Buck(Eyes) On The 2025 Nebraska Cornhuskers

So far, the series has covered Indiana, Iowa, Maryland, and Michigan State. On to looking at the Nebraska Cornhuskers and how the 2025 season may shape up for them.

2024 Results: For the first time since the 2016 season, the Cornhuskers won enough games to go bowling. Nebraska defeated Boston College 20-15 in The 2024 Bad Boy Mowers Pinstripe Bowl to finish 7-6, prompting Nebraska head coach Matt Rhule to state, “The biggest thing is that finally they can walk off the field and say ’Hey we got it done.’…We’ll have a lot of momentum heading into the offseason.”

Next Scheduled Regular Season Game Versus Ohio State: Ohio State is scheduled to travel to Nebraska sometime during the 2026 season. No date or kickoff time has been established.

Considering how closely the games have been the last two times these teams have met (Ohio State 26, Nebraska 17 at Lincoln in 2021; Ohio State 21, Nebraska 17 in Columbus in 2024), the improvement Nebraska has been making under Matt Rhule (more on that momentarily), and how Nebraska has only defeated Ohio State one time since the Cornhuskers joined The Big Ten in 2011, this could be a highly anticipated match-up. Of course, we will have to see how Nebraska does this coming season.

Biggest Personnel Losses From 2024: Nebraska had two players selected in the 2025 NFL Draft, when Philadelphia selected DT Ty Robinson in the 4th round, while TE Thomas Fidone II was a 7th round selection by the New York Giants.

Nebraska had its share of departures via the transfer portal, with Edge players like Princewill Umanmielen (Ole Miss) and James Williams (Florida State) leaving, as well as talented WR Malachi Coleman (Minnesota) departing the program.

Biggest Personnel Gains For 2025: Here is where the Cornhuskers were able to supplement and offset their losses, as DL Williams Nwaneri, LB Dasan McCullough, WRs Dane Key and Nyziah Hunter, and OL Rocco Spindler and Elijah Pritchett joined the program. These additions, among others, were significant in the Cornhuskers as being ranked as having the second-best transfer portal class in the Big Ten, behind Oregon.

Most Challenging Portion Of The 2025 Schedule: Nebraska has a challenging October through early November slate, with six straight weeks of games before their second bye week. Looking at the games, the back to back road trips to Maryland (October 11th) and Minnesota (October 17th), would seem to be the toughest stretch. This six-week period is where Nebraska will either strengthen or weaken their bowl game destination.

Possibility Of A Big Ten Championship Game Appearance In 2025? Unlikely, but not impossible. Dana Holgorsen is the offensive coordinator for Nebraska, and has had a full offseason to work with former Buckeye commit and rising sophomore QB Dylan Raiola. Raiola had a decent freshman season (2,819 yards passing, 13 touchdowns, 11 interceptions), and Holgorsen can try to mold the offense around Raiola’s talents, with the new wide receiver additions who have arrived via the transfer portal.

Nebraska has a non-conference schedule that should have them 3-0 before they begin Big Ten play versus Michigan at home on September 20th (3:30pm ET kickoff, CBS). Considering how badly Michigan beat Nebraska the last time the Wolverines visited Lincoln (Michigan 45, Nebraska 7) in 2023, the fans should be primed for what could be a pivotal Big Ten game.

The aforementioned six-week stretch has its challenges, but it also presents opportunity for Nebraska to build positive momentum before they conclude their season on the road at Penn State (November 22nd) and versus Iowa (November 28th). If there is a Big Ten Championship Game appearance to be earned or lost, it will be known before the end of November.

Next week, we will continue our series by looking at the Northwestern Wildcats. As always, thank you for reading, and let me know what you think.