Extra Rhule Takeaways: NU defense has an identity, team "can't play scared"

Matt Rhule sure does know how to make the weekends busy. The regular season has yet to begin, but the Nebraska football coach certainly can keep an audience’s attention on Saturdays.

Rhule gave us his most in-depth look at the team, up to that point, when he took the mic on Aug. 5. That’s when he detailed the staff’s timeline to settle on a two-deep, gave all of Husker media some headlines by raving about Isaac Gifford and peeled back the onion on the safeties and defensive line.

One week later, on Aug. 12, he officially announced the departure of Zavier Betts, gave his strongest public takes on Arik Gilbert’s eligibility situation, was up front about the freshmen receivers needing to step up and said that the defense was “significantly ahead” of the offense after the first full scrimmage.

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Rhule’s latest Saturday press conference – yesterday – had the exact same feel to it. From an injury report and a plan for the depth chart release, to a timeline on the Blackshirts selection process and an update on offensive and defensive position battles, it was another newsy day in Lincoln.

After all of that, though, there were still some scraps to clean up. So let’s dive in with a few more items from Saturday: