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Nebraska Football opens as heavy dogs after a week of rest and reflection

When the Nebraska football team travels to LA to take on the Trojans, they'll be looking to climb a steep hill.

By Oliver Vandervoort

Kirby Lee/GettyImages
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The Nebraska football team is coming off a frustrating loss to UCLA that, after the Bruins’ upset of Iowa, doesn’t look quite as bad. However, there’s still plenty of pressure on Matt Rhule and his staff.

The pressure increased slightly on Sunday when the first lines for the Huskers’ game against the USC Trojans hit the internet. Vegas currently has NU as a pretty decent-sized underdog, considering they’re taking on a 4-5 team that could be firing its head coach at the end of the season.

Despite their struggles, Vegas believes the Nebraska football team will be hard pressed to leave LA with a victory. The Huskers are currently 8.5-point underdogs. That’s also despite the fact that Lincoln Riley is changing starters at quarterback, benching Miller Moss and instead starting UNLV transfer Jayden Maiava.

Nebraska football has to overcome the odds vs USC

It’s not exactly a surprise that the Huskers aren’t favored in this road game. After all, the offense has gotten quite a bit of attention for being mostly bad over the last few weeks. The most charitable way to describe its performance is “inconsistent.”

It’s gotten so bad that head coach Matt Rhule hired a new offensive consultant in former West Virginia and Houston head coach Dana Holgorsen. However it’s unlikely he’s going to change how the offense works completely in just a week.

Both teams are coming off a bye following disappointing losses suffered in the first weekend of November. After a strong opening, including a 27-20 win over then-rated No. 14 LSU in the season opener, USC peaked at No. 9 in the AP polls. Since falling 27-24 at Michigan on September 21, the Trojans have gone 2-4 and have lost three of their four games away from home. USC fell at Washington on November 2, 26-21, placing the Trojans at 4-5 overall and 2-5 in Big Ten play. 

Nebraska football sits at 5-4 after a 5-1 start to the 2024 campaign. Should they lose on Saturday, they’ll be 0-8 under Matt Rhule once his team reached five victories.

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