So what did Minnesota have in place at the beginning of 2019 that Nebraska might hope to replicate if it wants to have a successful season — maybe not a 9-0 start successful, but one in which the Huskers contend for the division — in 2020:
Momentum
A perfect momentum-building schedule
Momentum
- Last year, Minnesota finished the season with a rivalry-game victory at Wisconsin, owning the injured Badgers in Madison and securing a berth in the Detroit Bowl.
- Can we beat both Maryland and Iowa? The odds are long, especially against a more stable and talented Iowa team, but I think yesterday showed that we can move the ball against good defenses. If the Huskers can finish drives (especially against Iowa) and put together a healthy D-Line, we at least have a puncher's chance.
- 2019 is redshirt sophomore Tanner Morgan's third year in the Minnesota system. He has been smart and efficient in getting the ball to his playmakers.
- 2020 will be Adrian Martinez's third year in Frost's system. At 19 years old, he hasn't quite yet shown the on-field maturity (off the field, I swear he's 35) you would expect from a top-notch QB. Can he get to that point next year?
- Minnesota's backfield has two fifth-year seniors — Shannon Brooks and Rodney Smith — as well as third-year sophomore Mohamed Ibrahim. Both Smith and Ibrahim have had 1,000-yard seasons, and Brooks had run for nearly 2,000 yards in his first three seasons. Injuries kept them all off the field at one point or another the last few years. This year, they're healthy.
- We will have Mills back for his senior year, and his fifth year in college. He looked surprisingly good yesterday, showing flashes that he may well have an Ozigbo-like senior season. Beyond that, we're not as experienced, but having some players such as Thompkins and Johnson step up to create a three-headed monster can happen, though we won't likely be as rich at RB as Minnesota is this year.
- Tyler Johnson is a senior who entered the year with nearly 2,000 yards receiving. Chris Autman-Bell is a third-year sophomore who recorded nearly 500 yards receiving as a redshirt freshman. Rashod Bateman is a true sophomore who had 704 yards as a freshman. Tight ends have caught just 17 passes for the Gophers this year.
- We'll likely have J.D. Spielman as a senior and Wandale Robinson as a true sophomore to mirror Johnson and Bateman, respectively. But who emerges from a redshirt year or in the recruiting cycle to add more threats outside will tell if we can match Minnesota. We actually should have more tight end productivity than we do now and than Minnesota currently has.
- Minnesota runs 325, 325, 305, 345 and 400 pounds out to start the game. They're not especially experienced — no seniors, but two fourth-year players — but they do a good job pushing around lines such as ours.
- We will finally have some experience on the line next year, even if it's provided by the same group that has been disappointing through most of the season. If yesterday is a sign, those disappointments may be fewer in the near future. This year's line averages 34 pounds less per man than Minnesota's and that might not change immediately, but experience and agility should help Nebraska perform better.
- Minnesota starts six seniors on defense, but it also features two graduate transfers who have multiple years left to play for the Gophers — Micah Dew-Treadway came from Notre Dame and has two years to play, while Benjamin St-Juste came from Michigan and has three full years to play.
- Without any depth chart changes, Nebraska is likely to start about six seniors next year. The key will be finding breakout players in the current redshirt list or finding some game-changers in the transfer portal.
- "Row the Boat," baby. It may sound corny, but it appears everybody has bought in. Kids like that kind of stuff.
- I'm not sure what our unifying message is yet. I'm hoping it's more than the "We're Nebraska, and You're Not" that seems to carry absolutely no weight these days, and may do more psychic harm than good.
A perfect momentum-building schedule
- Minnesota started with a good FCS team (South Dakota State) and two Group of 5 teams before hitting the Big Ten. They didn't look good, but they won. Then they hit the Big Ten, playing their first four conference games against three losing teams (Purdue, Nebraska and Rutgers) and an Illinois team still finding itself. It was the perfect runway to beating Penn State at home and giving Iowa all it could handle on the road before running out of gas.
- Unfortunately, Nebraska has no runway as we open against Purdue, a team that Scott Frost is 0-2 against. After that, we get South Dakota State and two Group of 5 teams, though Central Michigan is better than Georgia Southern, and Cincinnati is much better than Fresno. We get all four of those teams in Lincoln, where hope will be high as it always is. Nebraska re-enters the Big Ten with three winnable games against Northwestern, Illinois and Rutgers. After that our schedule toughens considerably with a five-week finish against Ohio State, Penn State, Iowa, Wisconsin and Minnesota.
