Is Nebraska on the verge of a breakthrough? Cincinnati opener should provide quick answer

New York Times

11-07-2025

Nebraska football won 29 consecutive season-opening games from 1986 to 2014. The Huskers are 4-5 since then, losing each time they opened away from Memorial Stadium or against a power conference opponent.
Many of the stinky starts — Illinois in 2021, Northwestern in 2022 and coaching debuts for Scott Frost against Colorado in 2018 and Matt Rhule at Minnesota in 2023 — snuffed months of offseason momentum.
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Now, though, confidence is swelling internally at Nebraska. The program believes it has progressed and is not so vulnerable to another faceplant. But as Rhule's third team pushes toward the newly named Kansas City Classic against Cincinnati at Arrowhead Stadium on Aug. 28, evidence of an impending breakthrough remains scarce.
Has Nebraska made a jump? Its first season-opening win against a Power 4 team since 2003 would help signal that it has.
Prognosticators are largely predicting that the Thursday night ESPN opener will be a Nebraska victory. Joel Klatt of Fox Sports listed the Huskers among 10 teams most likely to make the College Football Playoff in 2025 for the first time. Nebraska is often in the conversation as a nine- or 10-win contender, not a team in danger of an early stumble.
Don't sleep on the Bearcats, though.
While Cincinnati is 8-16 in Satterfield's two seasons, the Bearcats return a quarterback in Brendan Sorsby who threw for 2,813 yards while completing 64 percent of his passes last season. In Cincy's first five games, Sorsby, an Indiana transfer, tossed 10 touchdowns to one interception. But he struggled late in the season when his receivers failed to get free on the perimeter, Satterfield said. Big 12 defenses loaded up in the box.
The Bearcats addressed their issues in the portal by adding 6-foot-5 receiver Jeff Caldwell, who's pushed his weight to 214 pounds while maintaining speed and an 11-foot-9 broad jump. Cyrus Allen from Texas A&M and Caleb Goodie from Colorado State provide a burst that Cincinnati lacked in 2024.
Tight end Joe Royer is a preseason All-Big 12 pick. Running back Tawee Walker, a transfer from Wisconsin, rushed for 864 yards last season.
While the Bearcats have had their ups and downs — Cincinnati beat Big 12 champ Arizona State last year but closed the season with five consecutive losses — the program is only four years removed from a CFP appearance.
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And as other coaches captured the attention of Nebraska fans this week at Big 12 media days, Cincinnati's Scott Satterfield billed his squad as a contender in the wide-open conference, and his revamped offense could be a handful for first-year Nebraska defensive coordinator John Butler.
'We're a much more explosive football team this year,' Satterfield said.
Satterfield said he's noticed an uptick in urgency among the Bearcats this summer because of the name-brand opponent in Nebraska.
'It's a great gauge for our football team,' he said. 'We feel like you've got to be hitting on all cylinders when you start the season against a team like Nebraska.'
He referred to the game in Kansas City as a 'neutral site.' It is, of course, but only by definition.
Per an early summer update from Nebraska athletic director Troy Dannen, 62,000 tickets were sold for the opener. A sellout or close to it at the 76,000-seat home of the Kansas City Chiefs appears likely.
Expect the overwhelming majority of those fans to back Nebraska, a seven-point favorite, according to BetMGM. The willingness of Nebraska fans to travel and the state's close proximity to Arrowhead ensure an environment that will feel like home to the Huskers.
Initially, the matchup was scheduled for Indianapolis, 110 miles from Cincinnati. The programs agreed late last year to move to Kansas City in a deal that sweetened the financial pot for the Bearcats.
'Strictly football and as a coach, I'd rather play at home,' Satterfield said. 'Bring Nebraska to our place, and let's go. So now, it'll be like a road game for both teams.'
Or perhaps not.
Regardless, Rhule and Nebraska players, including quarterback Dylan Raiola, will have their opportunity at Big Ten media days on July 22 to present a picture of a team on the rise. Many of their talking points figure to sound similar to what we heard this week from Cincinnati.
They are two programs mired in something closer to the same place than the Huskers might comfortably want to admit. But of the two, only Nebraska has a chance to exorcise a decade of demons.