Three Games That Will Define the Season for Nebraska Football in 2025

Year three of the Matt Rhule era is upon us. As was the case in 2024, the Nebraska football team faces what is considered to be a manageable Big Ten schedule. Of course, the Huskers are not in a position to take any team for granted. But the Big Red avoids Ohio State, Oregon, and Indiana–all playoff teams in 2024–and they also get Michigan, USC, and Iowa at home.

The point is, the schedule could be much worse. It sets up nicely for the Huskers to have a chance to take a leap, similar to what Matt Rhule has done at his other stops in college football.

We recently did a Common Fan Podcast episode looking at three games that will define the season in 2025. For the episode, each of the Common Fan co-hosts picked our own lists of games; today I'll try to boil it down to just the top three.

In the interest of full disclosure, I did this exercise in August of last year. The Huskers won one of the three games on my list, but I do believe all three went a long way towards defining the season, for better or worse. I picked Colorado (a thoroughly satisfying W), Illinois (an overtime loss where the boys in red still played pretty well), and Iowa (a maddening, pull-your-hair-out loss where Nebraska completely outplayed the Hawkeyes on the field and won every statistical category, only to hand the game away).

Hopefully this year, we see all three of these games end up as wins.

Let’s get to it.

Cincinnati. This one makes me a bit nervous. Nebraska opens up with Cincinnati, Akron, and Houston Christian as their first three games (side note: every time I see “HCU” on the schedule I have to google it to see who they are). The Bearcats will be entering their third year in the Big 12, and they are coming off a 5-7 season with four one-score losses (sound familiar?). This will clearly be the biggest test Nebraska faces in the non-conference schedule.

Will Cincinnati have their footing in their third year in a power conference? Will the Bearcat offense have some tricks up its sleeve against a Nebraska defense that is breaking in a new defensive coordinator and several new starters? It’s a big opportunity for the Huskers. Hard to beat a Thursday night game at Arrowhead Stadium when the entire nation will be hankering for college football. There will be a lot of eyeballs on this game.

Most Husker fans are picking this one as a win, and I don't disagree. Are there bigger games on the schedule? Yes. Could you pick three conference games with more importance? Certainly. But think about it this way: a loss in this game runs the risk of derailing the entire season. The Huskers haven’t fared well in this type of game in recent years, and they need to reverse that trend. A loss here has all of the college football universe talking. A win means Nebraska is on track to be 3-0 going into the Michigan game.

Speaking of Michigan…

Michigan. 2024 was a year of transition for Michigan. Coming off a national championship season in 2023. First year for head coach Sherrone Moore. Adjusting to playing college football without stealing signs. It would be a lot for any program.

The Wolverines went a somewhat uninspired 5-5 in their first ten games, but they finished the season strong. After dismantling Northwestern 50-6, they won a rock fight against eventual national champion Ohio State in “The Game,” and went on to beat Alabama in the ReliaQuest Bowl. The maize and blue finished 8-5 and ended the season with some serious momentum.

They added to that momentum by locking down 5 star quarterback Bryce Underwood, who is expected to be the starter this season (although recently-added transfer Jake Garcia from East Carolina is someone to watch in fall camp).

How good will Michigan be in 2025? I don’t know. But I do know this would be a big win for Nebraska football, no matter how you slice it. It’s a brand name, blue blood, major college football team coming into Lincoln. It’s (potentially) the chance to start 4-0 on the season and 1-0 in conference. In order for Nebraska football to get where they want to go, they have to start winning games like this.

Iowa. There are plenty of other big games on the schedule. Husker fans would love to avenge last year’s close loss to USC, who comes to Lincoln this year. Nebraska goes to Penn State–a team many believe will be the best in the Big Ten–in late November. And of course, all of Husker Nation is dying to get back in the W column against P.J. Fleck’s Minnesota Gophers, a team Husker fans always feel like we should beat, but who Nebraska hasn’t topped since 2018.

But let’s be honest, it’s impossible not to include Iowa on this list. 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.

One more thought on this one: as I look back at last year’s article, what I wrote then applies just as much today.

“And, let’s face it. The winter/offseason period is often disproportionately defined by how the last game of the year went. I would argue this is always a season-defining game for both teams, regardless of how their respective seasons have gone up to that point. If the Huskers are already bowl-eligible by the time the Iowa game rolls around, a loss might not sting as bad as in years past. But a win would be a huge exclamation point on what many hope and believe will be a massive turning point of a season for our beloved boys in red.”

It’s time, Huskers. Make it happen.

Agree? Disagree? Let us know what you think, Common Fans. Send us an email atcommonfangbr@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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