Kirk Herbstreit Names College Football Team Who’s Stock He’s Buying Right Now

It’s been a number of years since the Nebraska Cornhuskers were nationally relevant.

That appears to be changing in 2024 under head coach Matt Rhule with star freshman quarterback Dylan Raiola. Nebraska is 2-0 with emphatic wins over UTEP and Colorado, and ESPN’s Kirk Herbstreit believes the Huskers are a team to be buying stock in right now.

“Matt Rhule — just for a history lesson — when he went to Temple in Year 1 they were 2-10, by Year 3 they were 10-4,” Herbstreit said Saturday on “College GameDay.” “He went to Baylor, they were 1-11 in Year 1. By Year 3, 11-3. The guy knows how to take a program that’s struggling, build it up, get itself to believe, change the culture.

“And it wasn’t just that they beat Colorado, they smashed them within the line of scrimmage. Linebackers downhill, the running back taking on Shilo Sanders, running right through him. To me, it’s personality. I said last week they’re 7-0 when they go to Columbus, I feel that even more emphatically about what’s going on. That is a stock to buy right now in Nebraska.”

Nebraska has a schedule of winnable games over the next few weeks leading into a showdown with No. 3 Ohio State on Oct. 26. The toughest game on the schedule over that five-week stretch is a home game against Illinois on Sept. 20.

There’s a good chance the Cornhuskers are undefeated (and ranked) heading into the Ohio State game, which most feel is a measuring-stick game for judging how good Nebraska, and ultimately Raiola, really is.