UNK lost its season opener last week to Wayne State.

But at least the Lopers played, and they hope that will make a big difference early in Saturday's 6 p.m. game with UNO at Caniglia Field.

It will be the season opener for the Mavericks, ranked No. 12 in Division II. UNK was the preseason No. 13 team but dropped out of the ratings following its 24-17 overtime home defeat.

“That's got to be the one thing that we can point to — that they haven't played yet,” University of Nebraska at Kearney coach Darrell Morris said. “I'm sure they'll be ready to play, but we have to try to take advantage of it before they get up to game speed.”

The strategy seems sound, particularly when considering that the University of Nebraska at Omaha had a disastrous start against the Lopers last season. The Mavs set up a score with a bad punt snap at the end of their first possession, gave away a fumble on a quarterback snap on their second possession, and then threw an interception on the third.

The Mavs fell behind 21-7 by halftime, saw a fourth-quarter field goal blocked and threw two more second-half interceptions in a 31-28 defeat.

“Getting off to a good start is very important, obviously,” UNO coach Pat Behrns said. “And field position and mistakes are going to be very important early. We've got to do a better job on first down, too. We had way too many second-and-long, second and 8 or more against them last year. You can't play offense that way.”

UNK was also coming off a loss to Wayne State entering last season's meeting with UNO. But last year's game was in Kearney. This time it's in Omaha. And the Mavericks are more experienced than in 2009 except at one critical position.

Behrns still hasn't named a starting quarterback.

He said he would speak with both sophomore John Teigland and junior Jon Daniels on Friday about who would start. Both are expected to play.

Behrns, normally as open as any college football coach, has played it close to the vest. He kept the quarterback candidates off-limits to reporters during the week.

“They're both a little nervous right now,” Behrns said. “We've got to make sure we take a little stress away from them early. We've got to count on the team early, rather than counting on them. There's going to be times in the game when they're going to have to make plays, but we're going to have to work into that.”

Behrns said the offense won't change no matter which quarterback plays, and Morris doesn't sound overly concerned about which one starts against his defense.

“whoever they have there is going to be a good football player,” Morris said. “Their running back is a quality back, and they're going to give him the ball some — that's pretty basic mathematics. There's only so many things you can do with 11 people (on the field). We'll have our bases covered.”

UNO tailbacks Levi Terrell and Bryce Hawthorne combined to rush for 1,689 yards and 11 touchdowns last season, but both have been slowed in the preseason by hamstring injuries. Duane Bowen, who rushed for 375 yards and eight touchdowns last year, is listed second on the depth chart behind Terrell.

UNK, which reached the second round of the playoffs while going 11-2 last season, returns an experienced offense led by quarterback Jake Spitzlberger, big-play wide receiver Kyle Kaiser and running back Rustin Dring.

Morris said the Lopers do lack some experienced depth. That shows on defense, where three freshmen start, including true freshman cornerback Ryan Lendrum.

UNO will try to keep a close eye on Kaiser, who caught eight passes for 173 yards and a touchdown against UNO last year.

“Kaiser is a good player,” Behrns said. “You're not going to shut him down completely. But we've got to slow him down. I do like all of our corners. We've got five guys there who give us a good combination.”

UNK's win last year broke a six-game losing streak in the series. UNO has won 13 of the last 15 meetings.

“It's hard to move on from any loss, but do we have a grudge match with them? No,” Behrns said. “The more we worry about them, the less we worry about us. We've focused on what we control, and that's us.”

Contact the writer:

444-1027, rob.white@owh.com

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STARTERS

UNK, OFFENSE, UNO
Kyle Kaiser (175), WR, Brian Miller (216)
Dane Rudeen (225), TE, Mike Higgins (241)
Adam Drudik (255), LT, Harrison Lingenfelter (288)
Matt Anderson (285), LG, Shae Smith (286)
Parker Jolly (270), C, Anthony Sjuts (280)
Nate Bryan (300), RG, Dennis Bergland (306)
Orion Matthies (335), RT, John Becklun (280
Eli Hammond (210), WR, Justin Coleman (180)
Shane Carraher (170), WR, Marques Parker (175)
Jake Spitzlberger (175), QB, John Teigland (213) or Jon Daniels (202)
Rustin Dring (205), TB, Levi Terrell (195)
Michael Gruber (180), K, Greg Zuerlein (183)

UNK, DEFENSE, UNO
Mason Brodine (250), DE, Casey Beck (240)
Josh Rohde (265), DT, Justin Sindelar (275)
Sandi Stanback (350), NG, Kent Fleming (335)
Alex Paicurich (230), DE, Nate Wissink (245)
Justin Swedburg (240), MLB, A.J. Williams (245)
Ethan Kuhlmann (260), SLB, Kyle Moore (224)
Jay Kropp (225), OLB, Tanner Frain (222)
Ryan Lendrum (185), LCB, Bryan Shepherd (165)
Arthur Hobbs (180), RCB, Trevor Maldon (167)
Kenny Hill (180), S, Danny Pelster (183)
Pete Kropp (190), S, Micah Fisher (185)
Brennan Johnson (175), P, Jason Schlautman (200)

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