Nebraska has spent much of this season sorting through the disappointment of two losses to Indiana and Oregon, but the next stretch on the schedule hands Matt Rhule’s team something far more useful than another round of griping: a real chance to stack wins.
The Huskers are 5-2 right now, and the argument here is simple. Not that they will go 3-0 over the next three games, but that they should. Washington, Illinois and Rutgers are up next, and if Nebraska keeps playing the way it has through seven games, an 8-2 record is there for the taking.
That run begins on Halloween with Washington coming to Memorial Stadium for a night game. The Huskies are 4-3 overall and 1-3 in the Big Ten, with losses to Minnesota, USC and Iowa.
They also bring a dangerous quarterback in Demon Williams Jr., who can make plays with both his legs and his arm, though he was injured against Iowa. Washington’s backup entered that game and played well against the Hawkeyes’ defense, so Nebraska may not know which quarterback it will face.
The Huskies also get an extra week to prepare after a bye. Still, the night setting in Lincoln and Nebraska’s need for rest should make for a good environment.
If Jamal Rule is healthy, Nebraska should win by double digits.
The Illinois game the following week comes on a Friday night, and it was one I picked Nebraska to lose before the season started. Bret Bielema’s teams have traditionally given Nebraska trouble, but that hasn’t been the story with Illinois this year because the defense has struggled.
The Illini beat Michigan State by one point and lost to Purdue. Nebraska will be working on a short week, and there’s also some uncertainty about what the scene in Champaign will look like.
Illinois plays Maryland the week before the Huskers, and if Maryland - after firing its coach - plays loose and wins, that kind of result can change the feel around a team fast.
The stretch wraps up in New Jersey against Rutgers, which sits at 2-4 and 1-2 in the Big Ten. The Scarlet Knights were beaten by Indiana by 32 points, and Nebraska should leave with a win even if it’s not pretty. Across those three games, Washington, Illinois and Rutgers are only 9-10 overall and 3-7 in Big Ten play.
For the first time in a while, Nebraska is staring at a schedule where it looks better than the teams in front of it. That doesn’t guarantee anything - games still have to be played - but the Huskers should be 8-2 before Ohio State arrives in Lincoln.
After all the frustration, the task now is to look up and recognize what’s sitting right there in front of them.
In Other News...
Anthony Colandrea Just Became A Huge Nebraska Offseason Priority
Anthony Colandrea has quickly moved to the center of Nebraskas offseason planning, with Matt Rhule acknowledging the realities of a transfer market that never really sleeps. The chatter around SEC teams reaching out about Colandrea for 2027 only adds to the urgency, but from Nebraskas side, the focus is on keeping a quarterback who has already given the program steady production and shown enough promise to matter well beyond this season.
The bigger question now is how hard Nebraska is willing to push to keep him in Lincoln for a potential fifth year of eligibility. Reports point to ongoing discussions around a substantial NIL package, which tells you all you need to know about how valuable Colandrea has become to the Huskers, even with some recent bumps in the road. For a team trying to stabilize the position and build around it, this has become one of the most important retention battles of the offseason. [Read more 🡒]
Fred Hoiberg Just Gave Nebraska Fans A Surprising NIL Reality
CBS Sports latest deep dive into college basketball spending painted a pretty clear picture of where Nebraska stands in the NIL arms race, and it was a reminder that Fred Hoiberg has been trying to do a lot with less. The report sorted high-major programs into seven spending tiers for the 2026-27 season and pointed to coaches such as Matt Painter, Nate Oats, TJ Otzelberger and Hoiberg as examples of leaders who have squeezed real value out of limited resources.
For Nebraska fans, that is both encouraging and a little sobering. It suggests the Cornhuskers are not operating in the same financial neighborhood as some of the sports biggest spenders, even as Hoiberg has kept the program competitive enough to draw national attention in conversations about efficiency and overachievement. The larger question now is how long Nebraska can keep winning that kind of battle if the spending gap keeps shaping the landscape. [Read more 🡒]
Nebraskas Playoff Path Just Got Real With No Room To Slip
Saturdays chaos around college football gave Nebraska a little more oxygen, but it also sharpened the stakes. Five of the top seven teams lost on the same day, and while that kind of shakeup can open doors, it also underscores how unforgiving the College Football Playoff race has become. At 5-2, the Cornhuskers still have a long way to go, with five games left and one of the toughest closing stretches possible sitting right in front of them.
Ohio State and Iowa are still on the schedule, which means there is very little margin for error from here. The Athletics projections say Nebraska would have a 90 percent chance to make the playoff if it wins out, but any slip would quickly make the path much steeper. In a season where the field keeps shifting, the Cornhuskers are suddenly in the conversation, even if the conversation comes with a hard warning attached. [Read more 🡒]