Nebraska Football: 3 make-or-break games for Huskers in 2021

Nebraska football is entering the fourth year of the Scott Frost era and here are three games that will make or break the 2021 season.

For Nebraska football and head coach Scott Frost, it’s time to put up or shut up. This is year four and the Huskers haven’t so much as played in a bowl game.

Nebraska probably could have last season but going to the postseason after a 3-5 campaign is nothing to write home about.

It’s maddening that the Huskers have fallen so far from their once-lofty perch among college football’s elite. Of course, the Nebraska football that once dominated under Tom Osborne is never coming back. That era is dead and it’s about more than just the expiration of the triple-option offense.

Recruiting in the Big Ten hasn’t proven to be all that fruitful and even when the Huskers have landed talented players, they haven’t made the most of them.

And with AD Bill Moos, the man who hired and supported Frost, even offering a vote of confidence last season, retiring, the ice is thin. Very thin.

With almost the entire starting defense returning, and a multi-year starter at quarterback, Adrian Martinez, anything less than a bowl game would have to be considered a failure. And, to be honest, anything short of a winning season should be too.

Nebraska can’t be what it was when it won three national titles in four years, but it can replicate what Iowa, Northwestern, and Wisconsin have done. Heck, most of the time Nebraska out-recruits those schools anyway.

There’s no reason Nebraska can’t be a yearly contender in the Big Ten West but it starts with a step in the right direction and here are three games the Huskers need to win to take that step in 2021.