How many wins for Nebraska football? Amie Just’s mailbag

Welcome back to the Just Askin’ mailbag.

The premise is straightforward. You ask me some questions — or vent your frustrations — about Nebraska Athletics. Any sport. I attempt to answer them.

If you want your question included in the next edition of the mailbag, find me on Twitter/X at @Amie_Just, Threads/Instagram at @_amiejust or email me at ajust@journalstar.com.

Predictions for the back half of the football schedule? — X user @TwinTwisterDad

The back half of the schedule is going to be tougher than we originally thought. But, to be fair, I think the only person on the planet who predicted that Indiana would be 6-0 is Curt Cignetti himself.

Here’s what I think will happen, knowing that I’ll probably get some of these wrong.

* Indiana: a win, but it’s closer than we originally thought for Nebraska’s first win over a ranked team in years. Gets Nebraska to bowl eligibility for the first time since 2016. 6-1 record, likely ranked heading into Ohio State.

* Ohio State: a loss. Probably not close. 6-2 record.

* UCLA: a win, likely a decisive one at that. 7-2 record.

* USC: an absolute toss-up. If it’s the USC that showed up in the season opener against LSU, a loss. If it’s the USC that showed up against Minnesota, a win. Penciling in as a loss, but it could go either way. 7-3 record.

* Wisconsin: a win, despite Nebraska not having beaten Wisconsin in a decade. Wisconsin is struggling in the second year under Luke Fickell. 8-3 record.

* Iowa: Another game that could go either way. As it stands right now, Iowa’s Kaleb Johnson leads the league in rushing yards. He’ll be tough to stop. But Nebraska’s run defense has already faced Rutgers’ Kyle Monangai, the league’s second-best rusher, and had minimal issues with him. Penciling in as a win, knowing many things can change between now and then. 9-3 record.

Now, which bowl game will Nebraska play in? That’s anyone’s guess.

CBS Sports is projecting Nebraska to play Kentucky in the Music City Bowl in Nashville on Dec. 30.

Action Network is projecting Nebraska to play Kentucky in the ReliaQuest Bowl in Tampa on Dec. 31.

ESPN’s Mark Schlabach has Nebraska playing Texas A&M in the Cheez-It Citrus Bowl in Orlando on Dec. 31.

ESPN’s Kyle Bonagura has Nebraska playing Duke in the Duke’s Mayo Bowl in Charlotte on Jan. 3.

If I had to project right now, I like the Cheez-It Citrus Bowl for Nebraska, but, of course, anything can happen.

Who replaces Tony White? — Darrin S.

This is likely assuming that defensive coordinator Tony White gets a head coaching job somewhere in this next cycle. It’s a definite possibility, considering his name was in the ring for several jobs this last offseason.

There aren’t any major jobs technically open yet, but there will be some soon. Baylor’s Dave Aranda is on the hot seat. But would Baylor hire another defensive-minded coach after Aranda? That’s unclear.

There are several routes that Matt Rhule could go here.

Does he opt to promote from within? If that’s the case, I’d imagine his pick would be defensive backs coach John Butler. Does Rhule run it back with Phil Snow, a former defensive coordinator of his? Does he pluck a rising star from somewhere else?

How many games has Riley Van Poppel played in? Is he still redshirting? — Steve M.

The plan still is for RVP to redshirt. He’s played in three games, so he has one regular-season game left before he burns the redshirt.

He’s appeared vs. Rutgers, Colorado and UTEP, recording one tackle vs. the Scarlet Knights.

If I had to guess, I’d use him against Wisconsin or Iowa.

Is Malachi Coleman not redshirting? — X user @edreas

No, the plan for him is to redshirt. He has only played in one game this season, making his debut against Rutgers. He nearly blocked a punt and didn’t record any other statistics.