Nebraska football is used to having a difficult schedule and 2021 is no exception. The Huskers will face some really tough teams and that’s going to make it hard for Big Red to secure a winning record in Scott Frost’s fourth year.
Moving to the Big Ten hasn’t gone according to plan for Nebraska football. They’ve yet to really be a force in the conference and the schedules have been consistently tough for the Cornhuskers. Looking at this year’s schedule, the Huskers are going to have their work cut out for them once again.
Here are the five most difficult games on tap for 2021.
Nebraska Football Schedule: Most difficult games in 2021
No. 5 – Iowa Hawkeyes (Nov. 26)
For the first four years of Nebraska’s Big Ten stint, the rivalry between them and Iowa seemed like it’d be a good one. The Huskers were 3-1 in those four games but little did we know that the victory over the Hawkeyes in 2014 would be the last one. Iowa is riding a six-game win streak against Nebraska and the past three games have been close games, which makes it worse.
For whatever reason, the Hawkeyes have Nebraska’s number and they’ll go for their seventh win in a row against the Cornhuskers on the Friday after Thanksgiving. Considering the Huskers haven’t beaten Iowa since Bo Pelini was the head coach, it’s hard to really believe the streak will end.
This game is taking place in Lincoln, however, so that does tip the scape in Nebraska’s favor. Hopefully, the Huskers can end what’s been an embarrassing string of losses to the Iowa Hawkeyes.
Nebraska Football Schedule: Most difficult games in 2021
No. 4 – Northwestern Wildcats (Oct. 2)
Northwestern has been a force recently, representing the Big Ten West in the Championship Game in two of the past three years. They’ve also been a thorn in the side of the Nebraska Cornhuskers, winning three of their last four games against Big Red.
This year, Nebraska is the home team, which helps, but it’s still going to be a tough game to win. Northwestern did lose some key starters to graduation including their quarterback Payton Turner, their top tackle in Rashawn Slater, and a very good cornerback in Greg Newsome II. The Wildcats will still be tough, however.
In their last meeting, Northwestern edged out the Cornhuskers by a score of 21-13 in what was a winnable game for Nebraska. In fact, in the last three meetings with the Wildcats, it’s been a one-score victory for the winner. If the Cornhuskers can take care of the football (which is easier said than done for this group), they can beat the Wildcats, but they’ve been a tough team for Nebraska.
Nebraska Football Schedule: Most difficult games in 2021
No. 3 – at Wisconsin Badgers (Nov. 20)
Wow, I can’t wait to spend my birthday watching the Nebraska Cornhuskers get trucked by the Wisconsin Badgers once again. This has been the most lopsided “rivalry” in the Big Ten, as Wisconsin has steamrolled over the Huskers, winning every single matchup against them dating back to the Big Ten Championship Game in Dec. 2012.
The last time Nebraska beat Wisconsin, and the only time they’ve done so as a member of the Big Ten, was in Sept. 2012 when they narrowly defeated them by a score of 30-27 in Lincoln. Little did Husker fans know that that win would be the last one against the Badger fans for nearly a decade.
I dread whenever the Huskers face Wisconsin because I know what the Badgers are going to do and I know that Nebraska’s defense won’t be able to stop them. Wisconsin is a run-heavy team and they run the ball down Nebraska’s throat every year. Hey, it works for them, so why fix it if it isn’t broken?
These two teams did not face off last year due to Wisconsin’s COVID-19 issues so this will be the first meeting between the two since Nov. 16, 2019, when the Badgers won 37-21. It’s also worth mentioning that Nebraska has not beaten the Badgers in Madison since 1966, so I’m not feeling real optimistic about getting a W this year.
Nebraska Football Schedule: Most difficult games in 2021
No. 2 – at Oklahoma Sooners (Sept. 18)
If Bill Moos and Scott Frost had their way, this game wouldn’t still be on the schedule, as there were heavily reported rumors that Nebraska was trying to back out of their matchup with the Sooners. That’s only going to add fuel to the fire and when Oklahoma goes on a scoring rampage against the Huskers on Sept. 18, be prepared for the trash talking. It’s definitely going to get nasty.
When the Huskers agreed to a home-and-home with Oklahoma several years ago, the hope was that Nebraska would be back on track and this would be a highly competitive game between two hated rivals. That’s not what we’ll be seeing when the Huskers head to Norman early in the season.
I hate to be a Debbie Downer, but if Oklahoma doesn’t win by 20+ points, I’ll be stunned. This is a program that’s either in the College Football Playoff every year or they’ve just missed out on partaking. They’re so much further along than Nebraska is and this game is going to be hard to watch for Husker fans.
Nebraska Football Schedule: Most difficult games in 2021
No. 1 – Ohio State Buckeyes (Nov. 6)
Despite this game being at home, I couldn’t have a team that made it to the National Championship Game last year not be No. 1 on the list of Nebraska’s toughest opponents. Nebraska faced the Buckeyes in their first game of the shortened 2020 season and got hammered.
There was speculation at the time about getting OSU to start the year seemed like a punishment, as Frost was very vocal about the Big Ten postponing the season. He threatened to play elsewhere and the Big Ten commissioner didn’t like that, so he told Nebraska to have fun opening the year against one of the nation’s toughest teams. This is all just speculation of course, but it does seem logical.
Ohio State is going to be tough to beat, even if this game is in Lincoln. Nebraska hasn’t beaten the Buckeyes since Oct. 8, 2011, marking almost a decade since the victory. The past two games between these two teams haven’t gone well for Nebraska, as they’ve gotten demolished, but they only lost by five points in 2018.
When it comes to the toughest games on tap for the Nebraska Cornhuskers in 2021, Ohio State is easily the most difficult.