3 bold predictions for Nebraska football against Houston Christian

Nebraska football has one more tune-up game before Michigan on Saturday, as Houston Christian will come to Lincoln Memorial Stadium for its first-ever game against a Big Ten team.

The Huskies are 1-1. They dominated Arkansas Baptist in Week 1, but lost a 20-10 game to Eastern Kentucky last week. The odds haven’t been released yet, but considering the Huskers were 34-point favorites last week, they should be heavy favorites once again.

Matt Rhule made clear last week that the standard is the standard, regardless of the score. Against Houston Christian, there are some interesting challenges.

The Huskies have the best third-down defense in college football, allowing just one conversion on 32 attempts. The Huskies are averaging 396 yards per game. They are allowing 139 yards per game and just two yards per rushing attempt. Their quarterback, Jake Weir, is a Mississippi State transfer.

Houston Christian is on the rise, and they will be motivated to pull an upset. Nebraska needs to be sharp, especially if they don’t want to draw the ire of its head coach again. With that in mind, here are three bold predictions for Nebraska vs. Houston Christian.

Dylan Raiola throws for 300 yards again

This might not seem like a bold prediction, but Houston Christian has been really good against the pass this season. The Huskies haven’t allowed a touchdown pass in 2025 and give up just 2.5 yards per attempt.

Add in the third-down defense and the ability to stop the run, and this could be a testy matchup. However, as Rhule said earlier this week, Dylan Raiola is one of the best players in college football.

He won’t have any problem shredding HCU. Maybe it won’t look quite as easy as last week, but Raiola will have at least 300 yards passing and two touchdowns.

The run defense delivers

Nebraska’s run defense is one lingering concern after the first two games. The Huskers have allowed 157 yards per game so far this season and 4.8 yards per attempt.

That’s not going to cut it in the Big Ten. Yet, there is reason for optimism, especially with Kade Pietrzak emerging. He made a huge impact last week. The Blackshirts should be able to overwhelm Houston Christian. Xai’Shawn Edwards is averaging 100 yards per game on the ground.

Nebraska fans might not be engaged with this matchup, but it will be interesting to see if the run defense meets the challenge. I believe it will, and the Huskies will be under 100 rushing yards.

Jacory Barney punt return touchdown

Barney was close to a touchdown last week. Nebraska football had more return yards against Akron than the Huskers did all of last season. This team really seems to want a punt return, and Saturday night, Barney delivers.

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