility of two more wildcard selections.

Nebraska has never had more than 11 regular-season games televised in a year, and the record for nationally televised games in a season is 15 (including conference and NCAA tournaments).

“The Big Ten Network continues to provide our program with outstanding national exposure,” Nebraska Coach Connie Yori said. “We’re especially happy that BTN is giving our fans at least four and maybe five chances to watch our team on the road this year. Overall, having between 14 and 16 games televised nationally, including our games on CBS, ESPN2, Fox Sports 1 and the Pac-12 Network, gives our program its highest level of national exposure in history. It also gives our dedicated Husker fans more chances to watch us when we’re on the road. We’re excited about that.”

Season tickets for Nebraska women’s basketball are on sale now at Huskers.com or by calling the Athletic Ticket Office at 1-800-8-BIG-RED. Single-game tickets for NU’s non-conference home game with Utah at the Bob Devaney Sports Center on Sunday, Nov. 23 at 1 p.m., are also available now.

In addition to the prospect of 11 BTN games, the Huskers will face Maryland on CBS at Pinnacle Bank Arena on Saturday, Jan. 3 at 3 p.m., in the conference’s premier slot for women’s basketball all season long. It will be Nebraska’s second appearance on CBS in the last three years. The Huskers will battle the Terrapins on ESPN2 on Sunday, Feb. 8 at 3 p.m. in College Park.

Nebraska will make its first two national TV appearances of the year on the Pac-12 Network, when the Huskers face Washington State in Pullman on Wednesday, Nov. 19, at 10 p.m. (CT), before battling UCLA on Friday, Nov. 28 at 3 p.m. (CT) in Los Angeles.

The Huskers will play their third televised road non-conference game against Creighton at D.J. Sokol Arena on Thursday, Dec. 11 at 8:05 p.m. It will be Nebraska’s first-ever appearance on Fox Sports 1.

The Big Red will make their first BTN appearance as part of the ACC/Big Ten Challenge when the Huskers take on traditional national power Duke at Pinnacle Bank Arena on Wednesday, Dec. 3 at 6:30 p.m. The game will be one of the featured match-ups of the ACC/Big Ten Challenge, pitting the defending Big Ten Tournament champion Huskers against a Blue Devil team that has won seven ACC titles (four regular season, three tournament) in the last five years. The game will be a rematch of Nebraska’s 2013 NCAA Sweet 16 clash with Duke in Norfolk, Va.

The Huskers will tip-off their first 18-game Big Ten Conference season at Minnesota on Monday, Dec. 29, in a game televised by BTN. Tip-off between the Huskers and Gophers is set for 8 p.m. After opening home Big Ten action against Maryland on Jan. 3 on CBS, NU’s third conference contest will be back on BTN, as the Huskers head to East Lansing to meet Michigan State onThursday, Jan. 8. Tip time is set for 7:30 p.m. (central), as Nebraska tries to avenge last year’s road loss to the 2014 Big Ten co-regular-season champion Spartans at the Breslin Center.

After a Sunday game at Illinois (BTN Plus, Jan. 11), the Huskers will return home for a pair of huge games against traditional Big Ten powers Penn State and Purdue that will be televised by BTN. Nebraska takes on defending Big Ten regular-season co-champion and 2014 NCAA Sweet 16 participant Penn State on Thursday, Jan. 15 at 6 p.m., before facing the Boilermakers on Monday, Jan. 19, at Pinnacle Bank Arena at 6 p.m. Five of Nebraska’s first six conference games are scheduled for national TV.

After a Thursday night road trip to Wisconsin (BTN Plus, Jan. 22), the Huskers will be back on BTN for a Monday night clash at Iowa on Jan. 26. Tip time between the Huskers and Hawkeyes on BTN is set for 8 p.m.

Following non-televised home games with Illinois (BTN Plus, Jan. 29) and Michigan (BTN Plus, Feb. 1), the Huskers return to BTN for their first-ever road trip to Rutgers. The Big Red and the Scarlet Knights will face off on Thursday, Feb. 5 at 6 p.m. (central) on BTN.

Nebraska will remain on the East Coast for a Sunday clash with Maryland on Feb. 8 at 3 p.m., which will be televised live nationally by ESPN2, before returning home for a rematch with Iowa on Thursday, Feb. 12. NU’s 10th game in four seasons as Big Ten foes with the Hawkeyes will be televised live from Pinnacle Bank Arena with an 8 p.m. BTN tip.

NU’s home rematch with Wisconsin (BTN Plus, Feb. 15) and road trip to Northwestern (BTN Plus, Feb. 18) will not be nationally televised, but the Huskers’ journey to Bloomington to battle Indiana on Saturday, Feb. 21, could become an additional BTN appearance. The network has TV windows set for Noon, 2, 4 and 6 p.m. (central) on that Saturday.

The Huskers’ final scheduled appearance on BTN is set for their rematch with Minnesota on Tuesday, Feb. 24 at Pinnacle Bank Arena. Tip time with the Gophers has been set by BTN for 8 p.m.

Nebraska could add one more regular-season television appearance on Senior Day at Pinnacle Bank Arena, with a wildcard window on Sunday, March 1, when the Huskers take on Ohio State. The regular-season finale will feature three network windows at Noon, 2 and 4 p.m. (central), as Nebraska’s four-player senior class of Emily Cady, Hailie Sample, Tear’a Laudermill and Brandi Jeffery make their final regular-season appearances at the arena.

After a new opening Wednesday at the Big Ten Tournament (Seeds 11-14) will be streamed to BTN Plus, the next three rounds of the Big Ten Tournament will be televised live nationally by BTN. The championship game will appear on ESPN on Sunday, March 8 at 6 p.m. The NCAA Tournament Selection Show will be back on ESPN on Monday, March 16, before the ESPN family of networks presents every game of the 2015 NCAA Tournament, March 20-April 7.

New this year to the women’s tournament, first- and second-round games will be awarded to the top-16 seeds bidding for home sites. A shift from the predetermined home sites in the first two rounds in recent years. NCAA Regional games will be played in Oklahoma City, Okla., Greensboro, N.C., Albany, N.Y., and Sacramento, Calif., before the Tampa Bay Times Forum plays host to the 2015 NCAA Women’s Final Four, April 5-7.

In addition to the games set for TV, all of Nebraska’s non-televised regular-season Big Ten games will be available to fans on BTN Plus, the network’s new designation for both BTN.com and BTN2Go games, which were previously designated as the BTDN (Big Ten Digital Network). BTN Plus will provide video streams through all devices (laptop/tablet/smartphone) of Nebraska’s non-televised home games during the non-conference season. Every Nebraska women’s basketball game over the last three seasons has been available to Husker fans either on TV or video stream, a stretch of 100 consecutive games. To subscribe to BTN Plus, visit BTN.com.

Abdullah Runs Away with Big Ten Honor

Posted on September 29, 2014

For the third time in five weeks, Nebraska I-back Ameer Abdullah earned a Big Ten weekly honor, as the senior was chosen as the Big Ten Offensive Player of the Week on Monday.

Abdullah, who leads the nation in rushing yards and is second in yards per game, rushed for 208 yards and a career-high three touchdowns in Saturday’s 45-14 win over Illinois. He totaled 196 yards and all three scores in the first half, as the Huskers raced to a 31-14 lead.

The 208-yard performance marked Abdullah’s third 200-yard effort of the 2014 season and fourth of his collegiate career. His three 200-yard games in 2014 are one shy of the school mark set by Mike Rozier in 1983. Abdullah also climbed into second place on NU’s career lists for 100-yard games (21), career 200-yard games (four) and yards from scrimmage (4,339) while he also pulled within 70 yards of second place on the Huskers’ all-time rushing list. Abdullah had 212 all-purpose yards in the game, increasing his career total to 5,974 yards and moving him within 26 yards of becoming just the seventh player in Big Ten history with 6,000 career all-purpose yards.

The Big Ten honor was one of three awards Abdullah received Monday, as he was also named the Athlon Sports Big Ten Player of the Week and the College Football Performance Awards Running Back of the Week.

The Huskers, who are 5-0 and ranked 19th in the country, take on No. 10 Michigan State this Saturday, Oct. 4, at 7 p.m. (central) on ABC.

This Week in Nebraska Athletics

Posted on September 29, 2014September 29, 2014

Mon.-Tues. Sept. 29-30 Men’s Golf at Mark Simpson Colorado Invitational Erie, Colo. 9:15 a.m.
Mon.-Sun. Sept. 29-Oct. 5 Men’s Tennis at ITA All-American Championships Tulsa, Okla. TBA

Thursday Oct. 2 Soccer at Michigan (BTN) Ann Arbor, Mich. 2:30 p.m.

Friday Oct. 3 Swimming & Diving at Iowa with Michigan Iowa City, Iowa 6 p.m.

Friday Oct. 3 Volleyball Penn State (BTN) Devaney Center 7 p.m.

Sat.-Sun. Oct. 4-5 Men’s Golf at Wyoming/Southern Dunes Collegiate Invite Maricopa, Ariz. 9 a.m.

Saturday Oct. 4 Rifle at Air Force Colorado Springs, Colo. 9 a.m.

Saturday Oct. 4 Swimming & Diving at Iowa with Michigan Iowa City, Iowa 10 a.m.

Saturday Oct. 4 Softball Colorado State (Husker Fall Classic) Bowlin Stadium 11 a.m.

Saturday Oct. 4 Softball UNO (Husker Fall Classic) Bowlin Stadium 1:30 p.m.

Saturday Oct. 4 Softball Colorado State vs. UNO (Husker Fall Classic) Bowlin Stadium 4 p.m.

Saturday Oct. 4 Volleyball Ohio State (NET/BTN Plus) Devaney Center 5 p.m.

Saturday Oct. 4 Football at Michigan State (ABC) East Lansing, Mich. 7 p.m.

Sunday Oct. 5 Softball Colorado State (Husker Fall Classic) Bowlin Stadium 11 a.m.

Sunday Oct. 5 Soccer at Michigan State East Lansing, Mich. Noon

Sunday Oct. 5 Softball Colorado State vs. UNO (Husker Fall Classic) Bowlin Stadium 1:30 p.m.

Sunday Oct. 5 Softball UNO (Husker Fall Classic) Bowlin Stadium 4 p.m.

AP Top 25: Huskers Move up Two Spots

Posted on September 29, 2014

The Top 25 teams in The Associated Press college football poll, with first-place votes in parentheses, records through Sept. 27, total points based on 25 points for a first-place vote through one point for a 25th-place vote, and previous ranking:

	Record	Pts	Pv
1. Florida St. (27)	4-0	1,416	1
2. Oregon (13)	4-0	1,405	2
3. Alabama (13)	4-0	1,387	3
4. Oklahoma (7)	4-0	1,357	4
5. Auburn	4-0	1,272	5
6. Texas A&M	5-0	1,206	6
7. Baylor	4-0	1,149	7
8. UCLA	4-0	975	11
9. Notre Dame	4-0	972	8
10. Michigan St.	3-1	944	9
11. Mississippi	4-0	906	10
12. Mississippi St.	4-0	848	14
13. Georgia	3-1	788	12
14. Stanford	3-1	643	16
15. LSU	4-1	636	17
16. Southern Cal	3-1	560	18
17. Wisconsin	3-1	502	19
18. BYU	4-0	450	20
19. Nebraska	5-0	445	21
20. Ohio St.	3-1	298	22
21. Oklahoma St.	3-1	246	24
22. East Carolina	3-1	237	23
23. Kansas St.	3-1	216	25
24. Missouri	4-1	145	NR
25. TCU	3-0	109	NR

Others receiving votes: Arizona St. 97, South Carolina 61, Clemson 52, Arizona 43, Marshall 40, Georgia Tech 37, West Virginia 24, Arkansas 18, Maryland 5, Louisville 4, N. Dakota St. 3, Washington 2, NC State 1, Virginia 1.

Seniors Propel Huskers to 4-3 Overtime Win

Posted on September 28, 2014

Lincoln, Neb. – Senior Mayme Conroy scored two goals, including the game winner, to lead Nebraska (5-4-2, 1-2-2 Big Ten) to a 4-3 overtime victory over Maryland at the Nebraska Soccer Field on Sunday afternoon.

In the 96th minute, senior Jourden Casey crossed the ball to Conroy, who gathered control five yards out and knocked it in to the back of the net. The goal came after 90 minutes of back and forth scoring, as senior Caroline Gray and sophomore Jaycie Johnson also delivered for the Husker offense.

Johnson assisted on NU’s first goal of the game when she passed it back to Gray, who scored from 35 yards out to the right side of the net beyond the goalkeeper’s reach in the 17th minute. Gray’s goal marked her second of the season and tied the game 1-1 after Maryland’s Sarah Fichtner scored in the second minute.

In the 22nd minute, Conroy scored her first goal of the game after receiving a pass from Katie Kraeutner near midfield. The goal gave Nebraska a brief 2-1 lead before the Terrapins’ Cory Ryan scored in the 41st minute to tie the game going into halftime.

In the 68th minute, Johnson ran past the goalkeeper and headed the ball in off a pass from Casey to build a 3-2 advantage. Six minutes later, Maryland responded as Shade Pratt scored to tie the game 3-3.

Nebraska goalkeeper Kelly Schatz earned two saves in 96 minutes of action.

The Huskers hit the road next week to take on Michigan and Michigan State. NU faces the Wolverines on Thursday at 2:30 p.m., on Big Ten Network, before battling the Spartans on Sunday, Oct. 5 at noon.

Abdullah, No. 21 Nebraska Run over Illinois 45-14

Posted on September 28, 2014

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Ameer Abdullah ran for 208 yards and three touchdowns, Imani Cross added a career-high 109 yards and a TD, and No. 21 Nebraska beat Illinois 45-14 on Saturday night.

The Cornhuskers (5-0, 1-0 Big Ten) are off to their best start since 2010 heading into next week’s game at No. 9 Michigan State.

Wearing all-red alternate uniforms on homecoming, the Huskers rushed for 458 of their 624 total yards.

Illinois (3-2, 0-1) started Reilly O’Toole at quarterback in place of Wes Lunt. O’Toole was 17 for 38 for 261 yards and two touchdowns and was intercepted three times, twice by Daniel Davie.

Huskers Spoil Iowa’s Home Opener With Sweep

Posted on September 27, 2014

Iowa City, Iowa – The No. 8 Nebraska volleyball team spoiled Iowa’s home opener with a 25-21, 25-13, 25-16 sweep at Carver-Hawkeye Arena on Saturday night.

The Huskers, playing just their second true road match of the season, moved to 8-3 overall and 2-0 in conference play, both wins coming against the Hawkeyes (8-5, 0-2 Big Ten).

Alicia Ostrander and Amber Rolfzen paced the Husker attack with 11 kills. Kadie Rolfzen had nine, and Melanie Keil had six. Mary Pollmiller recorded 33 assists and two service aces. Justine Wong-Orantes had a team-high 13 digs. Iowa was led by Lauren Brobst’s nine kills.

The Huskers hit .378 on the night and held Iowa to a .167 clip. Nebraska outdug Iowa 31-26 and served up six service aces to just one for Iowa.

Nebraska jumped in front 3-0 in the first set and maintained the early edge thanks to three kills by Amber Rolfzen. But Iowa fought back to take a 9-8 lead before serving long to even it up. With the set tied 10-10, the Huskers put together a 4-0 run with Pollmiller serving, started by an Ostrander kill. Iowa went on a 3-0 spurt to get within 19-18 and force a Husker timeout, but Meghan Haggerty smashed a kill immediately after the timeout and Kadie Rolfzen hit one down for a 21-18 lead. NU finished the 25-21 win on another kill from Kadie Rolfzen.

The Huskers broke away from a 3-3 tie in set two to go up 9-4 after three errors by Iowa and a kill from Ostrander. After Iowa made it 9-6, Nebraska pushed the lead to 15-6 with a 6-0 run after a double block from Melanie Keil and Ostrander, and two kills by Kadie Rolfzen surrounding an Iowa error. Ostrander had three kills in the Huskers’ final five points to lead NU to the 25-13 victory. The Huskers hit .458 in the second set after just .265 in the first set. NU cut its attacking errors in half from six to three in game two.

After struggling in set three against Iowa on Wednesday, Keil made sure Nebraska got off on the right foot in set three this time by registering a combined block with Haggerty and two early kills to put the Huskers up 4-0. The Huskers extended the lead to 14-5 on an ace from Alexa Ethridge, forcing a Hawkeye timeout. Amber Rolfzen hammered two more kills and Albrecht served up an ace to give the Huskers an 18-8 lead, and the Huskers finished strong for the 25-16 win.

The Huskers return home for a pair of conference matches next week. Nebraska hosts No. 3 Penn State on Friday at 7 p.m. and Ohio State on Saturday at 5 p.m. Friday’s match will air on BTN, and Saturday’s match will be on NET.

Huskers Set to Meet Iowa Again

Posted on September 26, 2014

After sweeping Iowa on Wednesday, the No. 8 Nebraska volleyball team will take to the road this weekend to face Iowa again, as the teams square off at 7 p.m. on Saturday at Carver-Hawkeye Arena. The home-and-home weeks are new to the Big Ten schedule, and every team will go through it once this season.

The Huskers are 7-3 overall and 1-0 in the Big Ten. Nebraska has won six of its last seven matches and five of the wins have been sweeps. All three of Nebraska’s losses are to teams currently ranked in the top six of the AVCA Coaches Poll. The Huskers have only played one true road match all season, and that was a 3-0 sweep against Dayton at the Flyer-Raider Invitational. Nebraska played two neutral-site matches at the tournament as well. Saturday’s match will the home opener for the Hawkeyes. They’ve played 12 matches – five on the road and seven at neutral sites.

Media Information
Fans can subscribe to watch the Iowa live video stream through a link at Huskers.com. Fans can also listen to the action with John Baylor and Lindsay Peterson on the 25-station Husker Sports Network, including B107.3 FM in Lincoln and The Wolf 93.3 FM in Omaha. Fans inside and outside the state of Nebraska will also be able to catch the live audio feed on Huskers.com for free. Free live stats will be available at Huskers.com as well.

Series History
Nebraska leads the all-time series, 20-0. Eighteen of the 19 Husker victories have been sweeps. The only time Iowa has won a set against Nebraska was Sept. 5, 1987 in a match the Huskers won 3-1. The teams did not play from 2000 to 2010, but that changed when Nebraska joined the Big Ten. The Huskers cruised in the first two sets on Wednesday to 25-18, 25-13 victories. But Nebraska had to hold off the pesky Hawkeyes in the third set for a 31-29 win. Nebraska won in Iowa City on Nov. 27, 25-16, 25-18, 25-18. Kadie Rolfzen had nine kills, while Melanie Keil had six.

Last Time Out
The No. 8 Nebraska volleyball team opened Big Ten play with a sweep of Iowa on Wednesday night before 8,151 fans at the Bob Devaney Sports Center, 25-18, 25-13, 31-29. The Huskers improved to 7-3 overall and 1-0 in the Big Ten, while Iowa fell to 8-4 overall and 0-1 in Big Ten play. Kadie Rolfzen led the Huskers with 15 kills and seven digs. Her twin, Amber Rolfzen, had 10 kills on 16 attacks for a career-high .625 hitting percentage. Alicia Ostrander also had 10 kills, and Melanie Keil had a career-high-tying eight kills while hitting .538. Mary Pollmiller dished out 34 assists and Justine Wong-Orantes added seven digs. The Huskers hit .347 for the match, while Iowa hit .202. Nebraska outdug Iowa 26-24 and outblocked the Hawkeyes 8-5. Haggerty led the way with six.

Up Next
The Huskers are home for two matches next weekend. Nebraska hosts third-ranked Penn State on Friday at 7 p.m., then hosts Ohio State on Saturday at 5 p.m.

Noting the Huskers
• Kadie Rolfzen set career highs with 21 kills and 51 attacks against No. 2 Texas last Saturday, surpassing her previous career high of 20 kills. The 2013 All-American also had 16 digs in the match and now has three of Nebraska’s four double-doubles this season (Mary Pollmiller has the other). Rolfzen is averaging a team-high 3.59 kills per set and ranks sixth in the Big Ten. She is also second on the team in digs with 2.97 per set. She has double-digit kills in seven of her last eight matches, with the outlier a nine-kill effort against Denver on just 22 swings.
• Nebraska ranks second in the Big Ten with 2.86 blocks per set, and the Huskers’ 32 solo blocks are the most by any Big Ten team. Meghan Haggerty is fourth in the Big Ten with 1.35 blocks per set.
• The Huskers have just two solo blocks against them all season. The next closest Big Ten teams are Penn State and Michigan at seven.
• Justine Wong-Orantes leads the Big Red in digs with 4.0 per set and ranks ninth in the conference. She is coming off a career-high 29 digs against No. 2 Texas last weekend, the most by a Husker since Kayla Banwarth’s 32 against Baylor on Nov. 18, 2009.
• Mary Pollmiller, the Huskers’ lone senior, has 362 set assists for 10.34 per set. She also adds a defensive presence at the net with 25 blocks to rank second on the team and is fourth in digs with 62.
• The Huskers have held three opponents to single-digit sets so far this season, matching last year’s season total. The Huskers have beaten Eastern Kentucky 25-7, Bakersfield 25-8 and Colgate 25-9. Nebraska held two opponents to single digits in 2012 and one in 2011.
• Nebraska is 7-0 this season when recording as many or more service aces than its opponent.
• The Huskers are 228-0 when hitting .300 or better under John Cook. Nebraska is also 370-15 (.961) when winning the first set under Cook.
• John Cook is 138-40 (.775) against ranked opponents at Nebraska. Just over one-third of Cook’s total victories at Nebraska (419) have come against ranked teams.
• Nebraska volleyball leads the nation with 208 consecutive sellouts, the longest sellout streak in the history of NCAA women’s athletics. NU owns a 192-16 record during the streak.

Scouting the Iowa Hawkeyes
The Hawkeyes are now 8-4 overall and 0-1 in the Big Ten after Wednesday’s loss at the Devaney Center. All four losses have been sweeps, but three of Iowa’s four losses have come to Top 25 teams. The Hawkeyes will be playing their home opener against the Huskers, as they’ve gone 1-3 on the road and 7-0 in neutral games so far this season. Iowa ranks fifth in the Big Ten in blocks (2.58 per set) and third in service aces (1.51 per set).

Senior outside hitter Alex Lovell is the top attacker with 137 kills and 3.51 kills per set. She led the Hawkeyes last season as well with 216 kills. Sophomore setter Alyssa Klostermann has moved into the No. 1 setter role and has a team-high 247 assists for 6.33 per set. Jess Janota has been one of the Big Ten’s best freshmen this season, ranking sixth among freshmen with 2.58 kills per set (98 total) along with 26 blocks. Junior middle blocker Mikaela Gunderson has 42 blocks for Iowa. Michelle Fugarino leads all Big Ten freshmen and ranks sixth overall with 4.49 digs per set.
Iowa finished 11-21 last season and 2-18 in the Big Ten for an 11th-place finish. The Hawkeyes have six starters back though and 10 total letterwinners.

No. 21 Nebraska Opens Big Ten Play against Illini

Posted on September 26, 2014

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Ameer Abdullah wants No. 21 Nebraska to keep feeding him the ball when the Cornhuskers open Big Ten play against Illinois on Saturday night.

Abdullah has the third-most rushing attempts in the nation and has touched the ball on one-third of Nebraska’s plays from scrimmage. He ran for 229 yards on a career-high 35 carries in last Saturday’s 41-31 victory against Miami.

The more carries for Abdullah, the more exposure he stands to receive.

Nebraska (4-0) is promoting Abdullah more for postseason awards than it has for its previous standouts. His rushing average of 156.3 yards a game is second in the Big Ten and sixth nationally.

Illinois (3-1) is coming off a 42-35 victory over Texas State.