Tag: 2024 Big Ten Football Season

Expert score prediction: Nebraska vs. UCLA

The Huskers are looking for their sixth win of the season.

This is arguably the biggest game remaining on Nebraska’s schedule. The UCLA Bruins are 2-5 with wins over the Rutgers Scarlet Knights and the Hawaii Rainbow Warriors. If the Huskers can’t grab their sixth win here, they’ll be in trouble for the rest of the season.

The Bruins sit in an interesting spot with their 2-5 record. UCLA took down a struggling Rutgers team that looked baffled defensively against them and could not deliver simple stops. 

Ethan Garbers delivered his best performance of the season against the Scarlet Knights, going 32-of-38 for 383 yards and four touchdowns. He also led UCLA in rushing, going for 48 yards and a touchdown off nine carries.

But the Bruins’ defense still surrendered 32 points to the Scarlet Knights, who almost came back from a 35-19 deficit. Rutgers’ Athan Kaliakmanis completed 18-of-30 for 287 yards, while Kyle Monangai rushed for 106 yards and three touchdowns off 19 carries.

Nebraska’s offense is looking to wake up following three lackluster performances, and UCLA is the team to do it against. The Bruins have allowed over 20 points in six games and over 30 points in four games.

However, teams that trampled UCLA challenged the Bruins at the line, and downfield, areas Nebraska has either struggled to dominate or just avoided as of late. If the Huskers want to win this battle on offense, it needs to fix that, or at the very least, take a step in the right direction in this game.

But it’s not just Nebraska’s offense that needs to win on the day. Though the Huskers defensively held Ohio State to 21 points, they must be cautious with UCLA’s passing offense. The Bruins average just over 64 rushing yards per game but over 237 passing yards.

The Huskers’ passing defense remains their biggest weakness overall. In Nebraska’s three losses, the Huskers surrendered a combined 716 passing yards and ten touchdowns off 58 completions. To top it all off, Nebraska forced just 15 total incompletions in that span.

With Garbers’ recent outing being his season-best, the Huskers cannot allow for another quarterback to leave them lost.

The last time Nebraska won a bowl game, it defeated UCLA in 2015. Now, the opportunity to snap an eight-year bowl-game drought arrives with the Bruins again.

This needs to be the game the Huskers end the drought, otherwise the likelihood of another 5-7 season goes up significantly.

Score Prediction: Nebraska 27, UCLA 13

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Expert score prediction: Nebraska vs. Ohio State

Who will win on Saturday and what will the final score be?

It was hard to see Nebraska winning this one from the start of the season. Last week’s loss to Indiana fueled that prediction. The Huskers have a long way to go when competing with ranked opponents.

But their showdown against the Ohio State Buckeyes may be closer than 56-7. For starters, Nebraska will likely look to respond, whether it’s a solid first half of play or just a few good drives throughout. 

But perfection and consistency remain their weaknesses, something the Buckeyes will exploit. Ohio State averages 35 points per game in Big Ten play, and with Nebraska’s defense in shambles, it’ll likely reach that point. 

Will Howard is a fifth-year quarterback who’s averaged around 262 passing yards and over two touchdowns per game this season. The Buckeyes also average around 208 rushing yards per game.

Even in the loss to Oregon, Ohio State scored 31 points, passing for 326 yards and rushing 141 yards. Defensively, however, they surrendered 341 passing yards and 155 rushing yards.

Nebraska could score if they find holes in the Buckeyes’ defense like Oregon did. But it’s difficult to say how often they can or even will. Dylan Raiola averages 227 passing yards and over a touchdown per game, while the run game averages around 127 yards per game.

However, the offense’s inconsistencies this season don’t give much hope. Indiana shut down the Huskers’ run game, forcing Raiola to beat them in the air, which the Hoosiers kept in check.

This allowed Indiana to pick apart Nebraska’s defense, tallying up 280 passing yards and 215 rushing yards. Though Ohio State doesn’t put up numbers like Indiana’s, it’ll be capable of scoring.

Score Prediction: Ohio State 38, Nebraska 17

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Nearly half of Big Ten ranked in US LBM Coaches and AP Polls

The Big Ten is well represented in this week’s polls!

Following week three of the 2024 college football season, nearly half of the Big Ten Conference is ranked in the US LBM Coaches Poll and the Associated Press Poll. 

The Huskers are one of seven Big Ten programs ranked in both polls, ranked No. 20 in the AP Poll and No. 22 in the Coaches Poll. 

Ohio State, Oregon, Penn State, USC, and Michigan are also ranked in both polls. The Buckeyes lead the way at No. 3 in both polls, the only Big Ten program ranked within the top five. The other four spots are filled with SEC programs in Texas, Georgia, Alabama, and Ole Miss. 

Oregon and Penn State are the only other Big Ten teams ranked within the top ten. The Ducks ranked No. 9 in the AP and No. 6 in the coaches poll while Penn State slipped in both to No. 10 (AP) and No. 8 (coaches). 

USC is just outside the top ten in both major polls, coming in at No. 11 according to the AP voters and No. 12 according to the coaches. 

Finally, the Michigan Wolverines, following a third straight disappointing performance, albeit in a win, fell to No. 18 in the AP Poll and No. 17 in the coaches poll. The Wolverines will have a showdown with USC this weekend in Ann Arbor.

Finally, in this week’s AP Poll, the Illinois Fighting Illini find themselves ranked for the first time since the 2022 season at No. 24 while finishing just outside the top 25 in the coaches poll. 

This upcoming Friday, the Huskers will take on the Illini at Memorial Stadium at 7:00 p.m. local time. The game will be televised nationally on Fox. 

Other remaining games against ranked opponents include an October 26 matchup in Columbus against Ohio State, and a November 16 trip to Los Angeles to face USC. 

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Big Ten Power Rankings: How the conference’s 18 teams rank entering the spring

How do the Big Ten’s 18 teams rank heading into the spring?

It’s been an eventful season in all of college football but especially in the Big Ten.

It was less than a month ago that the Michigan Wolverines won the national championship but yet it feels much longer. In an offseason that was already going to be historic thanks to conference realignment, the entire landscape of college football continued to change including Jim Harbaugh leaving Michigan just a week after delivering a national championship to his alma mater.

Some Big Ten programs attacked the transfer portal in major ways, others saw their rosters raided by the portal and are having to start over this offseason. But now with the dust settling, how does the Big Ten’s 18 teams rank entering the spring?