Laugh about it. Complain about it. Whatever your reaction to Nebraska football's 2020 schedule, embrace it. It’s a lot more than we thought we would have two weeks ago, a month ago.
Who says the Big Ten doesn’t have a sense of humor?
Nebraska at Ohio State is a beautiful thing. First, it’s an acknowledgment from the league office that the Huskers got under the official league skin.
At least they admit it.
Or maybe the Big Ten was going for this: What better way to celebrate the return of Big Ten football than with the two programs most responsible for bringing back Big Ten football (yes, along with the Iowa parents)?
You only wish there could be fans at the Horseshoe, so the new BFFs from both schools could do a group hug in the tailgate lots and take turns at a Kevin Warren pinata.
Hey, go big early. Or, in this case, Oct. 24.
Laugh about it. Complain about it. Whatever you do, embrace it.
It’s a football game.
It’s a lot more than we thought we would have two weeks ago, a month ago.
Oh yes, there’s Wisconsin after that. And Penn State is the other crossover game. The Big Ten sense of humor keeps on giving.
Not really. This is the original schedule that Nebraska was supposed to play this season. And name an easy game on that schedule. Name someone Nebraska hasn’t had trouble beating.
What matters most is that there’s a schedule. There are going to be games.
And watching each one pop up on the Saturday morning Fox Sports show was like unwrapping a gift. Eight of them.
That’s exactly how you need to look at this 2020 season. It’s an unexpected, wonderful gift.
This will be unlike any college football season you or I have ever been through.
For the first time since 1950, the Huskers’ regular-season record will add up to some combination of nine. How do you judge 4-5 or 6-3?
Making a bowl game would be a welcome development. But an official with the Football Bowl Association told me they aren’t sure if there will be bowl games this year or how many.
To be sure, Husker fans would like to solve the Wisconsin puzzle, beat Iowa and Purdue and offer a retort to Minnesota. These games will all be played.
Unless, of course, they aren’t. What if next week’s opponent can’t field a team because of COVID-19? That could certainly happen.
It’s hard to have expectations for Nebraska’s 2020 season, but any expectation is a good one.
For so long, this was a season we weren’t sure was going to happen. All spring and summer, we wondered. Doubted. Hoped.
Then it was given to us and taken away within a matter of days.
Then there was all the talk about playing in January or in the spring and none of that was appealing or made sense.
Then the original opening day came and Memorial Stadium was empty and Lincoln was a ghost town, with bars closed and streets vacant. And you wondered if everyone had left the state. You wondered if football would ever come back.
Well, it’s back. And whatever we get, whatever we see, will be a blessing. A gift.
How many can they win? It’s important to remember that Nebraska was going to be picked to go 6-6, perhaps 7-5 by the over-the-top uncontrollably optimistic types.
This was the year the Huskers had to make a bowl game but, again, we aren’t sure if that carrot exists this fall.
Scott Frost’s third year is a blend of veterans and inexperienced starters, special teams starting from the ground up, a quarterback trying to bounce back and lots of playing and coaching to prove.
It’s a developmental year, a big step, and now it comes without spring football. But everyone went without.
The dynamic to watch, maybe the X factor, will be an attitude. National media types have been bashing Nebraska for the past month. ESPN’s “College GameDay” piled on some more Saturday.
Maybe that provides an edge. Now that Frost knows he’s going to have to earn it in the Big Ten, maybe his team, his guys, are ready to go out and do that.
Attitude works best with crisp execution. And a run game. The second half of this second-half season will be played in open-air freezers. I’m sure West Lafayette is lovely on Dec. 5.
As for Lincoln on Dec. 12, we’ve been known to have heat waves up to 20 degrees on that day.
Oh, and the white stuff falling from the sky. Will Nebraska have a reliable run game by then? A defense that can dig in?
We’re not only going to find out, we’re going to find out in the coming weeks.
It’s a beautiful thing.
It starts with Ohio State, which has had a slight advantage on the scoreboard over Nebraska in the past four meetings: 202-55.
Be careful what you wish for? Nebraska wished for football games. If anything, wishes do come true.
This pandemic has taught us to appreciate the basic things in our lives, the things we may have taken for granted.
Every sporting event I watch now feels like a big deal, from high school football on up. Because I never know when it might be taken away again.
So as Nebraska opens the season at Ohio State, enjoy the moment. Smile. Celebrate.
You never know, the Buckeyes might take it easy on their new best friends.
The 2020 Nebraska football schedule
Ohio State
Ohio State Buckeyes
When: Oct. 24
Where: Columbus, Ohio, Ohio Stadium
2019 record: 13-1 (9-0 Big Ten), Fiesta Bowl (lost to Clemson)
NU's record against: 1-7
Last meeting: Nebraska lost 48-7 on Sept. 28, 2019
Wisconsin
Wisconsin Badgers
When: Oct. 31
Where: Lincoln, Memorial Stadium
2019 record: 10-4 (7-2 Big Ten), Rose Bowl (lost to Oregon)
NU's record against: 4-10
Last meeting: Nebraska lost 37-21 on Nov. 16, 2019
Northwestern
Northwestern Wildcats
When: Nov. 7
Where: Evanston, Ill., Ryan Field
2019 record: 3-9 (1-8 Big Ten)
NU's record against: 8-5
Last meeting: Nebraska won 13-10 on Oct. 5, 2019
Penn State
Penn State Nittany Lions
When: Nov. 14
Where: Lincoln, Memorial Stadium
2019 record: 11-2 (7-2 Big Ten), Cotton Bowl (beat Memphis)
NU's record against: 9-8
Last meeting: Nebraska lost 56-44 on Nov. 18, 2017
Illinois
Illinois Fighting Illini
When: Nov. 21
Where: Lincoln, Memorial Stadium
2019 record: 6-7 (4-5 Big Ten), Redbox Bowl (lost to California)
NU's record against: 13-3-1
Last meeting: Nebraska won 42-38 on Sept. 21, 2019
Iowa
Iowa Hawkeyes
When: Nov. 28
Where: Iowa City, Iowa, Kinnick Stadium
2019 record: 10-3 (6-3 Big Ten), Holiday Bowl (beat USC)
NU's record against: 29-18-3
Last meeting: Nebraska lost 27-24 on Nov. 29, 2019
Purdue
Purdue Boilermakers
When: Dec. 5
Where: West Lafayette, Indiana, Ross-Ade Stadium
2019 record: 4-8 (3-6 Big Ten)
NU's record against: 4-4
Last meeting: Purdue won 31-27 on Nov. 2, 2019
Minnesota
Minnesota Gophers
When: Dec. 12
Where: Lincoln, Memorial Stadium
2019 record: 11-2 (7-2 Big Ten), Outback Bowl (beat Auburn)
NU's record against: 25-33-2
Last meeting: Nebraska lost 34-7 on Oct. 12, 2019
tom.shatel@owh.com, 402-444-1025,
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September 20, 2020 at 02:20AM
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Shatel: Yes, Nebraska's Big Ten schedule is no joke. Husker fans should still embrace each game - Omaha World-Herald
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Joke
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