Well, it's Groundhog Day ... again. As the calendar turns to November, a five-win Nebraska football team is still struggling to reach the six-win threshold required for bowl eligibility.
The Cornhuskers picked up their fifth win of the season on Oct. 5 by downing Rutgers 14-7 to continue what once looked like a resurgent season under second-year coach Matt Rhule. They haven't been on the right side of the W/L column since, though, dropping to 5-4 amid a four-game conference losing streak. Granted, two of those losses were to No. 8 Indiana and No. 3 Ohio State.
But Week 10's loss to UCLA feels like a point of no return. The Bruins were 2-5 entering the weekend slate and had suffered four of those losses by double digits. It should have been the game where Nebraska finally broke through and secured a postseason bid for the first time since 2016.
UCLA won 27-20. The Bruins actually led by 27-7 midway through the third quarter before Nebraska battled back and made it a one-possession game with under 4 minutes left to play. Obviously, the Huskers fell short, dropping to 4-20 in one-score games since the start of the 2021 season.
The 2024 season is starting to look like a disturbing mirror image of Rhule's first year with the program. In 2023, Nebraska got to five wins on Oct. 28 and then lost four straight one-possession games (with an average scoring margin of four points) to drop out of the bowl race.
What's next in Nebraska's pursuit of bowl eligibility?
At this point, they're all tossups, at best. Nebraska is off in Week 11 but returns to the field on Nov. 16 against USC. Twenty years ago, this would have been a battle between college football giants. Now, it's two teams simply trying to save their respective seasons.
USC has had its fair share of struggles as the Trojans transition to the Big Ten this season. In fact, they're currently one of just two Big Ten teams -- with Purdue, not company you want to keep -- with five losses in conference play.
That should be a winnable game for Nebraska, but you never take anything for granted, especially since it's on the road. Then, the Huskers return home to play rival Wisconsin, which lost to USC and is on a two-game losing streak of its own.
Nebraska closes the season on Friday, Nov. 29 at home against Iowa. The Hawkeyes are as good as you would expect defensively, and on top of that, a late quarterback change to Brendan Sullivan has led to Iowa scoring 82 combined points in its last two wins. The Hawkeyes have also scored 40 points in three out of their last four games.
So Nebraska needs just one win against those opponents. With Iowa hitting its stride, the Huskers likely feel better about their chances against either USC or Wisconsin. Nothing's a given with Nebraska, though.
