Nebraska thought it had a football opponent for Saturday. The Big Ten said stand down
All Nebraska wanted to do was play a football game.
But noooo, the Big Ten said.
After the Cornhuskers’ game on Saturday against Wisconsin was canceled because of multiple positive COVID-19 tests among the Badgers’ program, including one by coach Paul Chryst and starting QB and Blue Valley North product Graham Mertz, Nebraska looked to find another opponent for Saturday in Lincoln. And the Huskers had a taker.
According to reports, FCS school Tennessee-Chattanooga agreed to be that opponent.
But the Big Ten told Nebraska in August — before the conference had announced there would be a football season — that no games against non-Big Ten competition would be allowed. Now that the Big Ten season has started, the league is holding firm to that decision.
There is no room on the Huskers’ schedule to make up the Wisconsin game. So those teams have six games remaining before the Big Ten title game on Dec. 19. Nebraska’s next game will be Nov. 7 at Northwestern. The Huskers, who lost to Ohio State 52-17 last weekend, won’t play a home game until Nov. 14.
Here’s what Nebraska officials — chancellor Ronnie Green and athletic director Bill Moos — said in a joint statement:
“Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, the safety and well-being of our Nebraska student-athletes has been our top priority, and we know Wisconsin is operating with the same guiding principle. We wish all of those impacted in the Wisconsin program a quick and full recovery from the virus.
“With the cancellation of the game against Wisconsin, we did explore the possibility of securing a non-conference game for Saturday. The discussions we had were with teams that had already implemented stricter testing protocols than those mandated by the Big Ten Conference. Those details were non-negotiable if we were to bring a non-conference opponent to Lincoln.
“At Nebraska, we will always make decisions based on what is best for our student-athletes, and to provide them with the best possible experience during their college careers. To this point, the young men in our program have worked hard to prepare for the football season and have made the necessary sacrifices in order to play in this unusual environment. With an already shortened season, we owed it to our student-athletes to explore any possible option to play a game this week.
“We believe the flexibility to play non-conference games could have been beneficial not only for Nebraska, but other Big Ten teams who may be in a similar position as the season progresses. The ability for all Big Ten members to play a non-conference game if needed could provide another data point for possible College Football Playoff and bowl consideration.
“Ultimately, the Big Ten Conference did not approve our request, and we respect their decision. We are excited to move forward with preparations for the rest of the season, beginning with next week’s game at Northwestern.”
This story was originally published October 29, 2020 at 12:24 PM with the headline "Nebraska thought it had a football opponent for Saturday. The Big Ten said stand down."