Optimism is the order of the day, similar to spring practice but with the season at hand. Now, as in the spring, the Nebraska football team can be as good as one’s imagination allows.
For instance, though the past is that and nothing more, Matt Rhule’s similar rises at Temple and Baylor provide reason for optimism by comparison. After 2-10 and 6-6 records his first two seasons at Temple, he coached the Owls to a 10-4 season, a four-win improvement. After 1-11 and 7-6 in his first two seasons at Baylor, he coached the Bears to an 11-3 season, also a four-win improvement.
The Big Ten Network referenced that history in its Nebraska preview. As a Husker fan, you’re certainly familiar with it. But are you using that to evaluate the potential for this season? Will the Huskers have a four-win improvement this season? Is that the expectation?
Players have shown confidence during media availability, as you’ve seen and read.
Junior tight end Luke Lindemeyer predicted Nebraska would become “Tight End U,” a room that includes Henrich Haarberg and Carter Nelson, with Mac Markway sadly sidelined by injury for the second straight season.
Sophomore wide receiver Jacory Barney said he was going to lead the nation in punt returns this season, in addition to his stellar play at wide receiver. “We say it every day, and I believe … so that’s what I’m working toward,” Barney said. He’s on the preseason watch list for the Paul Hornung Award, presented to college football’s most versatile player. Colorado’s Travis Hunter won the award last season.
Nebraska needs to improve on special teams. Australian punter Archie Wilson should help as well.
Sophomore quarterback Dylan Raiola is included on the preseason watch list for the Maxwell Award, given to college football’s player of the year. Boise State running back Ashton Jeanty was the 2024 winner. Emmett Johnson is on the watch list for the Doak Walker Award, presented to the nation’s top collegiate running back — Jeanty also won it in 2024.
And senior offensive tackle Teddy Prochazka is on the Danny Wuerffel Trophy preseason watch list, awarded for community service as well as athletics and academics. Penn State offensive lineman Nick Dawkins was last season’s winner.
As for the offensive line, on which Raiola’s success depends, senior Rocco Spindler, a transfer from Notre Dame, said “the room can be the best in the country,” and the Joe Moore Award winner, given to the “most outstanding offensive line in college football.”
Remember, Notre Dame and Spindler played Ohio State in last season’s national championship game.
Army won the Joe Moore Award last season. The trophy, which stands on the campus at West Point, is the largest in college football, according to its website — 7-feet tall, 800 pounds.
Nebraska’s number one line, based on Saturday’s fan-viewed scrimmage, included: Elijah Pritchett, Henry Lutovsky, Justin Evans, Spindler and Prochazka. Prior to the scrimmage, Rhule said Pritchett, a junior transfer from Alabama, has “got a tremendous battle on his hands.”
Tackles Gunnar Gottula, a sophomore, and Tyler Knaak, a junior transfer from Utah, are among others in the mix, with versatile Turner Corcoran, a senior, expected back at full speed for the season.
If Spindler’s optimism is justified, with Raiola’s jump from freshman to sophomore, the Husker offense should be improved. Should be … but that remains conjecture.
Nebraska’s defense needs to step up after losing key players. Sophomore defensive lineman Riley Van Poppel said Tuesday the defense was expecting to be among the nation’s best.
As others have done, the Big Ten Network indicated Nebraska has a favorable schedule, with only one of four conference teams in last season’s playoffs — Penn State, which the Huskers play at State College in the next-to-last-game of the regular season.
After opening against Cincinnati in Kansas City’s Arrowhead Stadium, Nebraska has four consecutive home games and an off-week, after the first three, before games at Maryland and Minnesota. Two of the home games are scheduled wins, against Akron and Houston Christian.
The key to all this repetition, however, is the opener against Cincinnati. Other than the Akron and Houston Christian games, there is no certainty beyond what happens at Arrowhead. Hopefully, that seems obvious. It needs to be the fan focus, though some are looking past it to Michigan, game four.
At this time of the year, unrestrained optimism can transcend reason.
