LINCOLN — Andrew Rodriguez had known he was going to make his college debut Saturday for quite some time.

That didn't stop the nerves.

The 6-foot-6, 325-pound true freshman offensive lineman out of Aurora played nearly half of the snaps according to Nebraska offensive line coach Barney Cotton.

It was his first steps into Memorial Stadium, though, that had him a bit jittered.

“Coming out of that Tunnel Walk, my heart was just pounding,” Rodriguez said. “You could see my pads just moving from my heart just pounding so hard. It's just an adrenaline rush.”

Rodriguez realized he'd be in a position to play after fellow lineman Mike Smith broke a leg earlier in fall camp.

The coaches prepared him for what he'd see, but maybe not as much for what he'd feel.

“The first play I was shaky because I was just nervous,” he said.

Cotton had a positive assessment of Rodriguez afterwards, saying he liked what the rookie did. It's his hope that getting that eye-opening experience will pay off down the road.

“Hopefully he's going to be able to learn from this, take a big step forward and gain some confidence from it as well and be able to play a little bit faster next time,” Cotton said. “Hopefully he'll be able to play a lot faster.”

Huskers take over Cornhusker hotel

When Nebraska football opponents have elected to stay in Lincoln the night before a game they've set up shop at the downtown Cornhusker Marriott.

But instead of opposing players heading down the escalator for a final meeting before boarding the buses to Memorial Stadium, it was Cornhuskers who were heading from their rooms to the lower lobby.

NU coach Bo Pelini followed a couple of the players down the escalator just over four hours before kickoff. For the first time a sign was posted at the top of the escalators restricting access only to Husker players and coaches.

After the East Campus facility where Husker teams had stayed for decades closed several years ago, Nebraska had been staying at a hotel on the north end of town near the 27th Street exit off Interstate 80.

As the clock moved closer to 3 p.m., there were only three people in the main lobby as everyone else moved out to watch the Huskers get on their red Arrow buses for the short ride to the stadium with the usual police escort.

Bobby Rainey carries load for Hilltoppers

Earlier this week WKU running back Bobby Rainey told reporters that he wanted to carry more of the offensive load after just missing the 1,000 yard mark for a season a year ago, and he got his wish in a new offense designed by new head coach Willie Taggart.

The junior had career highs of 30 carries and 155 yards, and none of those carries went for negative yardage. Rainey also had career highs for receiving yards (36) and total yards from scrimmage (191).

Many Huskers get first game experience

Three true freshmen saw action on Saturday — wide receiver Quincy Enunwa, defensive back Ciante Evans and Rodriguez.

Besides starting quarterback Taylor Martinez and leading tackler Lavonte David at linebacker, other players seeing their first action were: offensive linemen Jeremiah Sirles, Jermarcus Hardrick, Brent Qvale, Cole Pensick and Seung Hoon Choi; tight end Jake Long; fullback C.J. Zimmerer; defensive end Jason Ankrah; defensive lineman Thaddeus Randle; and wide receiver KC Hyland.

Tidbits

The Memorial Stadium crowd of 85,555 was the fifth-largest Western Kentucky has faced in school history. ... Two of Western Kentucky's three leading tacklers came from the Hilltoppers' secondary. Cornerbacks Jamal Forrest and Derrius Brooks both had six solo tackles, and Forrest added an assist to tie linebacker Thomas Majors for the team total lead with seven.

— Nick Rubek, Jon Nyatawa, Steve Beideck

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