It’s time for Nebraska football to kick down the door to progress

Being a Nebraska football fan over the last decade has been agonizing. Hell, it goes back even farther than that.

It feels like the Huskers are being punished for all the winning that Tom Osborne did. Or maybe, Karma is just catching up after 32 years without fewer than nine wins.

But Nebraska football hasn’t won a conference championship in 25 years. It hasn’t come anywhere close in over a decade. The Huskers have lost 27 straight games against ranked teams and haven’t played in a bowl game since the 2016 season.

A fanbase desperate for actual progress just missed out again on Saturday. Nebraska football nearly pulled the biggest upset in the history of the program, only to lose another lead late, to fall by four against fourth-ranked Ohio State.

Saturday’s loss, while painful, felt like progress

You could say here we go again. It’s justified. But Saturday felt like a true sign of progress, even if it was the sixth straight loss for Nebraska with a chance to clinch a bowl game since 2023.

The Huskers have four more chances this season. For the sake of Matt Rhule’s long-term success, they need to win at least one game. They need to rip off the band-aid and heal the wound.

One bowl game won’t fix it. But it’s a start.

It will end that agony and getting six wins won’t be the goal anymore. Nebraska can start thinking bigger, starting in 2025.

You have to crawl before you can walk.

Saturday, the Huskers nearly stood up. This program almost had its shining beacon of progress to show everyone that his rebuild actually is working.

But success delayed doesn’t mean it’s denied.

Time to kick down the door to progress

Yes, Nebraska football won’t get a chance to beat the No. 4 team again this season or probably end the losing streak against ranked teams, unless it plays a ranked opponent in the bowl game (see what I did there).

Yet, tangible progress for this team has always been reaching a bowl game. Ty Robinson, Nash Hutmacher, Thomas Fidone, Bryce Benhart, and many others — have never played in a postseason game.

That needs to change and it will. It has to.

The one thing I took away from Saturday’s loss was that Nebraska football is on the doorstep of progress. Maybe that’s a glass-half-full perspective. And maybe it won’t hold.

Maybe the Huskers lose four games in a row, to miss a bowl game, again.

It feels different though. Or maybe I just want it to feel different. All I know is that Rhule has this program on the doorstep of progress and Saturday against UCLA, it’s time to kick down the damn door.

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