8 things to know about UND's next opponent Nebraska
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Sep. 17—GRAND FORKS — The UND football program, off to a 3-0 start and a No. 6 ranking in the Stats Perform FCS Top 25, will face off with Nebraska at 6:15 p.m. Saturday at Memorial Stadium in Lincoln, Neb.
Here are eight things to know about the Cornhuskers.
Nebraska defensive coordinator Rob Aurich started his college football career as a player as a linebacker for former UND head coach Bubba Schweigert at NCAA Division II Minnesota-Duluth.
Aurich's connections with UND don't end there. Aurich, who took a coaching path from Bemidji State to South Dakota to Idaho to San Diego State, was asked by UND head coach Eric Schmidt to join him at San Diego State back in 2024.
Schmidt was the defensive coordinator while Aurich coached the defensive ends. The two both now use the 4-2-5 defensive scheme.
"Eric is a great man," Aurich said. "Eric and I knew each other back from the old Missouri Valley days, when he was at North Dakota. He went out to Washington as the special teams coordinator with (Kalen) DeBoer, who is at Alabama now. When I was at Idaho, they invited us over to a football clinic to talk some schemes and things like that. We had a chance to get to know each other as adults, and when he took the job at San Diego State, he asked me to come with. I've got a lot of love in my heart for Coach Schmidt … gave me an opportunity to coach Division I football with him. I'm happy to see all the success he's having as head coach. He deserves it."
Nebraska safeties coach Tyler Yelk also played for Schweigert at Duluth. Yelk was an All-American defensive back with the Bulldogs from 2005-08. He ended his career as UMD's all-time leading tackler with 323 stops.
Yelk played high school football at Poynette, Wis., where he matched up against UND offensive coordinator Danny Freund, a Kenosha, Wis., native.
Nebraska quarterback Anthony Colandrea, a former Virginia and UNLV starter, is off to a hot start in his first season in Lincoln.
Colandrea has thrown for seven touchdowns through two games, including a career-high four TD passes last week in a blowout of Bowling Green.
"He's a veteran guy and has really done a great job with their offense, taking care of the football," Schmidt said. "They're running it, they're throwing it. He's making plays with his arm and with his feet."
One of the Cornhuskers' breakout stars of the 2-0 start is freshman running back Jamal Rule.
Rule led the way on the ground against Ohio with 122 rushing yards on 15 carries with two rushing touchdowns. He added two catches for 47 yards. He had 88 yards on eight carries in the first half, including a 59-yard touchdown run against Bowling Green.
The 6-foot North Carolina native enters the UND game ranking fourth nationally in yards per carry with 9.1.
Former West Fargo Sheyenne star Kade Pietrzak is the lone North Dakota native on the Nebraska roster.
Pietrzak, who is listed as a backup defensive end on the Husker two-deep depth chart, had a quarterback hurry against Ohio and played in both games this season.
As a true freshman in 2025, Pietrzak played in all 13 games for Nebraska with one start, totaling 17 tackles, 7.0 tackles for loss, 2.0 sacks and one safety.
A four-star recruit, Pietrzak was the 2024 MaxPreps North Dakota High School Football Player of the Year and Class AAA Senior Athlete of the Year. He led the Mustangs to a state championship, totaling 58 tackles, 26.0 tackles for loss and 5.0 sacks as a senior.
Nebraska will be honoring legendary coach Tom Osborne as he will be inducted into the Nebraska Hall of Fame this week.
Osborne will be inducted into the state's Hall of Fame in a ceremony at the State Capitol building on Friday. He will be recognized with a short on-field recognition following Nebraska's game against UND.
Osborne is the first living person in the state's history to be voted into the historical society's Nebraska Hall of Fame.
Osborne had a 255-49-3 record over 25 years with the Huskers. He won three national titles (1994, 1995 and 1997).
UND has eight players on its roster from Nebraska, so there's naturally some player connections between the teams.
Huskers tight end Luke Lindenmeyer played high school football and basketball against UND edge Lance Rucker, who suffered a preseason injury that will force the standout Nebraska native to miss the game.
"I played against (Rucker), who's unfortunately out … I was kind of excited to play against him; he's a really good player," Lindenmeyer said.
Lindenmeyer, of La Vista, Neb., also said he's friends with the brother of UND true freshman linebacker Nate Appleget, who has seen extensive action already this season.
Jake Appleget started his college football career at Nebraska in 2022 and 2023. The Lincoln, Neb., native then spent two seasons at Northern Illinois and is now at Fresno State.
A UND-Nebraska ticket gets you more than a football game this weekend as Memorial Stadium will host a postgame concert for Cole Swindell, a four-time Academy of Country Music award winner.
The concert is scheduled for 30 minutes after the conclusion of the game.
UND and Nebraska faced off in Lincoln on Sept. 23, 1961.
On a rainy Saturday, the Grand Forks Herald reported 33,000 in attendance for a 33-0 Nebraska victory.
Although UND only crossed into Huskers' territory twice, the Herald reported it was a strong showing from UND quarterback Gene Murphy, who would go on to become a UND Athletics Hall of Fame member and future head football coach, later coaching at Cal State Fullerton.
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