Mark Whipple has been in season openers before that have not gone the way he’s wanted them to. That’s why he knows Nebraska will benefit from a hot start against Northwestern per Michael Bruntz of 247Sports.

Whipple is feeling good about the stamina of his quarterbacks heading into the game. The team just announced recently that Casey Thompson would be QB1.

“You could see as the practice rolled on, they were getting their legs back and feeling better,” Whipple said.

The Nebraska OC believes that the key to success will be making sure that the team settles in after the 1st quarter, while not giving the game away.

“As coaches you like to have everything in plan, but very rarely does it happen in the first game,” Whipple said. “I’ve been on both ends of it. Get out of the first quarter without giving the game away and settle in.”

Nebraska and Northwestern face off on Aug. 27 live from Dublin, Ireland at 12:30 p.m. ET on FOX.