2-minute drill: Nebraska's 2024 season preview

Anybody left clinging to the notion of Nebraska as a sleeping giant? Lets face it, folks: The Cornhuskers are 24 years removed from their last conference championship, 12 years removed from their last Top-25 finish and 8 years removed from their last winning record, which coincided with the final year of the Obama administration.

As far as kids today are concerned, the Huskers are just another offensively challenged Midwestern outfit that can’t get over the hump in close games. They were 0-5 in 2023 in games decided by 7 points or less, running their record to an incredible 2-17 in one-score games over the past 3 years under 3 different head coaches.

At least one kid is still invested in restoring the glory days: True freshman QB Dylan Raiola, whose father Dominic was an All-American offensive lineman at Nebraska and whose uncle Donovan is the current o-line coach.

At various points in his recruitment, Raiola was committed to Ohio State and Georgia; his signature last December made him the first 5-star quarterback (and one of just a small handful of 5-stars at any position) to sign with Nebraska in the online rankings era.

He was effectively anointed QB1 before he set foot on campus, and wasted no time justifying the title in the spring. Huskers fans don’t need to be reminded to keep their expectations in check, but they also haven’t had a quarterback who moves the needle since they scrapped the triple option.

Huskers at a Glance…

2023 Record: 5-7 (3-6 Big Ten)
Best Player: CB/KR Tommi Hill
Best Pro Prospect: Hill
Best Addition: WR Jahmal Banks (Wake Forest)
Best Name: DB Dwight Bootle II
Tenured Vet: OL Bryce Benhart (6th year; 41 career starts at tackle)
Emerging Dude: Freshman QB Dylan Raiola

Biggest strength: A fully stocked defensive line. Last year’s front returns intact, anchored by a pair of towering vets with pro potential on the interior, Nash Hutmacher and Ty Robinson. Nebraska improved dramatically in the trenches in 2023, finishing 3rd in the Big Ten in rushing defense and 9th nationally — its best finish against the run since Ndamukong Suh was wrecking shop in 2009.

Nagging concern: Chronic turnovers. Nebraska tied for dead last nationally with 31 giveaways in ’23, and ranked next-to-last with a -17 turnover margin. Turnovers are at the top of the list of “randomness” statistics that aren’t supposed to be predictive from one season to the next — or even one game to the next — but that marked the 7th consecutive season the Huskers finished in the red while losing nearly every close call along the way. Putting the ball in the hands of a freshman QB, even a touted one, is not a reassuring step toward reversing that trend.

Looming question: Is Dylan Raiola the chosen one? Singlehandedly absolving two decades’ worth of angst is a lot to put on a teenager who wasn’t even born the last time the Cornhuskers had a quarterback worth remembering, but he’s here and there’s nowhere else for it to go.

The schedule: This slate may as well have been designed for a young team to build some early momentum before things get steeper over the back half. The first 7 games are all winnable — Nebraska could plausibly be favored in all 7 — including a high-profile visit from Colorado in Week 2 that will serve as Raiola’s national introduction against the Prime Boys. After that comes the reality check: 4 of the last 5 are against Ohio State, USC, Wisconsin and Iowa, all but 1 on the road. But if the Oct. 26 trip to Columbus feels like a big one going in, the season probably already qualifies as a solid step forward.

The upshot

But the schedule is friendly enough, the hype surrounding Raiola is loud enough, and nostalgia is a hell of a drug enough to tempt one aboard the Huskers’ bandwagon. If you squint, you can make out the outline of a breakthrough somewhere off in the distance. But then, we’ve all been down this road with Nebraska enough times by now to be wary of mirages. After 7 straight losing seasons, this is an outfit just trying to get back in the black. Beyond that, buyer beware.