Predicting Nebraska Football's 2026 Season using EA College Football 27

The newest edition of Electronic Arts' college football video game came out last week, increasing the excitement for the upcoming college football season that is less than 50 days away. Like it's previous titles, EA College Football 27 features a dynasty mode, where a user can take over a program as a head coach, offensive coordinator and defensive coordinator.

The Nebraska Cornhuskers enter the 2026 season coming off a second-straight 7-6 season and have gone through a multitude of changes. This includes everything from the transfer portal to new coordinators and staff members on the defensive side of the ball.

It now begs the question, how does the 2026 season go for the Huskers in EA College Football 27?

Luckily for you, we took a look at this and simulated the season and it produced some interesting results.

Loading...#GBR x @EASPORTSCollege pic.twitter.com/aW17sPWoaV
— Nebraska Football (@HuskerFootball) June 28, 2026

2026 Season According to EA College Football 27

According to the simulation, Nebraska will finish the 2026 season with a 7-5 record which could be viewed as a pretty realistic finish. The Huskers finished with another losing record in conference play with a record of 4-5. Let's dive into the game-by-game results.

Non-Conference Play: 3-0

Week 1: Ohio Bobcats

Final Score: W 24-16 (1-0)

Week 2: Bowling Green Falcons

Final Score: W 51-14 (2-0)

Week 3: FCS Midwest (North Dakota Fighting Hawks)

Final Score: W 38-10 (3-0)

Non-conference play was overall successful for the Huskers during simulation, despite a close call against Ohio. Offense played well, especially against Bowling Green, where Senior quarterback Anthony Colandrea threw for 286 yards and two touchdowns, completing 68 percent of his passes.

However, the next four weeks was the start of the shocking results.

Conference Play (Weeks 4-7): 0-4

Week 4: @ Michigan State Spartans

Final Score: L 31-21 (3-1, 0-1 B1G)

Week 5: Maryland Terrapins

Final Score: L 38-33 (3-2, 0-2 B1G)

Week 6: No. 3 Indiana Hoosiers

Final Score: L 31-7 (3-3, 0-3 B1G)

Week 7: No. 10 Oregon Ducks

Final Score: L 49-47 2OT (3-4, 0-4 B1G)

Despite starting 3-0, the Huskers lose four straight games to start Big Ten conference play and this is where the defensive struggles began. In all four games, Nebraska gave up over 400 total yards of offense, most notably in the matchup against Michigan State, giving up 502 yards.

However, the offense wasn't the problem. The Huskers gained over 350 yards in three out of four games during this stretch. In fact, Nebraska had almost 600 yards against Oregon, but just fell short in double overtime.

Nebraska entered its bye week and had a very important five game stretch to somehow become bowl eligible.

Conference Play (Weeks 9-13): 4-1

Week 9: Washington Huskies

Final Score: W 38-23 (4-4, 1-4 B1G)

Week 10: @ Illinois Fighting Illini

Final Score: W 32-28 (5-4, 2-4 B1G)

Week 11: @ Rutgers Scarlet Knights

Final Score: W 18-17 (6-4, 3-4 B1G)

Week 12: No. 14 Ohio State Buckeyes

Final Score: W 28-19 (7-4, 4-4 B1G)

Week 13: @ Iowa Hawkeyes

Final Score: L 24-14 (7-5, 4-5 B1G)

Yes, you read that right. Nebraska went on a four game winning streak to become bowl eligible and also broke its losing streak against ranked opponents against Ohio State, which dates back to 2016. However, the four game winning streak was halted by a loss on the road against Iowa to put the Huskers at a 7-5 record on the season.

Nebraska was selected to play in the Cheez It Citrus Bowl against the North Dakota State Bison, where the Huskers would go on and win 31-21, finshing at a 8-5 record.

Final Stats and Interesting Notes

Passing

Player	Completions	Passing Yards	TDs & INTs
Anthony Colandrea	232/377 (61%)	3,025 yards	25 TDs & 5 INTs

The senior quarterback had a solid season for the Huskers. Throwing for over 3,000 yards is always a great feat, especially being the quarterback at Nebraska. Colandrea's production ranks him in the top five for most passing yards in a season, taking Taylor Martinez's 2,871 yard season in 2012.

Rushing

Player	Carries	Yards & AVG	TDs
Isaiah Mozee	162	811 yards, 5.0 avg	7
Anthony Colandrea	113	314 yards, 2.8 avg	6
Kwinten Ives	44	251 yards, 5.7 avg	3
Mekhi Nelson	14	131 yards, 5.0 avg	1

Rushing offense was alright, ranking No. 11 overall in the Big Ten with 1,636 total rushing yards as a team. The Huskers clearly were missing Emmett Johnson, like what is expected in real life.

Receiving

Player	Receptions	Yards	TDs
Nyziah Hunter	51	826 yards	6 TDs
Kwazi Gilmer	43	622 yards	9 TDs
Jacory Barney Jr.	42	536 yards	4 TDs
Cortez Mills Jr.	23	331 yards	1 TD
Luke Lindenmeyer	24	292 yards	5 TDs

In this simulation, Nyziah Hunter led the Huskers' receivers in yards for the second straight season, with just over 800 total yards and six touchdowns. Former UCLA wide receiver Kwazi Gilmer was solid for Nebraska with over 600 yards and nine touchdowns.

Tackles & Sacks

Player	Tackles	TFLs	Sacks
LB Dexter Foster	64 total, 49 solo & 15 Assists	3	1
CB Andrew Marshall	59 total, 47 solo & 12 assists	-	-
EDGE Williams Nwaneri	44 total, 31 solo, 13 assists	12	8
LB Vincent Shavers Jr.	54 total, 46 solo, 8 assists	5	3

Defense seemed to be the struggle at times for the Huskers during the simulation, especially during the four game losing streak. Nebraska allowed 388.4 yards per game on defense and only sacked its opponents 24 times.

The Huskers also struggled to force turnovers, picking off only five passes and forced zero fumbles.

Final Thoughts

2026 is a crucial season for the Huskers, especially with it being the fourth year of the Matt Rhule era. The 2025 season was not what fans hoped due to the amount of hype of the "Year Three Matt Rhule" and a easier schedule.

Now, the 2026 schedule is much more difficult with three College Football Playoff teams from a year ago, plus a November with three road games. There are questions of what the changes on defense from a 3-3-5 to a 4-2-5 under new defensive coordinator Rob Aurich will bring.

However, based on the simulation, an 8-5 record does show improvement from the past few seasons. We'll see if the Huskers can make the next step this fall.

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

Add us as a preferred source on Google