The Nebraska Cornhuskers announced today that they have come to an agreement with Youngstown State for a home-and-home series that will begin in 2017. The Huskers will host the Penguins in 2017 before playing at Youngstown State in 2020. The 2017 meeting will mark the first match-up between the two schools. The 2020 meeting will be the first time Nebraska has played a road game against an FCS school.
"We had an immediate opening that needed filled in 2017, and this achieves that for us," Nebraska head coach Mike Riley said. "We'll go anywhere and play anyone. Youngstown State is one of the premiere FCS teams in the country, and as McNeese State proved last year, there are no guarantees once you get two teams on the field. This will be a competitive series, and that's what we want--to compete."
The 2017 game fills out Nebraska's non-conference schedule, which already includes Oregon and Northern Illinois.
"This is something that we never had the chance to do at Oregon State," Riley said. "With our facilities and lack of television exposure, nobody would come to Corvallis. This is an opportunity we gladly embrace."
Nebraska fans will undoubtedly be waiting for a chance to witness Penguins head coach Bo Pelini on the opposing sideline after Pelini's tumultuous seven-year tenure in Lincoln.
"I'm not going to comment any further than to say that this is a good chance for both schools," Pelini said. "I'm happy we could make this happen. But at the end of the day, the opponent doesn't matter. We can't point to a specific opponent. We have to point the thumb and figure out ways to make ourselves better and to make Youngstown State a better program."
