The games announced on Wednesday
include three home games for the 2006 season—Louisiana Tech on Sept. 2, 2006,
Nicholls
State on Sept. 9, 2006 and
Troy University on Sept. 23, 2006. The three games this fall complete a
non-conference schedule that also includes a Sept. 16 trip to Los Angeles to take on
USC.
Nebraska also
completed its schedule for the 2007 season by announcing home games against
Nevada (Sept. 1) and Ball State (Sept. 22). Those games are in
addition to a Sept. 8 contest at Wake
Forest and a Sept. 15 game in
Lincoln against
USC.
Beginning with the 2006 season, the
NCAA will allow all Division I-A football teams to play 12 regular-season games.
Nebraska Athletic Director Steve Pederson has stated previously that he is
hopeful the Huskers will play at least seven home games every season, and he is
pleased that will be the case for the 2006 and 2007 seasons. A recent study by
the University of Nebraska-Lincoln indicated that a seventh home football game
next season would equate to an economic impact of more than $6 million in the
Lincoln
area.
“We are excited about being able to
finalize the schedules for each of the next two seasons,” Pederson said. “With
the addition of a 12th game beginning this fall, a lot of schools were in a
similar position as us in trying to complete their schedules. It is important to
us to give Nebraska fans as many opportunities as
possible to see the games in person and having seven home games each of the next
two years is a definite plus.”
The 2006 season will kick off with a
visit from Louisiana Tech. Nebraska has faced
the Bulldogs on one previous occasion, defeating Louisiana Tech, 56-26, in the
1998 Eddie Robinson Football Classic in Lincoln. Louisiana Tech is coached by Jack Bicknell who is entering his eighth season at the school. The Bulldogs are
coming off a 7-4 season in 2005, including a 6-2 record in the Western Athletic
Conference.
Nicholls
State will be Nebraska’s second opponent of the 2006 campaign, visiting
Lincoln on Sept.
9. The Colonels finished 6-4 in 2005, and won their last five games of the
season to capture the Southland Conference title and qualify for the Division
I-AA playoffs. Nicholls State dropped a 14-12 decision to Furman
in the first round of the playoffs, but was ranked 17th in the final Division
I-AA rankings. This will be the first meeting between Nebraska and Nicholls State.
Troy will be
making its fourth trip to Lincoln in the past six seasons. The Trojans
also played at Memorial Stadium in 2001, 2002 and 2003 with the Huskers winning
each of the contests, most recently a 30-0 win in 2003. Troy is coming off a 4-7 record in 2005, and in addition to
its trip to Lincoln will also take on Georgia Tech and Florida
State in the month of
September.
The addition of Nevada and Ball State bolsters an already strong 2007
non-conference schedule for the Huskers. Nevada
shared the Western Athletic Conference title in 2005 and finished the season
with a 9-3 record, including a victory over Central
Florida in the Hawaii Bowl. Nevada
won its final five games of the 2005 season, and its only losses came in road
games at Washington State, Colorado State and Boise State.
Ball
State will be Nebraska’s final
non-conference game of the 2007 season. The Cardinals finished the 2005 season
with a 4-7 overall mark and a 4-4 record in the Mid-American Conference.
Ball State played road games at Iowa, Boston
College and Auburn last fall, and
posted a victory over eventual MAC Champion Akron late in the season. Nebraska’s games with Nevada and Ball State will mark the Huskers’ first-ever
meetings with both schools.
The announcement of the
non-conference games for the 2006 and 2007 seasons completes a Husker schedule
that also features a full schedule of eight Big 12 Conference games. In addition
to facing all five North Division foes, Nebraska will take on Texas, Texas A&M and
Oklahoma State of the Big 12 South over the next two seasons,
while Oklahoma, Texas Tech and Baylor drop off
the Nebraska
schedule until 2008. All four of Nebraska’s
2006 Big 12 home opponents appeared in bowl games this past season, including
2005 Big 12 and national champion Texas who will play at Memorial Stadium on
Oct. 21.
2006
Sept.
2
Louisiana
Tech
Sept.
9
Nicholls
State
Sept.
16 at
USC
Sept.
23 Troy
Sept.
30 Kansas
Oct.
7
at Iowa
State
Oct.
14 at
Kansas
State
Oct.
21
Texas
Oct.
28 at
Oklahoma
State
Nov.
4
Missouri
Nov.
11 at
Texas
A&M
Nov.
24
Colorado
2007
Sept.
1
Nevada
Sept.
8
at Wake
Forest
Sept.
15
USC
Sept.
22 Ball State
Sept.
29 Iowa State
Oct.
6
at Missouri
Oct.
13
Oklahoma
State
Oct.
20
Texas
A&M
Oct.
27 at
Texas
Nov.
3
at Kansas
Nov.
10
Kansas
State
Nov.
23 at
Colorado
Home
games in red