Matt Rhule and Heinrich Haarberg reaction to Nebraska’s win over Northern Illinois

NORTH PLATTE, Neb. (KNOP) - The Nebraska Cornhuskers played their home opener against Northern Illinois on Saturday night.

The Huskers blew out the Huskies, 35-11.

The performance was in part due to sophomore quarterback Heinrich Haarberg, who was filling in for injured starter Jeff Sims.

“Once I went into [the game at] Colorado, I knew there might be the potential for me to start, so this whole week I’ve been preparing like I’m the starter,” Haarberg said.

Haarberg contributed three total touchdowns and more than 250 yards of total offense help the Huskers put 35 points on the board.

In their previous two games combined, Nebraska only managed 24 points.

While upset about a few mistakes, head coach Matt Rhule appreciated the effort his team gave.

“Really proud of how the team stood together, we’ve been getting better every week, certainly wasn’t perfect, but there were a lot of really good things,” Rhule said.

The Nebraska defense was especially impressive, holding Northern Illinois to just 74 yards of offense and three points, prior to their last drive.

Next up for the big red, they host Louisiana Tech on Saturday at 2:30 p.m. on Big Ten Network.

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