HuskerMax Season Sim: Nebraska Sweeps October Finish, Enters National Rankings

Our HuskerMax season simulation of Nebraska's 2025 campaign rolls on this week with what we're dubbing the "October Finish."

It's a stretch of games this season where Nebraska will likely be favored to win in each of them in real life, and after a hot start to the season, virtually through EA Sports College Football 26, the door is open for Nebraska to really make some noise.

For the first time all season, Nebraska plays its first true road game—an October 11 road test at Maryland. Before we dive into the simulation, go ahead and soak that stat in. Nebraska's first true road game isn't until game six halfway through the regular season. If the Huskers take care of business at home to start the year, they could be in business for a magical run.

In the virtual rendition of Nebraska's 2025 football season, Nebraska can officially check off the goal many fans may have of the team heading into the year, which is for them to earn a national ranking. After improving to 4-1 on the year with a win over Michigan State, the game decided to slide Nebraska into the top-25 polls at No. 23.

The big question is if Nebraska can avoid falling victim to a dud of a performance for their first true road test. Early on, things looked good as on the opening drive of the game, Raiola connected with tight end Mac Markway for the short score to make it 7-0 in favor of the Big Red. Like we've mentioned in previous sims, these were recorded prior to the Markway injury in real life, so please keep that in mind.

After going back and forth for awhile, Nebraska found itself in a good spot to pad its lead. Facing a 3rd-and-goal from the Maryland 21-yard-line, and that didn't seem to be an issue for Raiola, who found Jacory Barney Jr. in a short comeback route, putting the Huskers up 14-0.

It's now 14-3 Nebraska in the 2nd quarter, and the Terrapin defense still didn't have an answer for Raiola's arm. Wide receiver Dane Key broke loose down the left sideline and Raiola connected with him for a 63-yard touchdown. Nebraska hops out to a commanding 21-3 lead.

Coming out of the half, Nebraska's now up 24-9, but facing a 3rd and long play. Raiola decides to uncork yet another long ball. This time, it's to the tune of a 66-yard touchdown heave to Jacory Barney Jr. who sprints away from his defenders. The huge score puts Nebraska up 31-9 at that piont.

While it's always fun to see the scoring plays behind a big win, it's also important to show the reason Maryland is still stuck on just 9 points coming to the end of the 3rd quarter. Strongside linebacker Dasan McCullogh shoots through for a big sack to put Maryland on its heels.

The defensive effort then transitioned to more points for Nebraska. From just six yards out, Raiola connected with star wide receiver Dane Key for the touchdown—make it 38-9 Nebraska.

It's now 41-9 Huskers, and they wanted to add some salt into the wound at the halfway point of the fourth quarter. Dylan Raiola wanted to get in on the fun, calling his own number for yet another Nebraksa touchdown.

The Huskers go on to win easily, 48-16 over Maryland for the team's first true road win. Nebraska improves to 5-1 on the year, with 567 yards of total offense. Unsurprisingly, most of it came through the air as Raiola threw for 483 yards and five touchdowns in the win.

As we all remember, it was the five-win mark last season that Nebraska sat on for quite some time before finally breaking through for the bowl-clinching sixth win over Wisconsin in Lincoln. In 2025, these virtual Huskers have the chance to get the job done just seven games into the year with a road test at Minnesota.

PJ Fleck and the Golden Gophers have always been a sore spot for Nebraska. On multiple occasions, Nebraska's squared off with Minnesota while being favored to leave with the W, only to have Minnesota upset the 'Skers both at home and away.

When it comes to the EA Sports College Football 26 showdown between these two programs, it's now 18th-ranked Nebraska who gets on the board first. Raiola finds quarterback turned tight end Heinrich Haarberg for the game's first touchdown.

Nearing the end of the first quarter, it's still 7-0 Nebraska, and Raiola offered up a rare mistake. He chucked the deep ball...right to Minnesota's Koi Perich. At least from the replay, it was as almost as if Raiola simply didn't see Perich on the back end.

Now a 7-3 game in favor of Nebraska in the 2nd quarter, but here comes Minnesota. Golden Gopher quarterback Drake Lindsey hits Drew Biber for the short score. The touchdown puts Minnesota up 10-7. Could another dud against Minnesota be on the horizon?

The short answer...no. With a little more than a minute to play in the first half, the Nebraska offense wakes up. Raiola airs it out deep to Dane Key for a 56-yard touchdown to put the Huskers back in front 14-13.

With just a little bit of time left in the half, Minnesota was looking to get into field goal range to possibly take a lead into the halftime locker room. Instead, the worst possible thing happened to them. On 3rd and long, Lindsey gets sacked and coughs up the football! Linebacker Javin Wright scoops it up and and takes it in for an unexpected Nebraska touchdown, and it's the Huskers going into halftime with a padded lead at 21-13.

Neither team came out of halftime with a lot of fire, but with 3:43 left in the 3rd quarter, Nebraska received all of the right bounces on a Raiola fumble into the end zone. Dane Key was in the right place at the right time as he falls on the rock in the end zone for a touchdown, which puts Nebraska up 28-13.

On the ensuing Minnesota possession, disaster strikes again for the Golden Gophers. Nebraska's Elijah Jeudy shoots through for a sack, and again the ball is loose! Jeudy scoops it up and takes it in himself to put Nebraska up 35-13 late in the 3rd quarter.

The Huskers would tack on a field goal to win it by the final score of 38-13. Nebraska was a bit more stymied in this one, only putting up 368 yards of offense. Ultimately, the two defensive scores carried the day for the Huskers. The win clinches a bowl game for the Big Red, and it officially puts them into the national conversation for a potential spot in the 2025 College Football Playoff, as the national polls ranked the Huskers at No. 13 in the country ahead of their showdown against Northwestern.

Nebraska, yet again, entered the contest as favorites against the 3-4 Wildcats. A win here to close out the month of October could set Nebraska up with a seat at the big kid table come playoff selection day.

Late in the first quarter, it's just a 3-0 Nebraska lead, but Raiola shook off the early rust with a nice quick-hitting TD pass to Jacory Barney Jr. Nebraska jumps out to the 10-0 lead. What followed after was a whole lot of field goals, and we mean a lot!

With just :37 second left in the 3rd quarter, Nebraska kicker Kyle Cunahan lines up and makes his fourth field goal of the game, putting Nebraska up 19-6.

Northwestern, needing a major spark play, finally got one with 5:50 remaining in the game. Wildcat quarterback Preston Stone noticed a major breakdown in Nebraska's defense, and he exploited it. He connected with a wide open Griffin Wilde for an 82-yard touchdown (on a 4th & 3 no less!). Can Northwestern dash Nebraska's season with a major upset in Lincoln?

Nebraska went 3-and-out, giving Northwestern plenty of time to drive down and potentially take the lead, but on a 4th and one, Stone had all kinds of daylight in front of him, but he still decided to throw it, and he overthrows the receiver to give the Huskers the ball back.

Nebraska knocked a little time off the clock, but ultimately couldn't do anything with the possession, so here comes Northwestern again. With less than a minute to play, Northwestern had the true "gotta have it" play on 4th and long. Stone ended up having a receiver open inside Nebraska's 5-yard-line, but the pass is dropped and Nebraska barely survives.

It was ugly, but it was a win. Nebraska knocked off Northwestern 19-13, but only scored 9 points over the final three quarters of the game. Statistically, it looked like a great game for Nebraska, as they totaled 456 yards of offense, 336 of that through the air. However, Raiola and company only found the end zone one time, and it proved to be the difference in the ball game.

The win bumped Nebraska's ranking to No. 8 in the nation, so it's safe to say the digital Kool-Aid is officially flowing in Lincoln. Next week, we'll simulate the two games against the new California members of the Big Ten Conference, as USC will pay a visit to Lincoln before the team then goes west to take on UCLA. We'll find out if Nebraska can stay in playoff contention, so stay tuned!

More From Nebraska On SI

Stay up to date on all things Huskers by bookmarking Nebraska Cornhuskers On SI, subscribing to HuskerMax on YouTube, and visiting HuskerMax.com daily.