Analyst predicts Nebraska Blackshirts among best run defenses in 2024

What everyone can agree on when it comes to Nebraska football is that the sleeping giant is finally about to wake in 2024. What fans and analysts are not in agreement on is just why the sleeping giant is going to wake.

There’s been a ton of talk this offseason about how former 5-star quarterback Dylan Raiola is going to lead the Huskers to the promised land. But those people tend to forget that the blueprint for NU success has already been written and it happens to be Tony White’s defense that is going to be key.

One analyst this week made it clear that people who are forgetting the job that Tony White did in 2023 need to be reminded. The Nebraska football defense is only going to go as far as its defense carries it. The program is just also going to need the offense to chip in.

Nebraska football run defense among the best of returning squads

The Cornhuskers were one of the best defenses in the country in 2023, though that got overlooked quite a bit because of just how bad the offense was. Count Phil Steele among those who believes White’s unit is once again going to be dominant. Especially against the run.

Steele released his Top 15 rush defenses for 2024 predictions and Nebraska finished third. Noticeably, that was ahead of some of the more vaunted run defenses in the Big Ten.

In the total run defense rankings predictions, the Huskers finished behind only Utah and Penn State. They finished ahead of Iowa (5), Ohio State (7), and Michigan (11). 

Those predictions also shone a light on the fact that while offense has been the talk of the conference, thanks to the addition of USC and Oregon especially, it’s going to be defense that will help determine just how good Nebraska football can be in 2024.