LINCOLN — Along with the exposure of playing Thursday night on ESPN, Nebraska Athletic Director Tom Osborne realizes there also comes a risk for your football team.
“If you play well, it's a good thing,'' Osborne said Friday. “If you don't, it's not a good thing. But we figure on playing well.''
Nebraska has signed up for another Thursday night game, agreeing with Kansas State, ESPN and the Big 12 that the NU-KSU game will be moved from Oct. 2 to Oct. 7 next season. A kickoff time has not yet been determined for the game at Bill Snyder Family Stadium in Manhattan.
Nebraska has gone 5-0 in previous Thursday night ESPN games, including a 27-12 win at Missouri last October.
“That one worked out well,'' Osborne said. “But generally we've played well in these games.''
ESPN initially approached Nebraska about moving its Oct. 16 home game with Texas to Oct. 14. The Longhorns and Athletic Director DeLoss Dodds declined, Osborne said, over concerns about potential missed class time.
NU had flexibility with its schedule for either game to move because of an open date on Oct. 9.
“Nebraska and Kansas State have given us many great games over the years on ABC and ESPN, and we thank both schools and the Big 12 Conference for scheduling this game on Thursday night,” Dave Brown, vice president of programming for ESPN, said in a release.
The Huskers have never hosted a Thursday night ESPN game, playing at Missouri in 2009, Southern Mississippi in 2003, Oklahoma State in 1995 and 1993 and Texas Tech in 1994. NU played a non-televised Thursday night home game against Rice in 2001 that was rescheduled because of the Sept. 11 attacks.
ESPN spokesman Mike Humes said the Nebraska-Missouri game last season drew a 2.8 rating and 2.8 million households. The cable network averaged a 2.7 rating and 2,628,000 households for all its Thursday night telecasts, according to Humes.
K-State hasn't played a Thursday night game since facing Kansas in Lawrence in 1994.
Osborne said he understands that the change might inconvenience Husker fans making the trip to Manhattan. He also said it first had to be approved by NU coach Bo Pelini.
“I wouldn't do anything without making sure Bo was agreeable, and he was,'' Osborne said. “And both of us agreed that it tends to break up that week off a little bit. It gives extra time to prepare for Kansas State, and still allow extra time for the next opponent.''
• The 2010 schedule:
Sept. 4, vs. Western Kentucky; Sept. 11, vs. Idaho; Sept. 18, at Washington; Sept. 25, vs. South Dakota State; Oct. 7, at Kansas State; Oct. 16, vs. Texas; Oct. 23, at Oklahoma State; Oct. 30, vs. Missouri; Nov. 6, at Iowa State; Nov. 13, vs. Kansas; Nov. 20, at Texas A&M; Nov. 26 or 27, vs. Colorado.
Contact the writer:
444-1042, rich.kaipust@owh.com
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