The Big Red football team is off to a 3-0 start.
That hasn’t happened since 2016, when NU ripped off seven straight victories.
Two years ago, Nebraska began the season with two wins and two losses. The two wins were by margins of 24 and 14 over Northern Illinois and Louisiana Tech, respectively.
Next on the schedule was a greatly anticipated game against second-ranked Michigan in Lincoln.
Nebraskans knew that beating this group of Wolverines was a long shot.
It was.
Michigan beat Nebraska, 45-7 and rolled on to claim the National Championship with a record of 15 wins and no losses.
The Huskers finished with another season record of five win and seven losses under first-year head coach Matt Rhule.
Four years ago, on October 9, 2021, Michigan won a thriller in Lincoln, 32-29.
The Huskers entered the game with a record of three wins and three losses. Michigan was ranked No. 9.
Nebraska led, 29-26, with four minutes left in the game.
However, two late field goals by the Wolverines’ Jake Moody sealed Nebraska’s fate.
What vividly sticks in my mind is MU coach Jim Harbaugh constantly in the ears of the referees, whining like a four-year-old child.
Nebraska went on to lose every game remaining on the schedule and finished the season with a record of three wins and nine losses, recording its’ worst record since 1961.
To say that the loss to Michigan was a turning point in the season is an understatement.
Other memories include Nebraska defeating Michigan in Lincoln, 23-9, in 2012. It is the only time our family of four have watched an entire Husker game together in Memorial Stadium.
Kenny Bell caught a 32-yard touchdown pass from Taylor Martinez directly below us. We sat in Section 19, Row 35. They were great seats provided to our family by KCOW. At the time, construction was taking place on the new balcony and suites in the east stadium. I still remember the giant cranes overlooking the sellout crowd.
I also remember that four days prior to the game, Cynthia was bedridden at Box Butte General Hospital with a vertigo attack. By Saturday, we walked together from our parking spot near the State Capitol to Memorial Stadium. What a trooper!
In 2005, Nebraska beat Michigan, 32-28, in the Alamo Bowl. Nebraska overcame an 11-point deficit with nine minutes to play to claim victory.
Cynthia and I watched the game together on TV.
On January 1, 1986, Michigan beat Nebraska, 27-23, in the Fiesta Bowl.
Nebraska led, 14-3, at halftime, but Michigan outscored NU, 24-0, in the third quarter.
I had driven from my home in Cozad to my hometown of Valparaiso to watch the game with my dad on that sunny, but cold, New Year’s Day. I would only have the joy of viewing four more Husker football games with Dad before his passing in 2008.
I was only three years old when Bob Devaney’s Cornhuskers upset Michigan, 25-13, in Ann Arbor. Many historians believe this was the true turning point for Nebraska football in becoming one of the nation’s dominant programs. Following NU’s September 29, 1962, victory over MU, the Huskers would win 413 games between October 6, 1962, and December 29, 2003.
What will be the result of the September 20, 2025, Michigan at Nebraska game and how will it affect the psyche of Nebraska football?
This year’s Michigan team certainly does not offer the talent that the Wolverines 2023 team possessed.
On the other side of the coin, this year’s Nebraska team APPEARS to be more talented than the Come a Runnin’ Boys of 2023.
Could this Saturday’s game prove to be a turning point for the Cornhuskers? Or will it be another affair of disappointment following a hypertension week?
My gut tells me the game will belong to Michigan, while my heart says Nebraska.
Here’s hoping Saturday’s game will be a repeat of Nebraska’s victory over Colorado in Lincoln last year – when the Memorial Stadium crowd boarded on spirited insanity.