Nebraska vs. Illinois: Nebraska football is trending in the right direction ahead of Friday’s game

Nebraska has a crunch game under the lights of Memorial Stadium against Big Ten foe Illinois, which will go a long way to seeing how good this Nebraska team is. That being said, one has to take a step back to get the 1000-mile view of the program and analyze how healthy it is.

Matt Rhule is a CEO-type leader with natural speaking ability and charm that comes across so well in the media. College football is in flux at the moment and no one can claim they have a crystal ball of what it may look like next season, let alone in 5 years.

Get old and stay old.

This has been a saying repeated for years at Nebraska, but no coach has replicated it. The talent level has been so thin at crucial positions that the previous coaching staff had to play freshmen in key games. Look no further than the wide receiver and offensive line. The revolving door at wide receiver has been something to behold with quarterbacks having limited options when slinging the pigskin.

The offensive line has been even worse with players like Bryce Benhart and Turner Corcoran suffering from being thrust into the position far too early. This week’s news that players like Malachi Coleman and Riley Van Poppel will redshirt this season should be music to any fan’s ears.

To have long-term success, this has to become the norm outside of freshmen phenoms like Barney, Raiola, and Nelson playing early.

Follow the money.

Like it or not the game is all about the rich getting richer and the poor playing on Peacock. Nebraska has NIL money, which means it is in the mix with big-time recruits like Michael Terry III, Dawson Merritt, and Cortex Mills, who honestly would not answer Matt Rhule’s calls without NIL.

To build a roster, one must have the backing of NIL to keep up with the likes of Ohio State and Oregon. The Nebraska facilities are top notch and this will continue to keep them in the conversation with any recruit who visits.

Drama. What drama?

As much as I have a Deon Sanders addiction to his crazy antics and what ridiculous story breaks next, I would never want him as our head coach. The stability around Matt Rhule’s program means that the main thing is the main thing and that is football and development.

Nothing derails a locker room quicker than having to worry about scandal in the media. This team looks like all business, with football being the focus and the clean football on the field is evidence of that.

It is a great time to be a Nebraska fan and if the wins keep piling up, the sky is the limit for this hibernating blue blood to get back onto the national stage. Rhule has a long runway in terms of his contract and outside of the Penn State job becoming open, he looks set to be in the scarlet and cream for years to come.