Nebraska Cornhuskers 2023 College Football Preview
July 23, 2023
2022 Recap
Record – 4-8
ATS – 5-6-1
“Here we go again. Again.” <Tugg Speedman> <Scorcher VI – Global Meltdown>
CORN delivered as usual and bumbled and stumbled their way to another losing season. Hopes were high heading into the campaign but they SHAT the bed on the trip to Ireland to open the year and it was all downhill from there. They only managed to beat three pieces of trash along the way until the final week of the regular season when they SHOCKED the WORLD and took down mighty Iowa on the road. That loss kicked the Hawkeyes out of the Big Ten Championship Game so at least the Huskers got to play spoiler.
BEEFCAKE OF THE YEAR AWARD winner every year from 2003-2021 ** Scott Frost has finally been dismissed and it’ll be up to new HC Matt Rhule to get this formerly great program on the right track. Let’s goooo!
** needs fact check
Nebraska Cornhuskers 2023 Outlook
OFFENSE
Ya, it was an abomination of sorts LY as Nebraska finished #10 in the Big Ten in rushing offense and #6 with the THROW GAME. QB Casey Thompson was a yuuuge disappointment (17-10 TD to INT) and CORN NATION will look to Georgia Tech transfer Jeff Sims to lead the offense. Sims has excellent mobility but is a bit “erratic” throwing the football (career 30-23 TD to INT). The RB room features excellent depth and returns #1 rusher Anthony Grant to the mix (915, 6 TD LY). Losing #1 WR Trey Palmer definitely stings (1,043, 14.7, 9 TD) but CORN did a fine job via the transfer portal in scooping up Virginia’s reliable WR Billy Kemp as well as a 7-TOOL (but an underachiever with potential social issues) TE in Arik Gilbert from Georgia (!). The OL looks decent and they return over 100 career starts. This doesn’t appear to be an “explosive” offense to say the least but they’ll be more effective than LY’s horrid unit.
DEFENSE
CORN played mediocre defense LY and they were particularly smelly vs the run (#189 YPG, 2nd worst Big Ten). We feel pretty good heading into this season as the Huskers retain eight starters including four of their top-five tacklers. The LB unit looks solid with the return of #1 tackler Luke Reimer and other talented bodies. The secondary returns four (!) starters including their excellent CB Quinton Newsome (10 PBU) but we’re not sold with a DL that appears to lack PENETRATORS. The good news is that the starting interior doods have good size. Overall, we expect improvement on defense but hope that they can find a way to get more pressure on the QB (21, 20 sacks L2Y).
SPECIAL TEAMS
It’s mostly good news as Nebraska retains their solid PK/P combination of Timmy Bleekrode (9-12 FG LY) and punter Brian Buschini (44.0). Hopefully, they can find additional spice at PR and KR.
Schedule Analysis
Overall – It’s very reasonable, yo. The non-conference schedule should be a slam dunk <crosses fingers> as they face Colorado (A), Northern Illinois (H), and Louisiana Tech (H). The Huskers miss Ohio St and Penn St from the East and get to play Michigan at home.
Potential ATS Trouble Spot – Northern Illinois (Sept 16)
Yes, they’ll win this game, but we’re not crazy about laying points after they’ve played two emotional road games to start the season. The opener is a yuuuge match-up with Minnesota and the week two assignment features an old Big 8 foe in Colorado. Please be reminded that CORN is just 18-29-1 ATS as home chalk over the L10Y.
Season Win Total
Market consensus July 23
Over 6.5 +115
Under 6.5 -145
MEGALOCKS says:
Lean: Over
You can find a flat ‘6’ out there with high juice and that’s the way we’ll roll if we decide to jump in the pool. We’ve been burned often by these guys but like the upgrade at HC and the relatively soft schedule.
MEGAmazing Tidbits
DEGENERATE NATION knows all about Matt Rhule as he’s an impossible 56-34 ATS (62.2%) (!) during his career (Temple, Baylor).
Nebraska hasn’t played in a bowl game since <checks notes> 2016!
We love the GREAT STATE OF NEBRASKA. They deserve a better performance from the Huskers.
MEGALOCKS Forecast:
Nebraska is one of a few teams in the ultra-competitive Big Ten West that we’ve got power-rated in a VERY small range. We think they’ve got the most upside of those squads based on the schedule and the guiding hand of Matt Rhule who’s a proven winner at the college level. They’ve got a lot of work to do in terms of competing at the highest level of the Big Ten but we’ll call for them to overachieve slightly this season and book seven wins. Eight wins is very unlikely, but not impossible. Good luck, Huskers!