Hey Husker Family! This is part 2 of my 2023 season predictions. I saw a post the other day with our record predictions and was surprised that the consensus was between 4-7 wins amongst Husker fans. I reached out to our opponents’ subreddit and asked them 4 questions for next year: QB, Returning Experience, Trust in coach and fan attitudes, and who will win the game. Based on those responses I gave game by game predictions. Feel free to read these with Kool-Aid tinted glasses, this is the optimistic scenario.
Northwestern
The only response I received: “Bold of you to think we care about football”. I posted on the University subreddit because I couldn’t find a sports specific one.
Star left tackle Skoronski looks to be a top ten pick in the draft this year. Northwestern had a good recruiting class for their standards but don’t expect a lot of freshman to contribute in 2023, this is a developmental program. No reason this should be close, even the Northwestern fans will admit. Huskers W
Purdue
A program going through a ton of change as well. They hired the Illinois defensive coordinator as head coach after Brohm left for Louisville. Superior resources and $$ (Louisville) mean they will be picked clean of remaining talent; not that much is available. Aidan O’Connell has graduated, as well as most of the offensive talent. Defense will be staunch, but too early to think they will be at full strength in year 1. Huskers by 10, this is getting spicy.
Michigan State
This is the best matchup of the year in my opinion. Coming off a really disappointing and embarrassing season, you can bet Sparty will be FIRED UP for this one. This is a sneaky game of the year candidate. QB1 was shitty but returning, seems like he’ll be battling a freshman for the job which is good news. Coming off a 5 win season there are familiar coping terms like “another offseason of development should help”. Very solid recruiting class coming in and Coach Tucker builds in the trenches. If I’m being reasonable this will be tough, but I’m close to a Kool-Aid blackout at this point so Huskers get the win on the road.
Maryland
Taulia Tagovailoa is a record setting QB that may or may not return this coming season. If he leaves it looks very dark for them. Fans say they are losing tons of depth on both lines, as well as offensive skill positions. Fans are split on liking the coach or wanting him fired. Looks pretty grim on the east coast, Huskers win by double digits.
Wisconsin
Wisconsin had an auto moderator that removed my post, haven’t heard back on how I can be approved. Classic Wisconsin.
Luke Fickell is one of the best coaches in the country, I believe the Badgers are the team to beat for the next 5 years from what we call the “west division”. Their previous coach was a fat baby boomer who didn’t believe in recruiting; yet they still beat us every year. Fickell hired the offensive coordinator from North Carolina that made a true freshman look like Jesus mixed with Aaron Rodgers. They have a big time recruit coming in the portal from Oklahoma who could be their best QB since Russell Wilson. Financial commitment, as well as excitement in the program, lead me to think Wisconsin is a top 15 team next year. Huskers leave Madison with their second loss of the season, if we aren’t careful this could be a blowout.
Iowa
What a depressing site, you love to see it. Fans are aghast at the decision to keep Brian Ferentz as OC, the AD is also despised by the fan base. It also seems like this program is on the brink of collapse. Kirk Ferentz has a 10 quadrillion dollar buyout so he will be back. Talent has been leaking out of the program through the portal for a few years, and the WR room will be barren. It’s amazing they are more pessimistic at skill position for next year considering how this year went. Cade McNamara is coming from Michigan, he will be their best QB in decades possibly. I like Iowa to bounce back with a solid 7 win season. Unfortunately, none of those wins will come against us. Huskers take the momentum of a home game to potentially get us double digit wins and steal one at the last second. W for Big Red.
Final Thoughts: Outside of Michigan and Wisconsin, possibly Sparty in East Lansing, I think Nebraska will be the betting favorite in every game next season. (Unless Iowa really comes together)
It does seem hard to believe there is reason for optimism based on literally my whole life (born in late 1997), as well as the history of Matt Rhule needing a reset year one in each of the last two rebuilds. I think this may be a red herring. Rhule inherited a shitshow at Temple, following a disastrous exit by Addazio and a 4-7 record followed by an exodus of talent. Rhule not only inherited a shitshow, they were also moving into a much tougher AAC. This conference includes: Cincinnati, Tulane, Memphis, Tulsa etc. In just his second year he brought the second best recruiting class to TEMPLE, which started the unprecedented 10 win seasons, including beating Penn State for the first time in history.
Baylor was even worse. Art Bryles, though successful, covered up/obstructed/enabled multiple players to continue playing on his team after credible sources let him know of the sexual assault. This was an international scandal that led to a burn it to the ground rebuild. The mess he inherited here is almost unprecedented. As we know he went on to a Big 12 championship appearance with Baylor and was producing 1st round draft picks from unheralded 3 stars he developed.
In his early tenure at Nebraska he has had big time in-state recruiting wins, as well as exciting raw athletes from Texas, Florida, and New Jersey being brought in. These are long term things you love to see, though they won’t show on the field next year. I think his transfer portal work has been incredible; strengthening the QB room, O-Line, D-Line, and Secondary. He also brought in a high upside football mind in Tony White to shore up the defense which I love.
3 tiered record prediction:
1. Pessimistic: 6-6 we take care of the easy wins but fall short in some close calls
2. True prediction: 8-4 obvious losses to Michigan, Wisconsin, Michigan State, as well as dropping one to an upstart Colorado
3. Kool-Aid: 10-2 with a heartbreaker against Wisconsin just barely keeping us out of the Big 10 championship game.
What do you guys think? Let me know in the comments
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