Nebraska football will look much different this season compared to last season after losing players to graduation, and 34 players to the transfer portal, including former starting quarterback Dylan Raiola (Oregon), starting running back Emmet Johnson (Kansas City Chiefs), and leading tackler Javin Wright (Tampa Bay Buccaneers).
Offensive Preview
After posting 7-6 seasons the last two years, Cornhusker head coach Matt Rhule will look to climb the next rung of the latter this season to show the progression of his rebuild.
It remains to be seen who the main signal caller for that effort will be because the team is wrapped up in a quarterback battle between last years backup, TJ Lateef, and former UNLV quarterback Anthony Colandrea who won Mountain West player of the year last year. Last season for Nebraska, Lateef completed 74 passes for 904 yards and 5 touchdowns, while completing 60.2% of his passes as a freshman. Colandrea, on the other hand, had 275 completions for 3,459 yards, 23 touchdowns, and nine interceptions, while completing 69.9% of his total passes. Colandrea is the assumed starter by many media outlets but an official starter has not yet been named.
Isaiah Mozee and Mekhi Nelson are projected to be Nebraska’s main running backs heading into next season. Both are going into their sophomore seasons, with Mozee carrying the ball 26 times last year for 115 yards, while Nelson recorded 27 carries for 147 yards and two touchdowns. Mozee added 14 catches for 144 yards in the passing game while Nelson had 8 catches for 102 yards.
Nyziah Hunter, Kwazi Gilmer, and Jacory Barney Jr. are expected to be the teams starting wide receivers next season while Luke Lindemeyer is expected to be the starting tight end. Last season, Hunter recorded 43 catches for 617 yards and 5 touchdowns, while Barney Jr. recorded similar stats by posting 45 catches for 484 yards and 5 touchdowns. Gilmer transfers to Nebraska from UCLA where he recorded 50 catches for 535 yards and 4 touchdowns. With these three, the Cornhusker’s don’t have a true No.1 receiver, however, they have a wealth of consistent experience that could take another step next season. Lindemeyer recorded 29 catches for 312 yards and two touchdowns last season.
Defensive Preview
On defense, Nebraska returns Donovan Jones and Andrew Marshall, a pair of cornerbacks who showed good consistency last season. As a redshirt freshman, Jones recorded 59 tackles, 5 passes defended and one interception while Marshall recorded 45 tackles, three passes defended, and one interception. They also have some promising talent on the defensive line, as redshirt sophomore EDGE Williams Nwaneri recorded 27 tackles and 2.5 sacks, which was the second most on the team.
Both Nebraska and Rutgers seem to be two teams undergoing a transition in terms of talent heading into next season, but they don’t seem that far off from one another. The Scarlet Knights might have a little more flash to their roster with Antwan Raymond and KJ Duff but the Cornhuskers seem to be at least serviceable all around. Since Nebraska has always had Rutgers’ number in the past, and has been the better team historically overall, it would not be surprising if they enter this game as slight favorites to win if the teams have the same record heading into gameweek.
