After spending the first two weeks on the road, Nebraska will spend the next three weeks at home. Two of the three will be the Huskers’ non-conference opponents. Matt Rhule will have his home game debut against the Northern Illinois Huskies
Here is a review of the 2022 season for the Huskies and preview for the highly anticipated game at Memorial Stadium in week three.
2022 Season Review
Last season was a rough year for the Huskies as it was the worst non-covid impacted season since 2007. 2022 would be plagued by injuries for the normal contender in the Mid American Conference (MAC).
2022 Results
Record: 3-9, 2-6 MAC
Sept. 1 Eastern Illinois W 34-27
Sept. 10 at Tulsa L 35-38
Sept. 17 Vanderbilt L 28-38
Sept. 24 at (8) Kentucky L 23-31
Oct. 1 at Ball State L 38-44
Oct. 8 Toledo L 32-52
Oct. 15 at Eastern Michigan W 39-10
Oct. 22 at Ohio L 17-24
Nov. 2 Central Michigan L 22-35
Nov. 9 at Western Michigan W 24-21
Nov. 16 Miami (OH) L 10-13
Nov. 26 Akron L 12-44
Only winning three games and two of them conference was out of the ordinary for the Huskies. From 2007-2019, the Huskies would make a bowl game 10 out of 11 seasons including four MAC championships.
2023 Season Preview and Matchup Preview
In 2023, the Huskies will try to find the same success as they had in 2021 when they won a conference championship and finished with a 9-5 record.
Northern Illinois returns veteran starting quarterback, senior Rocky Lombardi. Lombardi should help 5th year Head Coach Thomas Hammock bring the Huskies back to the top of MAC, if Lombardi stays healthy.
They also return a very talented and experienced offensive line and defensive line alongside a couple receivers and defensive backs. The Huskies should have another solid run game to go along with what they return for this upcoming season.
Key Players
- Nolan Potter, OT SR SR
- Rocky Lombardi, QB SR
- Trayvon Rudolph, WR JR
- CJ Brown, S SR
- Devonte O’Malley, DT JR
2023 Schedule
Sept. 2 at Boston College
Sept. 9 Southern Illinois
Sept. 16 at Nebraska
Sept. 23 Tulsa
Sept. 30 at Toledo
Oct. 7 at Akron
Oct. 14 Ohio
Oct. 21 Eastern Michigan
Oct. 31 at Central Michigan
Nov. 7 Ball State
Nov. 14 Western Michigan
Nov. 25 at Kent State
Nebraska vs NIU preview
Nebraska and Northern Illinois have faced off four times, most recently in 2019. In 2019, Nebraska beat the Huskies 44-8. The only time Northern Illinois has beaten Nebraska was in 2017, where they won 21-17 in Lincoln.
This matchup will be Nebraska’s first home game of the year and will be coming off a massive game against Colorado. This is also Northern Illinois’s last game before conference play.
ESPN’s FPI Matchup Predictor says that Nebraska has a 86.4% chance to win compared to Northern Illinois with only 13.6% chance to win.
Can Northern Illinois play spoiler against Nebraska in Matt Rhule’s first home game or will Nebraska start off their three week home stand with a good victory? We will find out on Sept. 16 at 6:00 pm.
2 Comments
Good info Dylan! Keep up the great football stats.👍
I appreciate your articles Dylan, esp with my partial understanding of the game! Have to cheer on our home team, GBR:)