Nebraska’s 28-20 loss to USC on Saturday once again pushed the promise of bowl eligibility back another week for the postseason-starved Cornhuskers.
Nebraska has now lost its last nine games with bowl eligibility on the line, dating back to 2016 at Indiana. Eight of those losses have come within the last two seasons. The Cornhuskers have lost their last four games after a 5-1 start to this season and are a year removed from losing the last four games of the 2023 season following a 5-3 start in Year 1 of the Matt Rhule era.
The postseason drought has extended across three coaches, dating back to Mike Riley’s last season in 2017. Nebraska started this season 3-0 with wins over UTEP, Colorado and Northern Iowa before falling to Illinois 31-24 in overtime. The Cornhuskers responded by winning their next two games over Purdue and Rutgers before losing their last four to Indiana, Ohio State, UCLA and now USC.
The Cornhuskers came agonizingly close to breaking that streak on Saturday. After USC extended its lead to eight with 2:45 remaining, Nebraska had a chance to tie the game on the final possession. But quarterback Dylan Raiola threw an interception on the final play of the day in the end zone to seal the win for the Trojans (despite an apparent missed defensive penalty).
Nebraska closes out the regular season against Wisconsin at home next Saturday before facing Iowa on Nov. 29. The Cornhuskers will need to win one of those games to avoid another disastrous late-season collapse.
