Considering that the Husker play 3 of the top 6 preseason ranked teams plus #22 Iowa (Illinois is not ranked yet but may well be ranked by the time we play them), 8 wins will be a challenge. No slip ups allowed!
Indiana is something of a wild card team, is Cignetti really good enough to produce a top 10 team again this year? Personally, I’m skeptical.
Iowa is the one ranked team I’d REALLY like to see them beat (not that beating Illinois wouldn’t warm my heart), they’ve been a thorn in our sides for too long. But the season finale against Iowa may come down to which team has suffered the fewest injuries.
This is year 4 for Rhule and company, and probably a make-or-break season for him/them. If Rhule doesn’t have the right coaches in place this year, I don’t know that he’ll get another chance to shuffle the coaching roster.
But the big NIL paydays for players (I’ve seen estimates of this being a $24 million roster) has changed the economics of college football, $50 million buyouts might be less common.
Was Troy Dannen sucker-punched into giving Rhule a big extension? I’m not sure he was ever in the top 3 on Penn State’s list of candidates.
Mike Nolan