On January 8th I posted my “way too early” schedule ranking in which I ranked the strength of each opponent on Nebraska’s schedule. Now that everyone has gone through spring ball and the transfer market has mostly played out, I am changing my rankings. This was my schedule rank on January 8th.
1) Ohio St
2) AT Minnesota
3) Iowa
4) Wisconsin
5) Northwestern
6) AT Purdue
7) N. Illinois
8) AT Maryland
9) Indiana
10) AT Colorado
11) AT Illinois
12 S. Alabama
Here are my updated rankings with some qualifying notes:
1) Ohio St
2) AT Minnesota
3) Iowa
4) Wisconsin
5) Northwestern
6) AT Purdue
7) N. Illinois
8) AT Maryland
9) Indiana
10) AT Colorado
11) AT Illinois
12 S. Alabama
Here are my updated rankings with some qualifying notes:
1 | Ohio St | Game 5 | After watching the Buckeye’s spring game, I’m not convinced Justin Fields is a great QB… yet. A lot of his throws were wild but the guy is fast and his legs will present problems for Nebraska’s D. There are other holes to fill on the offense but their D is stacked with a lot of talented depth. If Nebraska is 4-0 coming into this game, the hype will be off the charts. |
2 | AT Minnesota | Game 7 | This game will be much tougher than most people realize. Return 17 of 22 starters. They figured out their defensive issues so the only possible problem could be a QB controversy. This will be Nebraska’s 7th straight game without a bye. It wouldn’t surprise me if Minnesota was undefeated coming into this game. |
3 | Iowa | Game 12 | A short week after playing Maryland on the road. Iowa is a psychological hurdle for this team. Although Iowa lost 7 guys from the defense, they should still be a tough unit. They return all of their skill players minus the TEs. Ferentz knows how to game-plan for Nebraska and if he opens up his offense and they get loose, Nate Stanley (QB) can cause problems. |
4 | Wisconsin | Game 10 | Wisconsin will be playing Iowa while Nebraska gets a bye before this game. Badgers need to replace 4 OL and a QB but that should be figured out by the time they roll into Lincoln. They return a LOT of depth on defense. Like Iowa, this is another psychological hurdle for Nebraska. |
5 | Northwestern | Game 6 | Northwestern lost a lot of players on both sides of the ball but return a solid core of guys at the skill positions. The biggest shoes to fill will be QB Hunter Johnson (5-star Clemson transfer). Fitzgerald’s teams are always scrappy. |
6 | AT Purdue | Game 9 | Purdue will need to rely heavily on their D as 10 starters and a lot of depth return. The O lost a lot and the health of QB (Sindelar) will be a huge, so finding 4 replacements at OL will be important. |
7 | AT Maryland | Game 11 | By the time this game rolls around, we will know plenty about Maryland. They lose a ton of guys on both sides of the ball but they have some fairly talented and athletic players on the roster. The new head coach (Locksley) and OC (Montgomery) are former Saban/Alabama offensive coordinators and will bring a similar style of Alabama offense. This could be a trap game for Nebraska if they're not focused. |
8 | Indiana | Game 8 | Nebraska has a bye-week before this game which is why it is ranked at #8. But the game worries me a little bit. Indiana returns a lot of depth on both sides of the ball. |
9 | AT Colorado | Game 2 | The new head coach (Tucker) will have his work cut out for him. Colorado loses a lot of depth on D and the new DC (Summers) is a peculiar choice. The new OC (J. Johnson) employs a run-heavy scheme and employs a lot of Pistol which will be interesting since he has no RBs with experience on the roster. |
10 | N. Illinois | Game 3 | Another team that returns a lot of depth on both sides of the ball. I was really high on N. Illinois but then I watched UAB dominate them in the bowl game and I started to smile. Nebraska’s O "should" rip this team to shreds. |
11 | AT Illinois | Game 4 | Illinois has a lot of holes on offense – most notably – QB. The D returns a lot of depth but this team is missing something between its ears. |
12 | S. Alabama | Game 1 | USA is a bad team and THEN lost at least 10 guys to transfer. Lots of holes on D as only 5 starters return. Some good skill players dot the offense but there is uncertainty at QB. I expect Cephus Johnson to be named the starter. A tall and athletic kid will be a good early test for Nebraska's D. This is an excellent opening game to build some confidence and get a lot of PT for the roster. |