Picking Every Game on Nebraska’s Schedule (Part Two)

The Nebraska football team kicks off its season at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City in just over two weeks. The optimism among the coaching staff is palpable, and fans are frothing at the mouth for college football to begin. Can the Huskers take a leap in year three under Matt Rhule?

Yesterday we looked at the first six games on Nebraska’s schedule; today we’re tackling the rest of the 2025 slate.

at Minnesota Gophers

Friday, October 17 at Huntington Bank Stadium in Minneapolis, MN

If I was a complainer, I would point out how the Huskers have to travel halfway across the country for the Maryland game, then come home to a short week of practice with one less day of rest than normal, before heading to Minneapolis for a Friday night game. Thankfully I’m not a complainer.

Husker fans don’t even need to read a preview of Minnesota’s team in 2025. They don’t need to know who the quarterback is, how the Gophers’ offensive line is looking, or any other information specific to the team. PJ Fleck is still the head coach, which means Minnesota will do Minnesota things. They will run the ball well. They’ll keep mistakes to a minimum. They’ll hang around, waiting for Nebraska to shoot itself in the foot. In past years, the Huskers have played right into Fleck’s hands, making back-breaking mistakes and handing away winnable games.

Not this year, my friends. If the Huskers are to take Matt Rhule’s patented year 3 leap, if they are to get over the hump and start building a long term winner, this is the kind of game they need to win. Nebraska almost always has more talent than Minnesota. It’s time for the boys in red to put it all together and get out of Minneapolis with a W. I believe they will.

Prediction: WIN

Northwestern Wildcats

Saturday, October 25 at Memorial Stadium, Lincoln, NE

Nebraska and Northwestern have had some classic battles during the Huskers’ time in the Big Ten. Candidly, coming into the conference, I don’t think most Husker fans would have thought the Wildcats were a team we needed to be concerned about. But most of the time, even when Nebraska wins, it’s a rock fight.

Unfortunately for our friends from Evanston, that won’t be the case this year. The new world of the transfer portal, NIL, and revenue sharing doesn’t do Northwestern any favors. I like head coach David Braun, and he will have his squad ready to play, but Nebraska will have too many weapons and they’ll win this one comfortably.

Prediction: WIN

USC Trojans

Saturday, November 1 at Memorial Stadium, Lincoln, NE

I must admit, I was surprised to see USC not included in the preseason top 25 polls from either the associated press or the coaches. They were in the “others receiving votes” category in both; effectively 30th in the nation according to the AP and 29th according to the coaches.

In head coach Lincoln Riley’s three years at the helm up to this point, the Trojans have gone 11-3 (2022), 8-5 (2023), and 7-6 (2024). Notice a pattern? I’ve said many times on the Common Fan Podcast that Riley inherited the keys to the Cadillac when he took over Oklahoma’s program from Bob Stoops, and to his credit, he kept it running smoothly. That said, it remains to be seen whether he can build a consistent winner on his own.

With USC adding a number of key players in the transfer portal during the offseason, and Riley feeling the heat in LA, I think we’ll see the Trojans have a bounceback year. The Huskers went out to the Coliseum last fall and put up a spirited fight (and suffered some serious bad luck), ultimately losing 28-20. Unfortunately, I don’t like this matchup again in 2025. Huskers lose in a shootout.

Prediction: LOSS

at UCLA Bruins

Saturday, November 8 at Rose Bowl Stadium in Pasadena, CA

Perhaps the most frustrating game in Nebraska’s 2024 campaign came at home against UCLA. The Huskers came into the game at 5-3, needing one win to secure bowl eligibility. UCLA came in at 2-5. Did I mention the game was played in Lincoln? Nebraska came out completely flat, as the Bruins took it to them early and often. After going down 27-7 in the third quarter, the Big Red made something of a comeback attempt (even that was aided by some questionable calls in the Huskers’ favor), ultimately losing 27-20.

UCLA made some noise in the offseason, most notably adding quarterback Nico Iamaleava from a playoff caliber Tennessee team. They also replaced offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy with Tino Sunseri, who spent last season with an Indiana team that made a magical run to the playoff.

I expect the Bruins to be better this season, but not by enough. Nebraska comes into the Rose Bowl looking for vengeance, and they get it in front of tens of thousands of West Coast dwelling Husker fans.

Prediction: WIN

at Penn State Nittany Lions

Saturday, November 22 at Beaver Stadium in University Park, PA

Penn State will start the season at #2 in the AP poll and #3 in the coaches poll. This on the tail of a season where they were a college football playoff semifinalist (and absolutely should have won that semifinal game against Notre Dame). National pundits and Penn State fans alike can say all they want about head coach James Franklin’s inability to win the big one. His teams have tons of talent and they win a lot of games.

I believe Nebraska will be better in 2025; significantly better than they’ve been in nearly a decade. I believe Matt Rhule is in the process of building a winning program at Nebraska. While these things are true, I just don’t see the Huskers getting out of Happy Valley with a W, especially in late November.

Nebraska keeps it close into the 4th quarter, but Penn State’s talent plus the home crowd prove to be too much.

Prediction: LOSS

Iowa Hawkeyes

Friday, November 28 at Memorial Stadium in Lincoln, NE

I’ve written about it. We’ve talked about it on the Common Fan Podcast. Husker fans from South Sioux City to Scottsbluff have thrown leftover turkey against the wall in disgust. There’s nothing left to say; Nebraska’s issues against Iowa must stop. The frustrating thing, especially in recent years, is that it’s felt like Nebraska outplayed the Hawkeyes on Black Friday. In 2024, the Huskers were flat out the better team on the field. And yet we keep seeing the same result.

As I said in a recent piece about three games that will define the season for Nebraska football, “The Hawkeyes have won nine out of the last 10 against Nebraska (did I just write that?!?!?! How is that even possible?!?!?!). The last three losses–in 2021, 2023, and 2024–have arguably been the most painful, as the Huskers outplayed the Hawkeyes in all three games, and still found the most mind-boggling, gut-punch, awful ways to lose. It has to stop. This is absurd. Iowa has not been and is not this much better of a program than Nebraska. It’s time for the Huskers to start pounding the Hawkeyes again. There are no excuses anymore. Get it done.”

I believe the Huskers will do just that.

Prediction: WIN

Agree? Disagree? Let us know what you think, Common Fans. Send us an email at commonfangbr@gmail.com or find us on YouTube. We’d love to hear your contribution to this discussion!

As always, GBR for Life.

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