Week three: Matt Rhule takes podium after Bowling Green victory, scouting North Dakota

LINCOLN, Neb. (KLKN) – Nebraska head coach Matt Rhule took to the podium for his weekly press conference Monday morning at the Hawks Championship Center, previewing the Huskers week three matchup against North Dakota University.

“Coach Schmidt’s done a great job,” Rhule said. “Got to the second round of the playoffs last year… The offensive line is probably one of the best, well coached offensive lines I’ve seen. They’ve got good players and they play really well together. The quarterback, Kaminski, makes the whole thing go. They’ve got wideouts who can get open, you know. First two games they had 42 points at halftime. You know it’s really hard to do. We couldn’t do it on Saturday.”

Nebraska currently sits 2-0 following its 56-7 offensive explosion on Saturday night.

North Dakota comes to Lincoln with the most enticing matchup of the season so far, carrying a 3-0 record and scoring 40+ points in each of its matchups.

This is the third time these two teams have met, with the Huskers leading the series 2-0. The last time these teams faced each other was in 2022, when Nebraska beat the Fighting Hawks 38-17.

Watch Rhule’s full press conference here:

SCOUTING NORTH DAKOTA

The Fighting Hawks (3-0) play in the Missouri Valley Conference as part of the Football Championship Subdivision (FCS). In the most recent FCS coaches poll, North Dakota is ranked No. 6.

Thus far, North Dakota has wins over fellow FCS programs Long Island (42-21), Portland State (47-23) and St. Thomas (62-26). Eric Schmidt is North Dakota’s head coach, tallying an 11-6 record so far in his second year leading the program.

In the first three games, North Dakota is averaging 50.33 points, while tallying an average of 540 yards of offense. The Fighting Hawks have played a pair of quarterbacks in the three games, with Jerry Kaminski leading the charge. He is 61-of-79 through the air thus far, with 11 touchdown passes and a pair of interceptions thrown. Kaminski has averaged 267 passing yards per contest.

Two main running backs will be seen out of Saturday’s visitors. Charles Langama has rushed for an average of 84.67 yards per game, while Matt Lawson has contributed an average of 51.67.

In 2025, the Fighting Hawks only allowed 19.9 points per game on average. North Dakota also made the FCS playoffs, winning their opening-round game at Tennessee Tech 31-6, while seeing their season come to a close in the following game against Tarleton State.

The Fighting Hawks defense has allowed an average of just under 300 total yards per game so far.

SCORE PREDICTIONS

Nick Eriksen: 56-14, Nebraska

Will Charlton: 42-3, Nebraska

Lowden Askins: 35-10, Nebraska

Kickoff between the Fighting Hawks and Huskers is set for 6:15 p.m. at Memorial Stadium.