Breaking down remaining Nebraska schedule, how to win the Big Ten West

The Nebraska Cornhuskers are currently sitting at 4-3 on the 2023 campaign. Since dropping the first two games on their schedule, the Huskers have rattled off four of their next five games, including this weekend’s 17-9 victory over the Northwestern Wildcats.

On Sunday evening’s edition of the Andy Staples podcast, Sean Callahan of HuskerOnline.com broke down the rest of the season for the Cornhuskers.

Nebraska outlook for the rest of the 2023 season

“Yeah, you look at this West division right now,” Callahan began. “Not one offense yesterday put up 400 yards of offense. Wisconsin was the high-water mark, just under 400. Iowa almost won with 127 yards of offense (laughs) yesterday, so you look at the West and it’s a lot of teams with new coaches and I think five teams that have had quarterback injuries or quarterback changes.”

Iowa lost the Minnesota Golden Gophers, 12-10. And Wisconsin defeated Illinois, 25-21.

“So, it’s just a disaster on offense. A lot of just transitional teams right now. And Nebraska is so limited right now. But give Matt Rhule credit. He’s embraced what this team is. They’ve got a very good defense. They’ve got pretty good special teams. And they’ve got an offense that’s lost four of its top five receivers. And two of its top three running backs. And they have a change at quarterback right now,” Callahan continued.

The Nebraska defense has been very solid in points allowed per game. They’re currently allowing 19.3 points per game, ranking them 26th in the nation in that stat category.

“And Heinrich Haarberg’s gonna have to carry a big load. As a quarterback, he’s gonna have to carry it 15-plus times a game. That’s probably not where he wants to be as an offense. But that’s, he’s one of their best weapons right now.”

Haarberg has been a legitimate weapon for the Huskers and he’s proven to be dangerous with his legs in the open field. So far, he has 85 carries for 424 rushing yards and four touchdowns on the ground. Haarberg piled up 157 rushing yards on 19 carries against Louisiana Tech on Sept. 23rd–a season-high.

“Losing Billy Kemp yesterday Andy. That was humongous. Because he was their veteran number one receiver. We don’t know how long he’s out for. It sounds like it’s not a end of the season type deal. But, how many weeks will that potential MCL/knee injury, what Rhule called it after the game, keep him out for?” Callahan asked.

So far this season, Kemp has hauled in 21 catches for 216 yards and one touchdown. He’s also tacked on a rushing touchdown. Entering Saturday’s game against Northwestern, Kemp was the team’s leading receiver.

Before transferring to Nebraska, Kemp made his mark in a big way with the Virginia Cavaliers. He hauled in 192 catches during his time in Charlottesville–ranking him fourth all-time in career catches in UVA football history.

Andy Staples then began charting the path for the Huskers to win the Big Ten West.

“And that’s the thing. They’re gonna have to stitch all this together. But you look at the schedule. They can beat Purdue. Now, they can lose any of these games too, so let’s remember that. But they can beat Purdue. The Michigan State-Maryland, those teams from the East, if they want to win the West they’ve probably gotta win both of those. But interestingly enough, it’s funny because, we’re talking pie in the sky here. Winning the West. If they beat Purdue and they split Michigan State and Maryland, they’re bowl eligible. How long has Nebraska been waiting for that?” Staples chimed in.

The last time Nebraska made a bowl game came in 2016, when they lost to Tennessee 38-24 in the Music City Bowl.

“Yeah, I think if you’re being honest, you’re like, alright, if they got to seven or eight wins, played well, and did make it to Indy, that’s probably their best-case scenario. Because I don’t know if anybody in the West. Wisconsin could still play itself back in this thing, but they don’t have a quarterback right now. Braelon Allen’s shoulder. I mean how much can he take. He had a lot of carries yesterday, but it seems like he’s battled a lot of bumps and bruises where they can only lean on him so much. When he looks like he’s the best offensive player in the West but they can only give him so many carries in a game,” Callahan said on Sunday.

Braelon Allen has without a doubt, been one of the best running backs in all of college football the past few years. In 2021 and 2022, Allen racked up over 1,200 yards in back-to-back seasons. This year, he’s churned out 704 rushing yards and eight touchdowns on 120 carries.