One win away.
The Nebraska Cornhuskers are in a spot that they haven’t been in since at least 2016, sitting at 5-1 on the season and are realistically a made-field goal away from being 6-0 going into the bye week. Now with six games to go, there is a realm of possibility that the Huskers could be competing for the Big Ten Championship and even the College Football Playoff when it’s all said and done. However, the next six games will be a major test of where the team is at in coach Matt Rhule’s second season in Lincoln. Here is a mid-season review and preview of the 2024 season.
2024 mid-season review of Nebraska football
Season thus far
2024 Results
Week 1: UTEP Miners, 40-7, Win
Week 2: Colorado Buffaloes, 28-10, Win
Week 3: Northern Iowa Panthers, 34-3, Win
Week 4: No. 24 Illinois Fighting Illini, 24-31, Loss
Week 5: @ Purdue Boilermakers, 28-10, Win
Week 6: Rutgers Scarlet Knights, 14-7, Win
Nebraska secures their fifth dub this season 🌽#B1GFootball x @HuskerFootball pic.twitter.com/wUgZRih4Pu
— Big Ten Football (@B1Gfootball) October 5, 2024
Nebraska started the season on fire, with three straight wins, including a massive rivalry victory over the Colorado Buffaloes at home. After the Huskers win over the Buffaloes, they found themselves ranked in the AP Top 25 for the first time since 2019 and the highest ranking since 2016. After its win over Northern Iowa, Nebraska moved up to No. 22 in the weekly rankings and had a huge game against the No. 24 Illinois Fighting Illini. It was the Huskers first ranked matchup since 2016 and the first-ranked matchup at home since 2013.
It was a close game throughout the game, but it seemed like Nebraska was going to hold on and win. It was a tie game in the fourth quarter. The Huskers defense just forced a fumble from Illinois quarterback Luke Altmyer and was in a position to take the lead late in the game. However, freshman quarterback Dylan Raiola just missed a touchdown pass to junior tight end Luke Lindenmeyer in the endzone and Nebraska was forced to rely on a backup kicker. Freshman John Hohl lined up for a 39-yard field goal to take the lead over Illinois and missed the potential game-winner. The Blackshirts managed to stop the Illini in regulation to force overtime but Illinois dominated the extra period and defeated the Huskers 31-24.
Nebraska has turned that loss around with two straight Big Ten conference wins against the Purdue Boilermakers and Rutgers Scarlet Knights. Now the Huskers have a bye week before heading on the road for two straight weeks.
Takeaways and standouts from the season so far
The defense has continued its success from last season
The Blackshirts have had their ups and downs this season but have been mostly successful this season. Outside of the Illinois game, the Nebraska defense has shut down opposing offenses this season, especially against Colorado, Purdue and Rutgers. Most recently against the Scarlet Knights and Boilermakers, the Blackshirts sacked opposing quarterbacks a combined nine times in the past two weeks. The Nebraska defense is ranked in the top 10 in run defense and is the only team in the entire FBS that has not allowed a rushing touchdown. It also ranks in the top 10 in scoring defense and is in the top 15 in total defense.
According to Pro Football Focus (PFF), Nebraska has the No. 16 ranked defense in the FBS, with a grade of 90.4, which is the seventh highest ranked Big Ten team. The Blackshirts’ highest defensive grade is from its pass rush, which has a rating of 83, which puts it at No. 8 in the country. Despite being ranked in the top 10 in run defense, the Huskers are ranked No. 34 in total run defense according to PFF, which is graded at 84.3. It is an interesting storyline to watch for the remainder of the season, with many of the remaining opponents on the better half of rushing offenses in the FBS.
Defensive Impact Players so far
Senior linebacker John Bullock:
33 total tackles (17 solo, 16 assisted), five tackles for loss, two sacks, one interception, one touchdown, four pass deflections, one forced fumble
Senior defensive tackle Ty Robinson:
14 total tackles (Nine solo, four assisted), Six tackles for loss, four sacks
Junior defensive back Ceyair Wright:
16 total tackles (12 solo, four assisted), one sack, one TFL, one interception, one forced fumble, four pass deflections
Senior linebacker MJ Sherman:
14 total tackles (nine solo, five assisted), three tackles for loss, three sacks
Offense is much improved from 2023
The Nebraska offense was a disaster in 2023. It went through the quarterback carousel, going through three different starting quarterbacks. There was the Jeff Sims experiment through the first two weeks and that went unexpectedly bad. Then junior quarterback Heinrich Haarberg was an eight-game starter, which went alright you could say, but turnovers were a problem. Then, in the final two weeks, Chubba Purdy replaced an injured Haarberg and Purdy showed some hopes of finally leading the Huskers’ offense to a bowl game but that didn’t come true. Now fast forward to 2024, Nebraska has the former five-star and No. 1 quarterback in the 2024 class Dylan Raiola starting under center. Raiola has given not only some glimpses of his tremendous upside but also his high floor.
Outside of quarterback, the running game has shown glimpses of greatness and some playmakers will play a huge factor for the remainder of the season. Senior Rahmir Johnson, junior Emmett Johnson and sophomore Dante Dowdell have been the main mix of half-backs for the Huskers, with Dowdell leading the bunch in most statistical categories. From the receiving side, it has been a mix of many different receivers. The wide receiver room is led by seniors Jahmal Banks and Isaiah Neyor, who have been leading the wide receivers in all categories but have seen the emergence of freshman wide receiver Jacory Barney Jr, who has been used not only in the passing game but the run game as well. That has been seen out of junior slot receiver Janiran Bonner as well. Seniors Jahmal Banks and Isaiah Neyor have been leading the wide receivers in all categories.
The offense line has had its high points as well, with most of the high-end success coming in run blocking. According to Pro Football Focus (PFF), Nebraska’s run-blocking grade is 81.8, which ranks the Huskers in the top 50 in the category. Their pass blocking hasn’t been top tier but has done a good job at keeping Raiola upright for most of the season. PFF’s grade for Nebraska’s pass blocking so far this season is 67.4, which is ranked in the top 80, tied at No. 77 with the Pittsburgh Panthers.
Offensive impact players so far
Freshman quarterback Dylan Raiola:
113/169 passes, 1,358 yards, nine touchdowns, three interceptions
Sophomore running back Dante Dowdell:
74 carries, 334 yards, 4.5 yards per carry, five touchdowns
Senior wide receiver Isaiah Neyor:
17 receptions, 291 yards, 17.1 yards per reception, four touchdowns
Freshman wide receiver Jacory Barney Jr:
19 catches, 149 yards, 7.8 yards per reception, seven carries, 104 yards, 14.9 yards per carry, two touchdowns (rushing)
Special teams woes
One of the main things that has cursed Nebraska in 2024 has been its special teams. It has been a mix of everything that could go wrong this season. It includes everything from field goals, punting, return game, long snapping, etc. The Huskers are a disappointing 4/9 on field goals this season, with sophomore kicker Tristan Alvano making 3/4 field goals and freshman Hohl making only one out of five field goals. Hohl has been the starting kicker for the past few weeks due to Alvano being on the injured list for some time. Granted, two of Hohl’s kicks were blocked in the Purdue game, but most were due to errors on the long snapper.
Punting has been hit or miss so far this season. It has been better than last season with senior punter Brian Buschini averaging 47.6 yards per punt on 18 total punts. This is the best punt-yard average for Buschini since he’s been in Lincoln. He had his best game this season just this past week against Rutgers. Despite getting two punts blocked, Buschini punted five times for 251 yards for an average of 50.2 yards per punt, including a 69-yard punt that played a key role in the Huskers’ win against the Scarlet Knights.
Despite the good moments from the punt game, Nebraska’s special teams will need to improve in the remaining six games this season if it wants to have an overall success.
What’s next?
Week 7: Bye Week
Week 8: @ No. 18 Indiana Hoosiers, Saturday, Oct. 19
Week 9: @ No. 2 Ohio State Buckeyes, Saturday, Oct. 26
Week 10: UCLA Bruins, Saturday, Nov. 2
Week 11: Bye Week
Week 12: @ USC Trojans, Saturday, Nov. 16
Week 13: Wisconsin Badgers, Saturday, Nov. 23
Week 14: @ Iowa Hawkeyes, Friday, Nov. 29
The No. 18 Indiana Hoosiers are next for Nebraska. Hoosiers coach Curt Cignetti is in his first season in Bloomington and is already 6-0 and has its highest ranking since being ranked No. 17 in the 2021 preseason AP Poll. It is also the first time Indiana is 6-0 since 1967. Even after facing the Hoosiers, the Huskers have to go on the road to the “Horseshoe” to take on the No. 2 Ohio State Buckeyes. The Buckeyes are taking on the No. 3 Oregon Ducks on Saturday, Oct. 12 and will be coming off a bye week before facing Nebraska. The Huskers won’t return home until the first week in November when they face off against the UCLA Bruins for the first time in the Big Ten before heading on a second bye week.
Nebraska’s return off the bye week with three crucial matchups at the USC Trojans, home against the Wisconsin Badgers and close out the regular season at the Iowa Hawkeyes on Black Friday. The Huskers have plenty of chances of not only becoming bowl-eligible but also pushing for eight or nine wins.
These next three weeks are detrimental to Nebraska’s success for the remainder of the season. If the Huskers can manage a 2-1 record (wins at Indiana and against UCLA, loss at Ohio State), they will be in a good spot going into the final three weeks.
Main Image: © Dylan Widger-Imagn Images
