Nebraska Football: 3 reasons why Huskers will beat Illinois

2. Cohesion

Nebraska football got embroiled in some controversy this week as the NCAA is looking at some illegal workouts and the violation of rules that ban analysts from coaching players during practice and games.

It seems like the kind of issue that can be solved by winning games and Frost knows better than anyone that he needs to start doing that in Lincoln — or else — buyout be damned.

if Nebraska wins eight or nine games and Frost at least gets some positive momentum, then the violations will get put on the backburner.

So I expect the Huskers to have a sense of urgency. The program knows it has underachieved and there’s simply no reason Nebraska football can’t be a yearly contender in the West along with Iowa, Wisconsin, Northwestern, and Minnesota.

The first part of that process is winning games and I believe the Huskers will start doing that Saturday, in part, because they are one of the most experienced teams in the Big Ten.

Nebraska returns double-digit starters on defense and smartly addressed some key needs on offense in the portal, particularly at running back and wide receiver.

As good of a coach as Bielema is, the first year of a rebuild is generally the most difficult and Nebraska will take advantage of that Saturday afternoon.