The Nebraska football team is well aware that if they beat the UCLA Bruins on Saturday, they’ll be bowling for the first time since 2016. The coaching staff also knows that more than a few people are looking at one of the newest additions to the Big Ten as an “automatic win” team.
UCLA enters Saturday just 2-5 on the season and 1-4 in the Big Ten. Their two wins came against Hawaii in a 16-13 season opener and a 35-32 victory over Rutgers, which seems to be spiraling as the season goes on.
Nebraska football coaches might also know that some of their players are only looking at the Bruins’ roster and taking them a bit too lightly. When assistant coach Rob Dvoracek appeared on the Huskers Radio Network on Wednesday night, he appeared to be trying to deliver a message. That message was, yes, we think we can win, but don’t act like this is going to be a cakewalk.
🔊@Rob_Dvoracek previews the @HuskerFootball match up with UCLA this Saturday. pic.twitter.com/DIuFcZfOmV
— Huskers Radio Network (@HuskersRadio) October 30, 2024
Nebraska football coach warns about overlooking UCLA
“Yeah, they're a really good football team,” Dvoracek said. “I think there's a little bit of a perception of like, hey, their record is this or whatever, but they played some good football teams.”
“Every week that you watch them, they're getting better and better. They got good skill positions players. They got good backs. Their tight ends are big, physical players. You watch the running backs play. They are falling forward after all their runs. They're a good football team, and obviously, this is year one with their staff, and so everything they're doing is, again, building things the right way, and they've done a really nice job, even though it may not show up on the record so far, but they're a really good football team.”
Nothing the Nebraska football coach said is incorrect. That won’t make it any easier to take a loss at home to the Bruins … should it happen.