Nebraska football: Realistic post-spring expectations for 2023

Nebraska football has been trending in the wrong direction for years. Following the firing of Bo Pelini who never had fewer than nine wins nor more than 10, the program decided to hire Mike Riley which was a real head-scratcher of a move.

They then moved on and brought back “hometown hero” Scott Frost to lead the program after he led the UCF Knights to a self-proclaimed national title season.

Frost struggled and found his way out after the 2022 season and Nebraska went out and got Matt Rhule from the NFL. He was previously at Baylor before the NFL and helped turn the Bears back into a winning program.

After Rhule wrapped up his first spring with the Cornhuskers, fans now have a better idea of what to expect in 2023. Will we finally see a winning season in Lincoln?

Nebraska brings in Georgia Tech quarterback transfer Jeff Sims to lead the passing game and guys like Josh Fleeks, Billy Kemp, and Arik Gilbert to help him out. They also return Marcus Washington and have a number of talented incoming freshmen. Anthony Grant is back to lead the run game after nearly breaking 1,000 yards in 2022.

On defense, I think Rhule will engineer plenty of improvement. The Cornhuskers had a below average scoring defense and they allowed nearly 415 yards per game. That has to improve.

Realistic post-spring expectations for Nebraska football

I can see the offense being much more effective under Rhule with Sims at quarterback, Grant back at running back, and the receiving corps and tight ends improving.

Looking at the schedule, the sure wins for Nebraska would have to be NIU, Louisiana Tech, Northwestern, and Purdue. That should give the Cornhuskers four wins right there with a chance to break last season’s total against teams like Colorado (likely), Minnesota, Illinois, Michigan State, Maryland, Wisconsin, and Iowa. The only sure loss I see on the schedule is Michigan.

I think a realistic record for this team with Sims leading the way would have to be 7-5. They can beat Colorado, Iowa, and Maryland and have a shot against Illinois, Minnesota, Michigan State, and Wisconsin.

Fans would be ecstatic about seven wins and the schedule sets up nicely for that.