by T.J. Birkel
Before the 2024 season began, I wrote an article about the Three Games That Will Define the Season for Nebraska Football in 2024. The three games I chose? Colorado, Illinois, and Iowa. I even included two more as honorable mentions: USC and Wisconsin.
You can see my reasoning in the article linked above, but notice who was not on my list: neither Rutgers nor Indiana. And yet, as the Huskers prepare to play the Scarlet Knights in Lincoln on Saturday, followed by the Hoosiers in Bloomington (after a bye week), it’s hard not to think these are two of the most critical games of the entire season for the Big Red.
Bear with me for a moment.
Nebraska heads into Saturday’s game with a record of 4-1. I know we shouldn’t take any win for granted, nor do I ever like to concede that the boys in red are likely to lose a particular matchup. But just for the sake of this exercise, let’s assume Nebraska beats a very bad UCLA team (Nov. 2), and loses to a very good Ohio State team (Oct. 26).
That would be five in the win column and two in the loss column.
Nebraska’s last three games of the season go like this…