The Battle of “Back-Up?” Quarterbacks: Louisiana Tech vs. Nebraska Game Thread

Welcome to our fourth Game Thread of the 2023 Nebraska football season.

Nate M’s Quick Thoughts: Is it the battle of the back-up quarterbacks today? Well that all depends on whether you think Heinrich Haarberg is the backup quarterback because Louisiana Tech is starting their back-up quarterback.

What we want out of this game is to show progress on offense and to give younger guys repetitions. I am particularly thinking about our 2nd and 3rd string running backs.

Hopefully, Nebraska will be able to gap Louisiana Tech early so we can all prepare for the week ahead in which we talk about non-stop about who should start at quarterback against what is probably the best defense in the county in Michigan.

Nate M’s Prediction: I think with Louisiana Tech starting their backup quarterback and the fact that their defense is a sieve that it should be an easy game for Huskers. Nebraska 48 - Louisana Tech 14.

Date: Today!

Location: The Beautiful Magnificent Astounding Memorial Stadium in Lincoln, NE.

Time: 2:30 p.m. Central.

TV Broadcast Info: Big Ten Network (Mark Followill, Matt Millen and and Meghan McKeown)

Radio Broadcast Info: Husker Radio Network (Greg Sharpe, Damon Benning and Jessica Coody)

Internet Radio: Huskers.com

Nebraska-Northern Illinois Series History:
Saturday’s meeting between Nebraska and Louisiana Tech will be the third all-time matchup between the two schools. Nebraska has won both previous meetings with victories at Memorial Stadium in 1998 and 2006.

• The 1998 meeting came in the Eddie Robinson Football Classic and was Nebraska’s first game under Frank Solich. In that game, Louisiana Tech’s Troy Edwards set NCAA records with 21 receptions for 405 yards in a 56-27 Nebraska win.

• The 2006 matchup featured the first crowd of more than 80,000 in Memorial Stadium history.

• Nebraska has a 7-0 all-time record against current members of Conference USA, most recently defeating Western Kentucky in 2010. Nebraska has C-USA member UTEP on its 2024 and 2028 home schedules.

The Matchup from Huskers Game Notes:

Nebraska continues a three-game homestand on Saturday afternoon when the Huskers play host to the Louisiana Tech Bulldogs at Memorial Stadium. The Huskers will complete their non-conference schedule with the contest, which will kick off shortly after 2:30 p.m. Central in Lincoln. The game will be televised by Big Ten Network and available on the Fox Sport App. The radio broadcast will be available on the Huskers Radio Network, Huskers.com and the official Huskers App.

The Huskers picked up their first victory of the 2023 season last Saturday with a decisive 35-11 victory over Northern Illinois at Memorial Stadium. Nebraska was paced by a strong defensive effort as the Huskers limited NIU to just 149 total yards, including just 73 yards through three quarters. On the offensive side, quarterback Heinrich Haarberg had a solid outing in his first career start, accounting for 256 yards of total offense and three total touchdowns. The Huskers picked up 244 yards on the ground, including 96 rushing yards in the fourth quarter.

Nebraska will be playing host to Louisiana Tech for the third time in school history. The Huskers hold a 2-0 advantage in the all-time series, with the Bulldogs, most recent trip to Lincoln coming in 2006.

Louisiana Tech will bring a 2-2 record to Lincoln, following a 40-37 loss at North Texas on Saturday night. The Bulldogs trailed by 17 points in the fourth quarter, before rallying to tie the game in the final three minutes. North Texas kicked the game-winning field goal in the waning seconds. Louisiana Tech’s offense will challenge the Huskers, as the Bulldogs’ balanced attack averages better than 400 yards and 31.0 points per game.