Nebraska Football: Buckle up because it’s a long season

Alright Nebraska football nation, I’m going to do my best to try and bring everyone back to reality and I’m also going to keep it short and sweet.  Am I an optimist?  Yes.  After this article will half the fan base think I’m living in a dreamland?  Probably.

Scott Frost’s seat is burning hot.  I’m not trying to argue that.  However, I do think that he’ll have plenty of chances to prove everyone right or wrong.  There are at least 7 games on the schedule that will look a lot like game one.  The close game blunders will either continue and this season will go down in flames or the boys from Lincoln will pull it together and rattle off a few strong wins.

Here’s what I think: Scott Frost needs 7 wins in the regular season to keep his job.  Some may not agree with that but it’s hard for me to see a world where a head coach on the hot seat more than doubles his win total from the previous year and doesn’t get a chance to keep improving.

Now, what does Coach Frost need to do for that to happen?  For starters, take care of business these next two games.  There’s no sugarcoating it.  Nebraska football should not be struggling to pull off wins at home against schools like North Dakota and Georgia Southern at this point in the Huskers’ current regime.  If the Cornhuskers lose either of those games you can disregard this entire article.

If all goes well at that point, the NU will be 2-1 with an untested Oklahoma coming to town.  With Brent Venables in his first year and new faces at key positions, who knows what the Sooners will look like in 2022.  My guess is there won’t be any major differences right off the bat.  Venables wants to establish a defense at a school where that’s been a foreign concept in recent memory.  It takes a while to build a great defense; maybe that plays to Nebraska football’s favor in an early season matchup.

Most importantly, it is my personal opinion that Nebraska has to be 4-2 at the halfway point.  That probably looks like winning the next two, a loss to Oklahoma, and wins against Indiana and Rutgers.  From then on every game is probably going to come down to the 4th quarter with the possible exceptions of Wisconsin and Michigan.  Heck, maybe they all do.  That’s the point!

Nebraska football fans need to buckle up tight

I had a friend text me after this weekend asking if I hoped Coach Frost was left in Ireland.  My response was no.  I said before the season he had to get 7 wins, I don’t care how he gets them as long as there’s a 7 in the win column at the end.  Maybe you have a different number in mind and that’s fine too.  But I think you’re making a mistake calling it a season after one game versus a Northwestern team that is notorious for bouncing back after bad years.  That was not the same Northwestern team from a year ago.

I’m excited to see what all of the new pieces that we got a glimpse of look like with a few games under their belts.  Casey Thompson may be the best passer Nebraska Football has seen in over a decade paired with athleticism at the receiver position group we haven’t seen in quite a while either.  I trust Chinander to adjust the defense as he’s proved his entire career in Lincoln.

So here’s the thing, if you’ve already called it a year and want to fill your Saturdays with something else other than Husker football go right ahead.  Or you can recognize there are 11 games left on the schedule and see how it plays out.