What Will it Take for Nebraska Football to Turn the Corner?

Author

TJ Birkel
November 19, 2024

T.J. Birkel

After the disappointing loss to USC, here are four questions surrounding Nebraska football as the Huskers head into a crucial contest against Wisconsin this week. 

What Will it Take for Nebraska Football to Turn the Corner? Once again, it felt like the Huskers were just a couple plays short from getting a big win against a brand name program. Once again, it felt like the other team got all the lucky bounces. Once again, Nebraska lost a one-score game. When you step back and look at it, it’s almost unfathomable what has happened to Nebraska football over the last decade. Two different fans could watch the same game, or the same season, and come up with two wildly different conclusions. You could argue the Huskers seem ever so close to getting over the hump, taking off and starting to win these close games. You could also argue it feels like Nebraska football is further away than ever. The same issues have plagued the program over multiple coaching staffs and multiple rosters over multiple seasons. What will it take for the Huskers to turn a corner? When is it going to happen? Even if they make a bowl game, fans will spend another offseason wrestling with these questions. 

Did the Offense Get Any Better? The big news during the bye week was of course Dana Holgorsen taking over as Nebraska’s offensive coordinator. There’s only so much a guy can do in two weeks, so I wasn’t expecting the offense to turn into the 1983 Scoring Explosion. But I was interested to see if Holgorsen could make any changes or add any wrinkles to help the offense. The numbers from the USC game don’t jump off the page: 310 total yards (191 passing, 119 rushing) and 13 points. By the eye test, it felt a little smoother. Dylan Raiola was getting the ball out quicker, Nebraska popped some big runs, and it looked like there were some things we hadn’t seen before (hello Janiron Bonner). Consistency is still an issue, and at some point the Huskers are just going to need to be able to outscore an opponent and not rely so heavily on their defense. We’ll see if Holgorsen can help the offense continue to improve over the final two weeks of the season. 

What Changes Will Matt Rhule Make in the Offseason? Regardless of how the 2024 season ends up, it’s fair for fans to wonder…

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