No Nebraska football players on Maxwell list shows Huskers have work to do

Not even Stanley Morgan could crack the list as a representative of the Nebraska football team.

The Maxwell Award watch list was announced on Monday morning and not a single Nebraska football player made it. That includes what many consider one of the best wide receivers in the college game heading into this season.

While award watch list season is always something to be taken with a grain of salt, no Husker making the list does seem to double down on something we’ve all felt for a while now.

The Cornhuskers simply aren’t part of the national conversation anymore.

The arrival of Scott Frost has helped move Nebraska back to the forefront to some degree, but the hiring of a new coach can only do so much. The team needs to show they’re deserving of national prominence on the field.

Coming off a 4-8 season, it’s not hard to wave away the lack of inclusion as a byproduct of a losing season. To some degree that even seems accurate, since there are almost no players from losing teams on the list.

There is one however. Ball State running back James Gilbert is being considered for the Maxwell award. The Cardinals went 2-10, in the MAC.

Syracuse quarterback Eric Dungey is on the list too. The Orangemen went 4-8 a year ago as well.

“Well, those guys probably had phenomenal numbers on those bad teams then,” might be your reaction. Gilbert had 207 yards rushing last season.

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I’ll admit, I’m not being entirely fair as the Maxwell award committee was clearly looking at Gilbert’s season before last, when he ran for over 1,300 yards. He appeared in just three games last year before being injured.

My point remains. This list is not the end-all and be-all. It can change over the course of the season.

Despite that, the people who have cast their ballots for the best players in the country entering the 2018 season don’t believe a single Nebraska football player belongs on that list.

Not Stanley Morgan, who caught 61 passes for 986 yards and 10 TDs for a 4-8 team. Not JD Spielman who caught 55 passes for 830 yards as a freshman. Not Tre Bryant, who had more yards in less games than Gilbert.

All three of those guys are going to be in an offense that was the best in college football a year ago. All three of those guys have shown they can pile up the numbers for a team that was going nowhere.

Logic should hold that at least one of them will have a much better 2018. And yet none of them are considered even longshot contenders, not one of roughly 80 players that were named as possibilities for the Maxwell award.

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The Nebraska football team has a lot of work to do if it wants to win games this season. It also has a lot of work to do to make itself a name that is respected around the country once more.