Nebraska football: Ranking the 2018 Huskers’ opponents

The Nebraska football team has a weird tradition of playing Sun Belt conference teams. Because of that, the matchup between the Trojans and the Huskers will be the fifth.

Not surprisingly, the Cornhuskers are 4-0 in the series with the last game being a 56-0 win. We might see that kind of victory again this year.

Troy is coming off an 11-2 season but the Sun Belt team is replacing its starting quarterback (and school leading passer) and its two top rushers.

The reason we think Troy is going to be a tougher opponent than others is that there’s still quite a bit of talent there. The Trojans were 43rd in the country in scoring offense and 33rd in the nation in passing offense.

An early season matchup could be a painful one for a defense that will still be finding its way in under new coordinator Chinander. Even scarier is that Troy’s defense was really, really good as well.

The Trojans were 11th in the country in scoring defense. They were seventh against the run and 24th in total defense. Yes, playing in the Sun Belt likely helped those defensive numbers, but keep in mind Central Florida played in a weaker conference than the Big Ten and their defense was amongst the worst in the country.

If Troy wasn’t shopping for a new quarterback and a new running back, they’d likely be quite a bit higher on this list.