We’re under three months away from the start of the 2022 college football season, making this time of the year the time to get a little crazy with some old prognostications.
With only spring ball to provide context about how we feel about certain teams across the country, some educated guesses are required to predict how the 2022 season will transpire. And sometimes you put it all on the line with bold predictions.
Well, Brad Crawford of 247Sports took it a bit further and provided his “10 boldest predictions” for the 2022 college football season. And several of the predictions have a Sooners’ twist.
First, Crawford takes a wild stab with Nebraska starting the season 5-0 and beating Oklahoma in the Sooners trip to Lincoln. The Cornhuskers were a college football darling after being dubbed “the best three-win team in college football history” in 2021.
Sure, the two sides played a close game in 2021 with Oklahoma coming out on top 23-16, but do all those close losses signify that Nebraska will be a better team in 2022? Crawford thinks so.
Not to apply any additional pressure on Scott Frost this season, but Nebraska’s late-September game against Oklahoma in Lincoln is arguably the most important of his coaching career up to this point. Frost’s contract buyout changes significantly Oct. 1 according to new language and that’s a barometer game for which he’ll be judged moving forward against a former Big 12 rival. There’s a good chance the Huskers will be 3-0 going into that one if new quarterback Casey Thompson is the real deal and Nebraska is able to take advantage of a soft early-season slate. With an open week before Big Ten foe Indiana coming out of the Oklahoma game, pencil in the Huskers as 5-0 and the talk of the conference going to Rutgers Oct. 7 as a bold prediction. – Crawford, 247Sports
Casey Thompson was solid in the first half against Oklahoma last year helping the Longhorns jump out to a big lead after two Spencer Rattler turnovers. However, is he going to be a better player with Nebraska than he was with Texas?
He’s solid, but he won’t have Xavier Worthy to throw to or Bijan Robinson to hand the ball of to, which will make life more difficult for the one-time Texas quarterback.