Huskers confident they'll have a better start than last year

The Nebraska Cornhuskers open their 130th season on Saturday by hosting the South Alabama Jaguars at Memorial Stadium.

Coming off a 4-8 season, the Huskers are confident they'll have a better start than last year.

"I think all of us realize we don't want the start that we had last year...No one wants to go back to that and in my mind we won't," Quarterback Adrian Martinez said. "I know a lot of guys on this team won't let that happen. That's why we're so excited for the start of this season. We get another chance to do things the right way."

"At the beginning of last year I think we were a little big limited just because of how much we knew as a team," Martinez said. "I think this upcoming season the sky is the limit with Coach Frost as a play caller and I think he's confident in us to execute a variety of different plays and formations."

Blackshirts were handed out Monday in a special way. Instead of Blackshirts just showing up in players' lockers, Scott Frost had some of the original Blackshirts come and present the jerseys to the team in person.

Kickoff is set for 11 a.m. and the matchup will be televised nationally on ESPN.

Nebraska enters the 2019 season with a No. 24 preseason ranking in the Associated Press poll, marking the Huskers' first appearance in the preseason poll in five years.