Week 0 of college football has come and gone, giving us a nice warm-up as the season now officially hits its stride. While Saturday will mark the start of the season for most teams, the Nebraska Cornhuskers and Cincinnati Bearcats will kick off Week 1 in a Thursday night matchup. This is just the second matchup in program history between these two teams, with the last taking place in 1906.
Looking at the odds for this week, Nebraska enters as 6.5-point favorites and -250 on the moneyline on DraftKings Sportsbook. Cincinnati holds +205 odds of getting the outright victory with the game total set at 51.5.
This article will look at a brief preview for both teams and a pick for the Week 1 matchup.
Nebraska vs. Cincinnati Preview
Nebraska Preview
Matt Rhule improved Nebraska’s record from 5-7 in his first year to 7-6 last season. This snapped a seven-season streak of the program finishing with a losing record. They got off to a 5-1 start to the season, but lost five of their next six before defeating Boston College in the Bad Boy Mowers PinStripe Bowl to close on a high note. Dylan Raiola emerged as one of the up-and-coming collegiate stars at the quarterback position. He posted a 67.1% completion percentage and threw for 2,819 yards, 13 touchdowns, and 11 interceptions as a true freshman. Nebraska built up its surrounding weapons in the transfer portal, bringing in Kentucky’s Dane Key and Cal’s Nyziah Hunter as the headliners. The offensive line is also expected to be as strong as it has been in several years. Raiola must clean up his turnover issues and find a greater rate of scoring production, but the raw arm talent is there, and the experience from last year will help.
The Cornhuskers’ defense ranked 26th nationally last season in EPA per play allowed. They exceeded expectations on this side of the ball, ranking 21st in sacks and 12th in interceptions. Rhule promoted DBs coach John Butler to defensive coordinator after Tony White left for Florida State after serving in the role last year. Ceyair Wright and Malcolm Hartzog Jr. will be responsible for bringing the majority of the production in the secondary. There are more questions up front with all six starters from last year leaving. Nebraska will need an immediate impact from transfers such as Georgia Southern LB Marques Watson-Trent and Edge Rushers Dasan McCullough from Oklahoma and Williams Nwaneri from Missouri.
The offense did not live up to what was hoped for last season, with the growing pains of Raiola’s freshman season a driving reason for this. Dana Holgorsen took over playcalling duties late in the season and hopes to have more success after an extended offseason working together. If the defense can come close to last year’s production and the offense takes its expected leap forward, this could be the season Nebraska begins to play its way back into some more mainstream college football conversations.
Cincinnati Preview
Scott Scatterfield is entering his third year as head coach of Cincinnati and has led the program to an 8-16 record to this point. The Bearcats took a small step forward last year, going 5-7, and return 15 starters from the team. The highlight of last season was the 24-14 upset over the eventual Big 12 champion Arizona State, but they closed the season on a five-game losing streak. They made 21 additions through the transfer portal, with several players expected to make notable impacts.
Brendan Sorsby returns at quarterback after throwing for 2,813 yards, 18 touchdowns, seven interceptions, and a 64% completion percentage last year. He also added 446 rushing yards and four touchdowns with his legs, while being the only FBS QB last season with both 425+ passing yards and 125+ rushing yards in individual games. Sorsby was one of four quarterbacks nationally with 2,800+ passing yards, 18 passing touchdowns, and nine rushing scores. Cincinnati has had a 1,000+ yard rusher in 14 straight seasons. Wisconsin transfer Tawee Walker and Evan Pryor are expected to headline the production after the Bearcats ran for 2,209 yards and 19 touchdowns last year. Tight end Joe Royer broke Travis Kelce’s single-season reception record for a Cincinnati tight end last year and will be looking to build off this. The offensive line also allowed just 30 quarterback hurries and 19 sacks last year, with three starters returning.
Tyson Veidt returns for his second season as defensive coordinator and still has some significant work to do. They allowed 24.6 points per game and 385 yards per game last year. Three-time All-Conference NT Dontay Corleone returns with 109 tackles, 17 tackles for loss, and 9.5 sacks to his name. LB Jake Golday is also a foundational piece, and the Bearcats added three transfer starters in the secondary. Kicker Stephen Rusnak also returns after being one of two kickers in the country last year to be perfect with 10+ field goal attempts.
Nebraska vs. Cincinnati Pick
The third year has been the launching point for Matt Rhule across his collegiate head coaching career. Across his time at Temple and Baylor, he went a combined 3-21 in Year 1, 13-12 in Year 2, and then 21-7 in Year 3. At Temple, he went from 2-10 to 6-6 to 10-2 and earned a place in the AP Rankings in his third season. At Baylor, the team went 1-11 in his first season, then moved to 7-6 in Year 2, and then 11-3 in his third season, with the team climbing as high as 8th in the AP Poll.
This is the situation for Rhule for this season at Nebraska. He took the baby steps from his first year to his second season, and this is the proper timeline for Nebraska being fully back on the map.
Looking at this matchup directly, Cincinnati has some concerns in the secondary with most of last year’s talent gone. This is a concern with Raiola being prepared to air it out and the new wide receiver group around him. There were some low points across his freshman season, but the raw skills are indisputable, and he now has a season of collegiate seasoning under his belt. Dontay Corleone could be a problem on the interior, and has a strong case for the most talented overall player on the field. But Nebraska’s offensive line unit is fairly solid and will have a clear focus on limiting the Cincinnati star. If he can be shut down, it will be a massive hit to the entire Bearcats’ defense.
Don’t expect Cincinnati to roll over and for this to be a competitive game throughout. But when push comes to shove, expect Raiola to be capable of putting a level of points on the board that the Bearcats cannot match. Nebraska has more experience and more trustworthy units on both sides of the ball. I believe in both of these programs to take a step forward this year, but look for Nebraska to get out of the gates with a victory and cover the -6.5 point spread.
