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

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? 

Today we’ll look at the first six games on Nebraska’s schedule; tomorrow we’ll look at the second half of the 2025 slate. 

vs Cincinnati Bearcats

Thursday, August 28 at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City, MO

This is a sneaky big game for the Huskers. It’s taking place on Thursday night of Week One of college football, so most Americans will be hankering for any football they can get. Fans from sea to shining sea will be watching. In their first two seasons in the Big 12, the Bearcats went 3-9 (2023) and 5-7 (2024). Not exactly inspiring stuff, but expect them to be better in 2025. 

Nebraska is favored to win this game. Husker Nation will be expecting a W. That said, the Huskers haven’t fared particularly well in recent years when opening the season against a power five opponent somewhere other than Memorial Stadium. I’m thinking of Minnesota in 2023, Northwestern in 2022 (played in Ireland), and Illinois in 2021 among others. The Big Red will need to be dialed in; this won’t be a cake walk.  

Thankfully, Arrowhead Stadium is only a three hour drive from Lincoln, and it will be filled with Husker fans. After a close first half that has the Big Red faithful on pins and needles, the Huskers pull away in the 4th quarter.

PREDICTION: WIN

vs. Akron Zips

Saturday, September 6 at Memorial Stadium in Lincoln, NE

Akron, of course, holds a unique place in Nebraska football history. The first game of Scott Frost’s coaching tenure was supposed to be against Akron. Who could forget? The stadium was electric for game one of the Frost era. Adrian Martinez comes out to take his first ever snap in a Husker uniform, but before even one play can be run, the teams are called off the field due to lightning. The game would never resume. 

I guess we’ll try it again in 2025. Akron comes into the 2025 season after going 2-10 in 2022, 2-10 in 2023, and 4-8 in 2024. Head coach Joe Moorhead is in his fourth year of trying to turn the program around, but the best thing about their visit to Lincoln will be the $1.45 million paycheck they take home with them.  

Nebraska’s starters are resting on the bench by early in the third quarter as the Huskers cruise.

PREDICTION: WIN

vs. Houston Christian Huskies 

Saturday, September 13 at Memorial Stadium in Lincoln, NE

With all due respect to HCU, let’s not spend too much time on this one. My biggest concern with an FCS school coming into Lincoln for an 11am kickoff is what the energy will be like in the stadium. That said, the Huskers should be coming into the game with a 2-0 record and plenty to play for. I don’t expect the offense or defense to show too much in their last tune-up game before conference play starts.

If the starters are out of the game by early in the 3rd quarter of the Akron game, they may be out by halftime of this one. Lots of reps for the backups. Huskers roll.

Prediction: WIN

vs. Michigan Wolverines

Saturday, September 20 at Memorial Stadium in Lincoln, NE

This is a huge game for the Huskers; I picked it as one of the games that will define the 2025 season for Nebraska. Here’s what I wrote in that article: “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.”

After a strong finish to the 2024 season—shocking the world with an upset of eventual national champion Ohio State in “The Game,” followed by a win over Alabama in the ReliaQuest Bowl—and the addition of five-star quarterback Bryce Underwood in the 2025 recruiting class, it feels like the national perception of Michigan is that of a program on the rise. They’re currently sitting at #14 in the first USA Today Coaches Poll of the season. That feels a little high to me, but then I don’t have a vote.  

Nebraska is 2-5 against Michigan since joining the Big Ten, with the Wolverines having won the last four. That stops this year. Huskers get a massive win in Lincoln, sealed by a late turnover by the Blackshirts. 

Prediction: WIN

vs. Michigan State Spartans

Saturday, October 4 at Memorial Stadium in Lincoln, NE

It’s hard to get a read on the Spartans this year. The program was a mess after Mel Tucker was fired in scandal two games into the 2023 season. Head Coach Jonathan Smith took over in 2024 and led MSU to a 5-7 record. In 2025, quarterback Aidan Chiles will be in his second season under center. The Spartans added significant pieces in the transfer portal during the offseason, and will be aiming to get to their first bowl game since 2021. 

Nebraska has had some absolute classics against Sparty since joining the Big Ten. There was the 24-3 of the top 10, Kirk Cousins-led squad in 2011. There was the frantic comeback from a 10-point deficit for a 28-24 win in 2012. And who could forget Brandon Reilly’s touchdown catch with less than a minute left to complete a 39-38 win over MSU in an otherwise forgettable season. 

Of course, there have been some heartbreaking losses as well. We don’t need to get into those. But I’m concerned this will be one of them. Both teams will be coming off a bye week, but I still think the Big Red might be suffering from a hangover after the big win against Michigan. Additionally, Nebraska has a frustrating habit of losing to teams they “should” beat. I hope I’m wrong, but the boys in red need to prove it on the field.

The Huskers come out sluggish, then rally late, but it’s ultimately not enough. 

Prediction: LOSS

at Maryland Terrapins

Saturday, October 11 at SECU Stadium in College Park, MD

It’s remarkable that this, the sixth game on the schedule, will be Nebraska’s first true road game of the year. Yes, the opener against Cincinnati is at Arrowhead, but 1) that’s a neutral site game, and 2) I expect it to be about 90% Husker fans. That’s a pretty favorable set-up for the Big Red. 

So is playing Maryland, regardless of where they’re playing. I recently went on The OHIO Podcast to give their Buckeye crew a preview of Nebraska's season. When we got to the Maryland game, host Eric Boggs pointed out to me that in recent conversations with a Maryland podcast, even the Terrapin faithful were distraught about the state of their program. They went 4-8 in 2024, head coach Mike Locksley recently admitted he lost his locker room last season, and CBS Sports recently picked them to finish 16th out of 18 Big Ten teams. 

I’ll take it. Do I want to get to the point where Husker fans are salivating to play the best teams in the conference, with an expectation of beating them? Of course. In the meantime, I’ll take any help we can get. Huskers roll in College Park.

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.