Greg McElroy Names Potential Concerns For Historic College Football Program

The teams that won multiple national championships during the 1990s include the Florida State Seminoles in 1993 and 1999 and the Nebraska Cornhuskers, who won consecutive titles in 1994 and 1995 and shared one with the Michigan Wolverines in 1997.

The Seminoles compete for titles under Mike Norvell, but Nebraska's road has been difficult. The Cornhuskers last played in a bowl game in 2016. Matt Rhule led Nebraska to a 5-7 record in 2023.

In a recent edition of "Always College Football," Greg McElroy listed some reasons why Nebraska could miss a bowl game this season despite Rhule's history as a program builder. Rhule built programs like the Temple Owls and Baylor Bears into championship contenders in either his second or third seasons with those programs.

"It would be really disappointing just given Matt Rhule's track record of building programs," McElroy said. "What he inherited at Temple, what he inherited at Baylor, how from year one there was notable progress and then year two to three it was like championship aspirations became real."

McElroy started by referencing Nebraska's turnover stats from 2023. The Cornhuskers had a turnover margin of -17, compared to Temple's of -20.

Nebraska threw a combined 16 interceptions to opposing defenses last year. Jeff Sims, Chubba Purdy, and Heinrich Haarburg all saw time at quarterback in 2023. Nebraska threw 10 touchdown passes all last season.

The Iowa Hawkeyes, Air Force Falcons, Navy Midshipmen, and Army Black Knights were the only teams worse at throwing the football last season.

"If Nebraska misses a bowl game this year, and looking at their schedule and how everything might set up, there's really only a few ways they can miss a bowl game," McElroy said. "They continue to be atrocious when it comes to turnovers. ...Last year, Nebraska was dead last in the country, turning it over 31 times. They were minus 17 in turnover margin."

Another reason McElroy could see Nebraska missing out on bowl season was the close losses. Nebraska fans associate close losses with the Scott Frost era in Lincoln. In 2023, Nebraska lost five games by one score, and there have been 30 one-score losses dating back to the last six seasons. Rhule had three losses by a 13-10 score in year one.

"...They also probably continued to lose close games," McElroy said. "We knew that was a track record dating back to the Scott Frost era. How many times have we said, 'Oh my goodness another one-score game that goes away from Nebraska.' Last year, they lost five games by one score. They have 30 one-score losses in the last six years, and three times they lost 13-10."

Nebraska takes on the UTEP Miners in its season opener on Aug. 31.

Related: Joel Klatt Says He's 'High On' This Historic College Football Program In 2024