Good news for Nebraska Cornhuskers Football emerge as newly admitted DB undergoes interview

Examining why any late Husker additions of linebackers or DBs make sense

Earlier in the week, Nebraska quarterback Daniel Kaelin was reported to be making an official visit to Michigan State this weekend, as Nebraska hosts five-star quarterback and Georgia commit Dylan Raiola on an official visit this weekend in Lincoln.

But on Friday evening, Kaelin’s quarterback coach, John Teigland, posted a video of Kaelin throwing with Husker commit Dae’Vonn Hall and Nebraska tight end Thomas Fidone. After checking with a couple 247Sports sources, we confirmed Kaelin won’t be making the trip to Michigan State this weekend and plans to be part of Nebraska’s 2024 class.

It’s the latest twist in a week full of them for the quarterback position at Nebraska. Jeff Sims entered the portal Monday, then news broke that Nebraska was back in it with Raiola, who has been committed to Georgia since mid-May. That all took place as Ohio State transfer Kyle McCord was on campus in Lincoln on an official visit. McCord has since moved on to other suitors and won’t be considerin

g the Huskers. Kaelin was previously committed to Missouri but flipped to Nebraska when the coaches turned their attention to him following Raiola’s commitment to Georgia.

No. 5 Texas faces nemesis, No. 1 Nebraska for a chance to repeat as volleyball national champion

It’s hard to imagine the defending national champion Texas volleyball team as the one crashing this year’s Final Four, but that’s the role the fifth-ranked Longhorns are embracing heading into the national championship final against nemesis No. 1 Nebraska on Sunday.

It’s hard to imagine the defending national champion Texas volleyball team as the one crashing this year’s Final Four, but that’s the role the Longhorns are embracing heading into the national championship final against No. 1 Nebraska on Sunday (2 p.m., ABC)

“I’m just so happy with the process that this group went through, the leadership and the quality of women that we have,” Texas coach Jerritt Elliott said after the fifth-ranked Longhorns took down No. 3 Wisconsin 3-1 in Thursday’s national semifinal.

“It’s been so much fun to go through and to see this ride because nobody had us picked up to get here.”

The Longhorns took down Wisconsin, the 2021 national champions who spent eight consecutive weeks at No. 1 this season, after a heroic effort led by freshman setter Ella Swindle (46 assists), sophomore libero Emma Halter (19 digs) and outside hitter Madisen Skinner (18 kills, 6 aces).

Daniel Kaelin, Bellevue West, Quarterback

“It’s stuff that you dream of as a little girl,” said Skinner, who won the national title as a true freshman at Kentucky in 2020 before transferring to Texas and now has a chance to win a third national championship.

Swindle, a 6-foot-3 true freshman who replaced setter Saige Ka’aha’aina-Torres from last year’s national title team, has become a major star during the postseason, averaging 9.95 assists per set (well above her average of 9.54 during the regular season).

“I still remember the conversations Ella and I had early on,” Elliott said. “There’s a lot of pressure coming in as a quarterback to set up a team that just won a national championship. You feel all the responsibility.

“For me, I was trying to tone that down with Ella and tell her she was going to fail a lot, and we were going to catch her, and she wasn’t going to be perfect every night—so, setting the expectations where she could just grow.”

Swindle has seemingly gotten better in each round of the NCAA Championship, posting 35 assists in a 3-1 victory over Texas A&M; 37 assists in a 3-0 sweep of SMU; 40 assists in a 3-2 win over No. 11 Tennessee; 41 assists in a 3-1 victory over No. 2 Stanford; and 46 assists against the third-ranked Badgers.

“I definitely think the game is a lot faster,” Swindle said. “That wasn’t the biggest adjustment. I think the biggest adjustment is just learning how to play with new girls that have played in national championships, won national championships, and just have high expectations, like you, but you just want to be the best that you can be for them.

“The biggest adjustment for me was just learning how to take it day by day and learning how to fail and get back up again and trust myself as an athlete because that’s what got me here, and that’s what’s going to take us to the national championship on Sunday, I guess.”

After the Longhorns won the national title last year, led by first-team All-Americans Logan Eggleston, super senior libero Zoe Fleck and Asjia O’Neal, this year’s team—without Eggleston, Fleck and setter Ka’aha’aina-Torres—opened the season 2-2, including a season-opening loss at Long Beach State and a 3-0 sweep by Stanford at Gregory Gym on Sept. 3.

But Texas still had Skinner (this year’s Big 12 player of the year) and O’Neal, who came back for a sixth season, and some other key veterans, such as Keonlei Akana, Bella Bergmark and Molly Phillips, just needed time to grow together with Swindle and sophomore libero Halter.

That growth was evident in UT’s rematch with No. 2 Stanford a week ago—a 3-1 victory by the Longhorns in Palo Alto, Calif., that sent Texas to the Final Four.

In Stanford’s sweep of Texas in their first meeting in September, Swindle had just 24 assists, Skinner had just 12 kills, and Halter had only six digs.

In the rematch in the NCAA regional final, Swindle had 41 assists, Skinner had 24 kills and Halter had 13 digs.

Halter had the game of her Texas career in Friday’s win over Wisconsin by diving all over the floor to keep one rocketed ball after another from hitting the floor with 19 digs.

“Emma’s always been a really fiery player,” O’Neal said of Halter. “Even last year, she played outstandingly, especially in the tournament. I feel like, having a libero like Zoe (Fleck), Emma often didn’t get the recognition that she deserved. Honestly, seeing her play [against Wisconsin], I told her, ‘What did you do before the game? You played lights out.’

“She’s just always very consistent, very gritty. I feel like, as a libero, sometimes you don’t really get the recognition and the shine.

“But seeing her finally get some recognition, and hopefully on Sunday as well, has been really exciting. I’m very proud of her because all of her work definitely doesn’t go unnoticed by us.”

Texas, which has won four national titles, including last year’s title, is making its 10th national championship match appearance and the Longhorns’ seventh in the last 15 years.

Nebraska has 11 championship match appearances and has won five national titles, the last coming in 2017.

Texas and Nebraska meet in the postseason for the seventh time since the 2009 season and for the third time ever in a National Championship match. The Longhorns hold a 4-3 overall record in postseason matches against Nebraska but fell in the 1995 and 2015 title matches.

“Even if you don’t grow up in the state of Texas and you don’t really know much about [the rivalry with Nebraska], you’re going to figure it out really quickly once you get here,” O’Neal said.

“I know our fans don’t necessarily like each other either. So, they’re definitely going to be really riled up during the game.”

Nebraska set a record for attendance at a women’s sports event on Aug. 30 when 92,003 people filled Memorial Stadium to watch the Cornhuskers’ volleyball team beat Omaha 3-0.

“It’s a special moment to be able to have a Texas-Nebraska game on ABC on national television (Sunday) to really blow it out of the park,” Elliott said.