Nebraska Football: The Tone of the Season Starts This Week

Nebraska last year started off 0-2, with a gut-wrenching blown lead to Minnesota and then a much worse blowout loss to Colorado, which was seen as the more unforgivable one. Two weeks later, the Huskers were back to .500 despite being able to throw a forward pass with Iowa-esque efficiency. September ended with a beatdown by the eventual National Cheating Champion in Michigan. The Huskers proceeded to go undefeated in October, then straight back to the Scott Frost era by losing every game in November by one score.

The opening 2 games set the tone for the season but didn’t set all of it. Yes, it was ultimately frustrating while showing hints of progress. The team looked better than it had but ran into the “same mistakes different game” horror show. It gave us the opportunity to see multiple young guys grow up before our eyes. It gave us many opportunities to hope that bowl eligibility wasn’t far away anymore. In the end, well it just pissed us off.

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This year is already far different. It carries a much stronger, sterner and confident tone. Mikai Gbayor knows what last year was all about. He played in the Colorado game last year, recording 6 tackles, including 1 for loss on the day. He knows the importance of setting the tone early into a season. Don’t believe me? Look at what he said about when Colorado comes to Lincoln on Saturday.

Many Husker fans will look at this and be ready to go for what will be an already electric atmosphere. Gbayor is telling Husker fans that this year is different, and they are willing to prove why. But look at the end of the quote, that seems to suggest a challenge for ANYONE coming to Memorial Stadium from here on out. He’s calling out Colorado, Northern Iowa, Illinois, Rutgers, UCLA and Wisconsin. He knows the importance of setting the tone early for the season, but needing to keep resetting it as the season progresses.

The handling of UTEP was a step in the correct direction, one of knowing how to take care of an overmatched opponent. Last year, it was a bit of a struggle. Even in the blowout win over Purdue last year it was littered with mistakes. After last week, this tone felt different. Only one turnover, which eventually led to a safety by the Blackshirts, and 3 penalties for 35 yards were committed. That’s a massive upgrade from any game last season.

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Colorado is going to be the toughest opponent in the opening 7 games in my opinion. For all the crap we talk about Shedeur, he will be the best QB we see all season. Mix in Travis Hunter and Jimmy Horn Jr. and the Buffaloes offense is explosive. It is important that the Huskers set the tone in this game, as it could be telling just how far it can go this season. Despite its 0-2 start last year, the Huskers did a lot of damage in the middle portion of the season. If the Huskers can beat Colorado this Saturday, the tone immediately changes to just how long they can ride this wave.

Make no mistake, Nebraska could beat Colorado, feel good about themselves and promptly lay an egg or two in the following 5 weeks. It was just as easy to roll over and call it a season after 2 games last year, but the tone was reset, and improvement was made. This team wants the entire conference to be put on notice, one game at a time. I love that. It tells me that this team is focused on the task at hand, not looking ahead to anyone down the road. Set the tone, week in and week out. The season will have ebbs and flows, but this week will tell you more about the season than any other.