3 reasons why Nebraska football fans should be drinking the Kool-Aid

Nebraska football fans love to talk about the Kool-Aid. Who’s drinking it? Who’s not? And is it enough?

After a decade, even longer actually, of not meeting expectations, Husker fans are sick of the Kool-Aid. At least sick of hearing how good it’s going to be, only to have it taste like a room-temperature soda that’s gone flat.

There have been moments under Matt Rhule when things tasted like a turnaround. The win over Colorado or the 6-2 start last season were probably the best examples.

Now, fans don’t want a taste. They want a glass of quality Kool-Aid that delivers on its promise. Will that be this season?

Enough of the metaphors, here are three reasons that, despite all of the past failures, Husker fans should be consuming the Kool-Aid again.

3. A better quarterback situation

Matt Rhule has never had the benefit of a true dual-threat quarterback at Nebraska. Henrich Haarberg was a decent passer, but he’s not what I would call a dual-threat. There’s a reason he moved to tight end.

Nebraska made the best out of a bad situation there. Dylan Raiola was the opposite. He’s got a great arm, but looks like Drew Bledsoe in the pocket, Dallas Cowboys Drew Bledsoe.

Unless you have an ELITE offensive line and great talent on the perimeter, it’s hard to win that way in modern college football. So Nebraska was right to move on from Raiola, especially because it allowed for a new offensive line coach.

Anthony Colandrea passed over 3,400 yards last season. He accounted for over 4,000 total yards with UNLV, as well as 33 total touchdowns. Some fans are worried about how that will translate. Well, the Ole Miss quarterback used to be D2. It doesn’t matter as much as people think.

What will matter is having a quarterback who can escape when there is trouble, who can make things happen on third down and in the red zone with his legs.

Colandrea will be Nebraska’s best quarterback since Adrian Martinez. That might not mean much in the eyes of some, but Adrian’s problem was that he never had a defense to complement what he could do, and he literally had to do everything.

Colandrea won’t, but his rushing ability will be a game-changer, to the point that it could lead to an extra win or two.

2. Rob Aurich

The new defensive coordinator has a history of turning around defenses in his first season as the play-caller. When he took over the defense at Idaho, it went from allowing 31 points per game to 25. The Vandals allowed 407 yards per game and dropped that down to 337.

Nebraska football allowed 24 points per game last season. If that number could be reduced by even 4-5 points, the Huskers will be back in the top-25 range that they were during Rhule’s first two seasons. Anything under 20 is a good place to be.

With San Diego State, Aurich took a defense that was 97th in scoring and improved it to 6th in one season. The yardage allowed per game went from 420 to 293.

Fans can debate how much the Nebraska defense will improve this season, but there’s little doubt that the Huskers will give up fewer yards and points, at least using Aurich’s previous stops as a prediction guide.

1. Geep Wade and the improved O-line

If Nebraska football takes a step forward this season, the offensive line will have, too. It’s hard to see one thing happening without the other.

The offensive line has been an issue since day one for Rhule. He was supposed to fix it and hasn’t been able to. Until now. That’s the hope, at least.

Wade has coached NFL prospects and plenty of all-conference players. He added three dudes with more than 50 combined starts (each has at least 11) from the SEC and Big 12. Nebraska didn’t land players it hoped could play — it got some proven commodities.

There is some projection with Paul Mubenga and Tree Babalade, but each has started double-digit games in the SEC. If someone beats them out for the job, they will have earned it.

The schedule is difficult; However, a better quarterback, a better defense, and a better offensive line will equal a better football team. Does that mean seven or eight wins?

Nebraska fans can only hope.

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