5 predictions for Nebraska football vs. Wisconsin

Nebraska football finds itself in the familiar situation of needing to win a game down the stretch to qualify for a bowl game.

The Huskers had four tries at it in 2023. They lost all four. They have lost their first four chances this season and it feels like Saturday is do-or-die in terms of reaching six wins.

Of course, Nebraska is capable of beating Iowa. They were also capable of beating Indiana, Ohio State, UCLA, and USC. And before you say Nebraska couldn’t beat Indiana — Ohio State is more talented and the Huskers nearly pulled that upset.

Besides, Michigan, without any forward passing attack, nearly won there too. The Huskers just played really bad. None of that will matter though if Nebraska football beats Wisconsin (Saturday, 3:30 EST).

Here are five predictions.

Bet the under

The first to score 20 points will probably win this game. Wisconsin has averaged 12 points per game over its last three, while Nebraska football is scoring just over 15 points per game.

Wisconsin did have to play Iowa, Penn State, and Oregon. But the Badgers did run for 130 yards last week against Oregon and that defensive front is nasty.

I think we’ll see more emphasis on running the ball from Wisconsin. That could lead to a shorter game which is probably something the Badgers want and I have a hard time seeing these two teams score more than 20 each (The over/under is 42).

Nebraska football gets off to a fast start

The team is going to be fired up for this game and it wouldn’t surprise me at all to Nebraska football come out and get the lead. Wisconsin has a lot on the line too. They need this game in order to get a sixth win too, but the charged-up atmosphere leads to a better start than we saw against UCLA.

Wisconsin will run the ball better

Wisconsin ranks among the top 40 in fewest sacks allowed and fewest tackles for loss allowed. Nebraska football ranks outside the top 75 in both categories.

The Badgers run for 169 yards per game. They also give up over 160 yards on the ground, so Nebraska should be able to find some running room, but Nebraska also isn’t Penn State or even Iowa when it comes to running the football,

Nebraska has struggled all season long to consistently run the ball. They probably need over 100 yards on Saturday and they might need to out-rush the Badgers but I don’t see them actually doing it.

The turnover battle is split

Nebraska forces 1.4 takeaways per game. Wisconsin forces just 1.1. Ceyair Wright and Ty Robinson have done an excellent of making impact plays.

I have a feeling that Nebraska will force at least one turnover — probably on an interception. However, Dylan Raiola has thrown an interception in at least five straight games and that streak will continue.

Raiola tosses two TD passes

That being said, I also think Raiola will have a touchdown pass for the third straight game (two actually). It feels like he will get the chance to engineer a game-winning drive in the fourth quarter. He hasn’t been able to pull it off just yet.

Nebraska couldn’t do it against Illinois or Ohio State. Raiola didn’t get the chance against UCLA and Nebraska was down eight against USC so at best he could have tied the game.

I’d like to predict that Raiola gets his first game-winning touchdown drive on Saturday. I want to predict Nebraska to win, but I have predicted them to win a bunch of times and they haven’t.

So I’m going to wait to be proven wrong before I pick Nebraska in a spot like this again. Hopefully, that will come tomorrow. I’ll gladly eat crow but give me the Badgers, 20-17.

Prediction: Wisconsin 20, Nebraska 17 

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