Thread by @ChrisDunkerLJS

Stay tuned for live tweeting from this morning's press conference regarding Husker Athletics getting back up and going here this fall.

Just waiting for the Zoom meeting to go live...

The meeting is started, just waiting for the press conference to begin.

There was an open mic going from the meeting's host a little bit ago, but nothing in the way of news that was shared.

The Husker fight song is playing on repeat.

Here we go.

Chancellor Ronnie Green is up: "It's a good day to be in Nebraska and a good day for Husker Nation as we announced earlier this morning...the plans for the Big Ten to resume its fall sports season for football."

It's been "a long road" to get to this point, Green says.

"The decision to pause the season back in early August was a very difficult decision for the conference, based on, as you heard, concern about being ready for that season to commence."

Green says ADs and medical directors have "checked off the boxes" to get back to competition.

"We are looking forward to being able to support our student athletes to get them back to play and to do what they love to do," Green says.

AD Bill Moos says "this truly is a celebration."

"I think over 125, at last count, Zoom meetings by the athletic directors every morning since mid-March. We got setback in August and we went back to it, found a way that was approved by the presidents and chancellors."

"Our players want to play, our coaches want to coach and our fans want to watch," Moos says. "We're going to be able to do all those things now, which is why it's a celebration."

He says "Nebraska needs football; and football needs Nebraska."

Q: What are your thoughts on the protocols.

Green: B1G's protocols are the most stringent of any athletic conference. "They are appropriately stringent, but we do think they are reasonable for being able to meet them moving forward."

Moos: Major concern in August was testing. "A lot of things have evolved since then, and I think we've been on top of it. There is no conference in the country that is more detailed in our testing and our requirements to return to play and this is going to continue throughout."

Biggest concern is making sure student athletes and their parents are comfortable, and that there is a "clean field," Moos says.

Green adds the "availability of point of care tests" is the big difference between then and now.

Q: Do you think we'd be here without pushback by Nebraska against B1G?

Green: "We said we felt we were prepared to play" back in August. Now having the antigen rapid tests, "we are in a different place."

"We're celebrating the fact that we're here today."

Moos: "The ADs were all in favor of returning to play back in August...we were solid in returning to play."

When they didn't get the vote they wanted, "we went back to work" to get to a point where chancellors and presidents were comfortable.

Q: The commissioner said decision wasn't going to be revisited. Did the push that Nebraska & Ohio St were on the front end of help get it to be revisited?

Moos: We postponed the season, but presidents and chancellors listened that we were making great strides in areas of concern

Green: "This is not a static conversation. It's dynamic, it's fluid, we continue to learn more. Knowing what we know today about point of care antigen tests is considerably more than what we knew in the beginning of August. We pushed hard, and we pushed repeatedly hard."

Q: What about not having fans in Memorial Stadium?

Moos: We thought attendance should be set by local health authorities. Certainly did not want fan attendance to be a dealbreaker. Coming up with innovative ways to have fans still involved.

Moos: "The important thing is our fans are going to have Husker football...we're going to need them now as much as we ever have."

Green: The medical team of B1G recommended there only be family and staff. We know fans will be in Memorial Stadium, physically or not.

Q: What was the specific concern of medical team in having fans in the stands?

Moos: It gets back to safety of the players. Some of that I question because I know here we are very comfortable of how we protect players. We want to be good citizens in campus and the community.

Moos: "At the end of the day, this is how it came down and it was a unanimous vote."

He says having fans was a big concern and he and Green pushed to have that decision made locally, not by the conference.

Q: What does population mean in this context?

Green: Population is the team + support staff being tested every day. NOT the broader campus, community, etc.

Q: No one from the football team is opting out of the season, how are they feeling about this?

Moos: They really want to play, really believe in Coach Frost, etc.

Huskers will play 4 home games, 4 away, including everyone in the B1G West, Moos says of scheduling.

Q: What about season ticket holders?

Moos: Fans were notified when it looked like we weren't going to have a season. About 20% said keep our $$ and donation to keep things running. About 60% said keep $$ and apply to next season, 20% said they want a refund.

Q: What about tailgating?

Green: No tailgating on campus. There are no group gatherings of any kind right now because of public health directives.

Several questions about logistics being asked, and the answers all pretty much the same: Now that the go-ahead has been given, we can explore those issues.

Q: Do you report athletic dept test results publicly now?

Moos: We report to B1G confidentially, but we want to be sensitive to the privacy of student-athletes.

Green: Test results are reported aggregately with the rest of the student body.

Moos says players/teams are not going to be put in a bubble or segregated from the rest of the students. It's up to them to have the discipline to do the right things to avoid getting infected, he says.

Green says testing availability will be expanded this weekend.

Q: Will there be Friday games after Thanksgiving?

Moos: Yes, probably, to meet the needs of television partners.

Moos says he's done everything he can to push for a Black Friday game with Iowa, whom he calls Nebraska's "rival."

Green: "It's a good day for Nebraska, it's a good day for being able to return to competition."

"There's something to be said about hope, here. We live in a tough time, we live in a time that's challenging for everyone. I am really hopeful."

"We've been aligned in Nebraska from the top down on what we believe is the right thing to do, and it's an exciting day to be able to move forward," Green says.

Moos says Nebraska has "a very, very good chance to be a good football team" this year.

"This is a fabulous reward for them. I applaud Chancellor Green and his colleagues...and my colleagues," Moos says. "A lot and a lot of hours have gone into this."