The Nebraska football team’s schedule might be easy, but they’ll still play some of the most intriguing players in the country this season.
One of the most entertaining parts of college football is that from one year to the next, a school can play a wide variety of opponents. For Nebraska football, a schedule that’s considered easy would seem to hint that they aren’t going to see a ton of talent. It turns out even with a cupcake slate, the Huskers will still see plenty of guys that just made a list of the “most intriguing” in the country.
That list comes courtesy of SI.com and leaves off any quarterbacks who might otherwise qualify as plenty intriguing on their own. It didn’t take much scrolling of that list to run into the first player. And the Nebraska football team will be facing off against number three, Travis Hunter of Colorado. The defensive back/ wide receiver will meet the Huskers in the second game of both teams’ season.
Michigan running back Blake Corum is number five on the list, and his backup Donovan Edwards comes right behind him at sixth. Another running back the Blackshirts will try to stop this year ranks 11th on the list as Braelon Allen is going to be intriguing for no other reason than it will be interesting to see how he’s used in Wisconsin’s new air raid offense.
Cooper DeJean, the Iowa defensive back and kick returner is 13th out of the 25 players on the list. His teammate, punter Tory Taylor checks in at 25th and last. SI explains Taylor’s presence on the list thusly:
"“The Australian is the ultimate FerentzBall Hawkeye, the ideal weapon for a coach who loves nothing more than punting and playing field position. Taylor led the nation with 82 punts last season and was second in 2021 with 80. A whopping 47% of his punts have been downed inside opponents’ 20-yard-line, the kind of thing that fills Kirk Ferentz’s risk-averse heart with joy.”"
No Nebraska football players on the list
While there are six of the “most intriguing” players in the country going up against the Huskers this year, Matt Rhule’s squad doesn’t have any of its own players making the cut.
It’s possible that if the list included quarterbacks, Jeff Sims might have been able to get an honorable mention at least. After all, he’s getting some mention as a dark horse Heisman and Davey O’Brien contender.
With no Nebraska football players making this group, they’ll just have to prove SI.com wrong.