Why national preseason magazines are dubious about Nebraska football in 2023

Jul 23, 2023
Hope may be on the horizon, but the nation’s leading college football preview magazines aren’t overly optimistic about Nebraska’s 2023 win totals.
Season preview magazines
Published by Phil Steele, Lindy’s and Athlon Sports all project Nebraska to finish fifth in the Big Ten West. While a bowl game is still possible with that type of finish — Steele has the Huskers facing Louisville in the Pinstripe Bowl — none of the magazines project Nebraska to win more than six games.
In regards to Nebraska’s national standing, Steele and Lindy’s peg the Huskers as the nation’s No. 52 team; Athlon has Nebraska ranked at No. 55. The good news for Nebraska is that five of its opponents this season — Purdue, Colorado, Northwestern, Louisiana Tech and Northern Illinois — are ranked lower.
A key reason for those middling projections is a lack of all-conference talent that all three magazines identify. Zero Huskers make an appearance on any preseason first-team All-Big Ten lists, with only a few scattered around the second- and third-team projections.
Senior cornerback Quinton Newsome is the only Husker to make an appearance on all three magazines’ all-conference lists, coming in as a second-team pick by Lindy’s and a third-team selection for Steele and Athlon. Senior linebacker Luke Reimer is projected to land on the all-Big Ten second team, according to Athlon, while Lindy’s puts him on the third team.
Other Huskers projected for third-team honors include defensive lineman Ty Robinson, safety Myles Farmer, punter Brian Buschini and offensive lineman Bryce Benhart. In overall position group rankings, most of Nebraska’s offensive positions are ranked as average to below-average among the Big Ten, though Steele does place NU’s quarterbacks and running backs as No. 6 in the conference.
The fact that Nebraska has zero skill position players and just one offensive lineman deemed as potential all-conference players is indicative of the national perception of the Husker offense.
One year ago, Steele projected Nebraska to score 33.7 points per game under former offensive coordinator Mark Whipple’s high-powered passing attack. The Huskers wound up scoring just 22.6 points per game, but scheme changes provide some hope that NU will turn those numbers around.
Thanks to the run-heavy scheme — a fullback included — that offensive coordinator Marcus Satterfield has put into place, national experts are anticipating a more consistent effort from the Husker offense.
“This is a talented offense but we don’t know if they will click,” an opposing Big Ten assistant coach told Athlon about Nebraska. “They need a solid, proof-of-concept year with both schemes on both sides of the ball; otherwise it’s all about recruiting. They’re a sleeping giant because every other staff in the league knows what they’re building in NIL.”
While the national scribes aren’t quite sold on Nebraska’s ability to compete at a high level in 2023, they all have positive views about the direction of the program moving forward. Lindy’s ranks Matt Rhule as the top hire of the offseason alongside Wisconsin’s Luke Fickell, Athlon ranks Rhule as the fifth-best hire and Steele also has positive things to say about NU’s first-year head coach.
“Rhule was an A+ hire,” writes Steele. “While the Frost hire was a disaster, they made a great hire in Matt Rhule who quickly built and took Temple and Baylor to unexpected levels of success.”
Athlon lists Nebraska as a “program under pressure,” citing the six consecutive losing seasons the Huskers have endured. While the talent level of this Nebraska team is much higher than his previous first-year schools, national experts see the situation Rhule is inheriting and have tempered their expectations for 2023 as a result.
“Much like Rhule’s first seasons at Temple and Baylor, Nebraska might not be much to look at in 2023, but that track record suggests he should have them moving up the ranks sooner than later,” reads Athlon’s closing statement on Nebraska.