Are the Huskers always going to be a 5,6, or 7 win team or will they actually get to 9 or 10+ in 2025?

[Cornicator]

Has Rhule done enough with the roster for this team to finally get over the hump and play a season full of competent football? Are these changes below enough?

1. Hired an Elite Special Teams Coach
2. Found top long snapper available
3. Hired an Elite Offensive Coordinator
4. Added two of the 5 top WR's available in the Portal
5. Improved the overall athleticism on defense

Are those things enough along with the following schedule?

Cincinnati - bottom of the pack Big 12 team - game in Arrowhead played in front of 60,000 Husker fans
Akron - terrible
Houston Christian - a team Northern Cockeye would've beaten by 3 TDs last season
Michigan - should be very tough, but will be starting a True Freshmen QB in first road start
Michigan State - should be improved from last season, but had one of the most innept offenses in the league last season

@Maryland - first road game to be played at Terps who will likely be starting 9 new players on offense after a miserable 2024 season
@ Minnesota - Nebraska always chokes on its dick at Minnesota, but the Gophers are the only Big Ten team that doesn't know who will start at QB next season

Northwestern - always competitive, but Nebraska will likely be favored
USC - will be a tough game, but Trojans do play Oregon, Notre Dame, and Penn State in the 3 games before travelling to Nebraska
@ UCLA - I actually think the Bruins will be the most improved team in the Big 10 next season, which isn't great considering they already dragged their nuts all over the Huskers face in 2024. Have to assume there will be a huge Husker contingent in the Rose Bowl though.

@Penn State - Nittany Lions will probably have their best team of the Franklin era next season.

Cockeye - fuck Cockeye.

I realize the Cincy game is a neutral site matchup, but I'm claiming that one as a home game. Huskers basically get 8 home games. The Maryland road game SHOULD be one of Nebraska's easiest road trip matchups in years. I'm going on record that Maryland is going to be terrible next season. But we all know the Huskers often play like ass when facing ass.


So back to the initial question:

Is the 2025 team the team that finally gets over that hump of shit? I thought the team would win 4 or 5 teams in 2024. I assumed 6 last season. I think they will win a LOT more than 6 in 2025, but I'm interested to read your thoughts.

 

[Kazman5k]

That’s a 10 winner pals

 

[Tyneb23]

10-2 and possible CFP birth. Losses to Penn St &USC. Michigan will be Rhules coming out party

 

[Pipe Line]

Should, yes. I'm prepared for heartbreak until shown otherwise, though.

 

[Driveway Jordan]

I think the 2 most improved teams in the BIG next year will be Washington and MSU. Both have returning dual-threat QBs (Demond Williams looked amazing in UW's bowl game) and good coaching staffs. Even though UCLA beat us and Cockeye, I'm not sold on Foster...and they will have a new OC and QB.

In order to take the next step, we have to start beating teams of equal or slightly more talent, especially at home....i.e. Michigan, USC, and Cockeye. I'll say we win 2 out of 3 of those. Lose at Pedo State, and drop another game we shouldn't, whether that's MSU, Minnesota, or UCLA. 9-3 overall.

 

[Cornicator]

Even though UCLA beat us and Cockeye, I'm not sold on Foster...and they will have a new OC and QB.

That new OC is elite, and that new QB is basically Rourke 2.0. In fact, those two additions alone are why I think UCLA will be much improved.

 

[ShortSideOption]

I don't believe they will always be 5, 6, or 7 wins. Continuity is key for us and in any college football sport where the portal is as impactful as it is. With that much uncertainty on your roster, you better have a constant somewhere and I believe the coaching staff is where you can do that.

If you look at Illinois, Bielema had 5 wins then 8 wins then 5 wins then 10 wins. Stick with the process and we can get some double-digit win seasons when the schedule aligns and we have the right roster.

The schedule is an interesting debate. Everyone was saying how easy ours was in 2024, even talking undefeated heading to Ohio State and we were 5-2 instead of 7-0 at that time.

Nebraska has made the necessary moves at OC and STC. I'm a little frustrated about the whole DC Tony White thing, he should have been able to stay here until he got a head coaching job. But that's how things go sometimes I suppose, and the defense was always going to take a step back this year losing your entire starting DL, your top ILB, and a couple of your top DBs.

 

[Cornicator]

I don't believe they will always be 5, 6, or 7 wins. Continuity is key for us and in any college football sport where the portal is as impactful as it is. With that much uncertainty on your roster, you better have a constant somewhere and I believe the coaching staff is where you can do that.

If you look at Illinois, Bielema had 5 wins then 8 wins then 5 wins then 10 wins. Stick with the process and we can get some double-digit win seasons when the schedule aligns and we have the right roster.

The schedule is an interesting debate. Everyone was saying how easy ours was in 2024, even talking undefeated heading to Ohio State and we were 5-2 instead of 7-0 at that time.

Nebraska has made the necessary moves at OC and STC. I'm a little frustrated about the whole DC Tony White thing, he should have been able to stay here until he got a head coaching job. But that's how things go sometimes I suppose, and the defense was always going to take a step back this year losing your entire starting DL, your top ILB, and a couple of your top DBs.

I never mentioned the schedule last year, in fact I cringed at the comments about Nebraska being "7-0" going into Ohio State. But I had very tempered expectations for that team. "They were who I thought they were."

As for Bielema, he inherited a much more talented roster than people thought. That 2022 defense now has 7 starters playing in the NFL. It allowed them to jump ahead of schedule a bit. However, the 2024 team was the culmination of his full rebuild. And the Ilini will be even better in 2025.

You continuity point is spot on, but continuity doesn't really begin without that initial success. Will that come in 2025?

 

[Ironwardog]

I don't believe they will always be 5, 6, or 7 wins. Continuity is key for us and in any college football sport where the portal is as impactful as it is. With that much uncertainty on your roster, you better have a constant somewhere and I believe the coaching staff is where you can do that.

If you look at Illinois, Bielema had 5 wins then 8 wins then 5 wins then 10 wins. Stick with the process and we can get some double-digit win seasons when the schedule aligns and we have the right roster.

The schedule is an interesting debate. Everyone was saying how easy ours was in 2024, even talking undefeated heading to Ohio State and we were 5-2 instead of 7-0 at that time.

Nebraska has made the necessary moves at OC and STC. I'm a little frustrated about the whole DC Tony White thing, he should have been able to stay here until he got a head coaching job. But that's how things go sometimes I suppose, and the defense was always going to take a step back this year losing your entire starting DL, your top ILB, and a couple of your top DBs.

Did we or will we ever know what TRULY happened with TW? I’m pretty sure I’ve heard about 3 different versions of events that went on with that whole situation ranging from Rhule wanted him gone, to mutual split, to Rhule wanted him to stay but TW wanted to go.

 

[ShortSideOption]

I never mentioned the schedule last year, in fact I cringed at the comments about Nebraska being "7-0" going into Ohio State. But I had very tempered expectations for that team. "They were who I thought they were."

As for Bielema, he inherited a much more talented roster than people thought. That 2022 defense now has 7 starters playing in the NFL. It allowed them to jump ahead of schedule a bit. However, the 2024 team was the culmination of his full rebuild. And the Ilini will be even better in 2025.

You continuity point is spot on, but continuity doesn't really begin without that initial success. Will that come in 2025?

Luckily I didn't say you mentioned schedule, I brought it up.

 

[ShortSideOption]

Did we or will we ever know what TRULY happened with TW? I’m pretty sure I’ve heard about 3 different versions of events that went on with that whole situation ranging from Rhule wanted him gone, to mutual split, to Rhule wanted him to stay but TW wanted to go.

Without going into too many details about behind the scenes things (because I'm not even sure what's right from what I heard), the 30,000 foot view is Tony White took a lateral move for the same pay to a team that was 2-10. We can talk about no state taxes down there, or how he may be able to get better players, or how FSU had 13 wins in 2023, or whatever people want to spin it as, but that's the facts on it.

The reality for me is the above, and then guys like Knighton laterally moved with him along with bringing back Evan Cooper to help him who was let go here (I know that was out of Rhule's hands). Pretty easy to see there was some friction.

 

[Cornicator]

Without going into too many details about behind the scenes things (because I'm not even sure what's right from what I heard), the 30,000 foot view is Tony White took a lateral move for the same pay to a team that was 2-10. We can talk about no state taxes down there, or how he may be able to get better players, or how FSU had 13 wins in 2023, or whatever people want to spin it as, but that's the facts on it.

The reality for me is the above, and then guys like Knighton laterally moved with him along with bringing back Evan Cooper to help him who was let go here (I know that was out of Rhule's hands). Pretty easy to see there was some friction.

Is your concern due to the fact you think White is a great DC that Nebraska should've kept, or is just the fact that he made a lateral move and now Nebraska is replacing him with John Butler?

 

[Poor_and_Stupid]

What follows is a simplified version of my best guess of how The Simulation™ determines Nebraska football outcomes.

Picture the factors of a game on a bar graph. Offense, defense, special teams, “random” bounces of the ball, and the ref screw job factor.

Nebraska is unique in the simulated world in that improvement in any area will lead to additively equal degradation amongst the other factors.

Essentially what I’m saying is it doesn’t matter what we do. Something will fuck us to achieve the desired outcome of a one score loss.

Example: Is there any logical explanation how we missed every single wide open long bomb touchdown this year? Especially when you consider that DRs film is littered with those types of throws? I mean FFS Taylor Martinez and Tommy Armstrong yolo bombed TDs like that pretty regularly. The best explanation I can come up with is that The Simulation™ will bend gravity itself to create incomplete passes out of what should be touchdowns.

Anyways I think we probably peak out at 7-5. I say we go 6-6 again.

 

[Cornicator]

Example: Is there any logical explanation how we missed every single wide open long bomb touchdown this year? Especially when you consider that DRs film is littered with those types of throws? I mean FFS Taylor Martinez and Tommy Armstrong yolo bombed TDs like that pretty regularly. The best explanation I can come up with is that The Simulation™ will bend gravity itself to create incomplete passes out of what should be touchdowns.

Anyways I think we probably peak out at 7-5. I say we go 6-6 again.

I like everything you typed, and its probably the fairest of assessments. But I do want to point out some overlooked and forgotten facts about the Martinez and Tommy YOLO bomb success:

1. Nebraska had some dynamic running backs who played behind those dudes. Safeties were fearful of dudes like Helu, Rex, and Ameer. This meant the play action was actually a threat and scary when you played Nebraska.

2. Nebraska had a LOT of good receivers catching those Yolo bombs. Hell Brandon Kinnie wasn't anything special, but he would've started on last year's team rather easily. Kenny Bell, Enunwa, Westerkamp, Alonzo Moore, or Brandon Reilly would've all been #1 receivers for the Huskers in 2024.

In a sense, Nebraska had better athletes getting open and a much deeper collection of better athletes.

 

[RedSavage]

Did we or will we ever know what TRULY happened with TW? I’m pretty sure I’ve heard about 3 different versions of events that went on with that whole situation ranging from Rhule wanted him gone, to mutual split, to Rhule wanted him to stay but TW wanted to go.

I'm pretty sure the reason that was given, at least to the public, was that he literally just wanted to live in Florida again

 

[huskerj12]

2. Nebraska had a LOT of good receivers catching those Yolo bombs. Hell Brandon Kinnie wasn't anything special, but he would've started on last year's team rather easily. Kenny Bell, Enunwa, Westerkamp, Alonzo Moore, or Brandon Reilly would've all been #1 receivers for the Huskers in 2024.

Pretty amazing in retrospect, after the offenses we've seen since. Those guys were all absolute ballers, and if I remember right none of them were like, SUPERSTAR recruit types right? Maybe Westerkamp was the closest?

Anyway, I would like to extend Tim Beck and the gang an apology for the fact that many message boarders were convinced those offenses sucked at the time.

 

[lee_carvallo_12]

I'm way too battered to ever think we'll be a consistent 9 and 10 win team again. I'm in complete agreeance with @Poor_and_Stupid that no matter what we do to raise one area of the program another area will inevitably and inexplicably explode. We might go 8-4 next year and the 4 losses will all be walk off fumble-6 returns as we're kneeling out the clock.

 

[doublewing]

For Nebraska's season win totals, I take the amount of games they should win and subtract 2 and that is my prediction. They don't punch above their weight to beat better teams and they are bound to blow a few winnable games in the same maddening fashion as the Frost era. For all the improvement in other areas, they still have a propensity to shit the bed. So next year I'm seeing a 7 win total.

Would like to be proven wrong but became less optimistic and more realistic with the program about 10 years ago. I know better at this point.

 

[Poor_and_Stupid]

I like everything you typed, and its probably the fairest of assessments. But I do want to point out some overlooked and forgotten facts about the Martinez and Tommy YOLO bomb success:

1. Nebraska had some dynamic running backs who played behind those dudes. Safeties were fearful of dudes like Helu, Rex, and Ameer. This meant the play action was actually a threat and scary when you played Nebraska.

2. Nebraska had a LOT of good receivers catching those Yolo bombs. Hell Brandon Kinnie wasn't anything special, but he would've started on last year's team rather easily. Kenny Bell, Enunwa, Westerkamp, Alonzo Moore, or Brandon Reilly would've all been #1 receivers for the Huskers in 2024.

In a sense, Nebraska had better athletes getting open and a much deeper collection of better athletes.

Pretty amazing in retrospect, after the offenses we've seen since. Those guys were all absolute ballers, and if I remember right none of them were like, SUPERSTAR recruit types right? Maybe Westerkamp was the closest?

Anyway, I would like to extend Tim Beck and the gang an apology for the fact that many message boarders were convinced those offenses sucked at the time.

I often wonder if those teams/players were so much better or if it is more about the level of coaching and talent we face each week being of higher quality.

I think there is probably some truth to both points of view.

 

[Cornicator]

I often wonder if those teams/players were so much better or if it is more about the level of coaching and talent we face each week being of higher quality.

I think there is probably some truth to both points of view.

Ameer Abdullah is still playing in the NFL at 32 years-old. Rex Burkhead earned nearly $20 million dollars in the NFL as a 3rd down back. Enunwa was on the verge of stardom before getting hurt. Kenny Bell would've been a great college player in any era, same with Westerkamp.

Nebraska really did have better skill players under before 2017... Then it all went to shit.