The Cornhuskers have an elite history with five national football championships and 46 conference titles. But Nebraska hasn’t experienced national prominence since the Tom Osborne era (1973-1997). Can Matt Rhule return UNL to greatness?
New head coach Matt Rhule brings twenty-two years of college and NFL coaching experience to Husker Nation. Upon returning to the college football ranks after a stint with the Carolina Panthers (2020-2022), Rhule was greeted in Lincoln and throughout the state with hope and anticipation.
Matt Rhule (photo, Corn Nation)
Rhule has work to do. He will break in a new quarterback because Casey Thompson Jr. has transferred to Florida Atlantic. Jeff Sims (a Georgia Tech transfer) looks to take his place. Sims, a 6-4” inch junior from Jacksonville, Florida, passed for 1,115 yards and five touchdowns at Tech, and he also rushed for another 300+ yards and a TD.
He’ll be joined in the backfield by experienced running back Anthony Grant, a senior now, who rushed for 915 yards in 2022 with six touchdowns on 218 carries. The Buford, Georgia native also caught 18 passes for 104 yards.
While Grant is back, speedy receiver Trey Palmer, last year’s leading pass-catcher, is off to the NFL (Tampa Bay). Replacing his performance (1,043 yards, nine touchdowns, and a 4.33 forty-yard dash) won’t be easy, but junior Isaiah Garcia-Castaneda will try, hoping to match or exceed his 2021 stats when he caught 37 passes for nearly 600 yards.
The Cornhuskers have a conference game out of the gate on Thursday, August 31. They’ll travel to Minneapolis to take on the Golden Gophers at Minnesota’s Huntington Bank Stadium. Kickoff is at 8 p.m., and the game will be carried nationally on FOX.
