Nebraska Football: Analyst makes case for Huskers return to power
The Nebraska football program could eventually return to power. One national analyst wants to be clear that he doesn’t buy into the idea that a program like the Cornhuskers has somehow lost the ability to climb to the top of the heap, even if they’ve spent so much time in the doldrums.
Late Kick‘s Josh Pate was asked about the teams he thinks have fallen on hard times who could correct course. On his most recent podcast, it took him no time at all to come up Nebraska football as one of the programs that could eventually see a rise back to the top of the college football world.
That doesn’t mean he thinks the Huskers are going to turn it around immediately. Nor does he think they can become the kind of dynasty they were in the Huskers heyday. But he added that he doesn’t think there’s really any team that should ever expect to do that kind of thing.
"“The thing about it is I think I disagree with the popular sentiment out there. The popular sentiment is Nebraska can never win at a high level again. I think we got to very clearly define what we mean by this. Are they going to be a dynasty in college football again? No, I don’t believe that’s possible. It’s hardly possible for anyone, so especially Nebraska. But is it possible for them to win it? Could we ever see Nebraska play for a national title? I’m not ready to say no on that.”"
Pate also mentioned some other teams that he believes could rise to the top of the college football world in the next few years. He talked about Notre Dame, Florida State and Virginia Tech all being teams that have seen struggles that could become dominant again.
But Nebraska football stuck out when talking about who he thought to find glory again. And the reason he believes the Huskers could do it is because of who they hired as a head coach.
Pate believes the Huskers went for it with the hiring of Matt Rhule. He believes the program showed that it didn’t want to settle for “just bowl eligibility.” Instead, Trev Alberts and company are aiming for winning big.
Pate feels that Nebraska football took a big swing with the former Temple and Baylor coach. Now it’s time to sit back, watch and see if the Huskers can indeed climb back to the top of the mountain.