The Wildcats kick off a two-game road trip as they travel to face a former Big Ten West foe.
To continue with our weekly summer tradition, this is our eighth time previewing Northwestern Football’s 2025 Opponents. This time we look at the Nebraska Cornhuskers, a team looking to make waves in the Big Ten this season. The ‘Cats will make the trip to Lincoln in late October to play against a team that has a true path to being 7-0 by the time that day arrives.
The Basics
Returning Production: 61% overall (69% offense, 52% defense); 42nd in FBS
2024 Record: 7-6 (3-6 B1G)
Head Coach: Matt Rhule (third season)
The Stats
2025 SP+ Overall: 34th
2025 SP+ Offense: 75th
2025 SP+ Defense: 17th
2025 SP+ Special Teams: 119th
2024 Capsule
Nebraska started hot in 2024, going 5-1 to start the season with its only loss being in overtime to a ranked Illinois team. That’s when the season started to crumble right under the Cornhuskers feet and bowl eligibility became a real question. They would lose their next four (two losses were against playoff teams) until beating Wisconsin to earn the right to play in a bowl game. In Matt Rhule’s second season in Lincoln, there was definitely some good and some bad. Quarterback Dylan Raiola started the whole season as a true freshman. That showed for sure at times as Raiola only threw 13 touchdown passes to his 11 interceptions. He did throw for over 2,800 yards and completed 67.1% of his passes, but it was a season filled with growing pains.
Offensive Overview
In simple terms, Nebraska has its quarterback. After an up-and-down freshman season, Raiola is back and looking to bring Cornhusker football back to its 90s glory days. The biggest question surrounding Raiola and the rest of the offense is if they will actually perform to the levels that they’re expected to as seen on paper. It is of note that running back Emmett Johnson returns to Lincoln after rushing for over 600 yards on 5.1 yards-per-carry in 2024. Johnson’s rushing efficiency has trended upwards over the past few seasons as he looks to make his mark in 2025. Raiola should take a step up in his sophomore season, and it is of note that his Heisman Trophy odds (while still a long shot) are in the same range as players like Avery Johnson and Kevin Jennings.
The tight end group will look different after Thomas Fidone was drafted by the New York Giants in the 7th round of the 2025 NFL Draft, plus Nate Boerkircher took his talents to Texas A&M. There are no new additions at this position, just guys who have been in the program and have been developing, with Henrich Haarberg and Luke Lindenmeyer projecting to see the majority of the playing time. Now a true sophomore, Jacory Barner Jr. is the leading receiver to return for this wide receiver room after a team-high 55 receptions last season. He will continue to develop a rapport with fellow true sophomore quarterback Raiola. The other returning wide receivers didn’t see much playing time a season ago for the Cornhuskers, but they do bring in Nyziah Hunter from California who had 578 yards and five touchdowns for the Golden Bears and Kentucky’s Dane Key, who had 715 yards and caught two touchdowns with the Wildcats after two seasons of over 500 receiving yards.
The offensive line looks very solid. The big get was Alabama’s starting right tackle a season ago, Elijah Pritchett. He projects to take that role for the Cornhuskers. They also got guard Rocco Spindler from Notre Dame, who has seen a lot of playing time there due to injuries ahead of him. With Henry Lutovsky and Justin Evans back, the interior of this offensive line is a no-brainer for coach Rhule. The tackle positions, including Pritchett, still is a bit fuzzy with many possible combinations to be played around with.
Defensive Overview
Nebraska has a new defensive coordinator. John Butler in just his second year at Nebraska has been thrusted into that role after Tony White left for Florida State at the end of the 2024 season. With that comes possibly a different scheme but more importantly a new face and voice. The Cornhuskers did lose their top two defensive tackles to the NFL in Ty Robinson and Nash Hutmacher. These two were game wreckers and there isn’t much to really replace their production on the current Nebraska roster apart from some hopefuls or just running a single DT set. They did get a couple transfers at the position but still many question marks are there. At defensive end, it’s not much better. 2023 All-Big Ten Freshman Team selection James Williams, along with three others at the position, left in the portal. Cameron Lenhardt still is on the team, but there is much to be desired after a down year in his sophomore season. They do have talent on the defensive line, but it projects to be rotation-heavy.
For the linebacker room, transfers Marques Watson-Trent from Georgia Southern and Dasan McCullough from Oklahoma project to be the primary off-ball and on-ball linebackers respectively. Javin Wright is the returner who projects to play the most at this position as of now after a season with 34 tackles. The linebacker room here does have a lot of depth and players ready to get a chance though so look for a lot of rotation at this spot once again.
The defensive back squad for the Huskers had a down year in 2024 compared to 2023. It is hard to say whether the drop in pass defense efficiency is from the change away from divisions in the Big Ten or the personnel changes. Nebraska returns four key defenders, including their second, fifth, and sixth leading tacklers — DeShon Singleton, Malcolm Hartzog Jr., and Ceyair White — as well as Marques Buford Jr., who recorded five pass breakups last season. They also added former Idaho cornerback Andrew Marshall to the room to add even more. The defensive back depth on Nebraska is yet to be truly tested, though, as much of the position group is made of developmental players who barely saw the field in 2024. All in all, Nebraska’s secondary looks pretty similar to a season ago with some changes throughout the front seven.