Husker football is back! But I’m on the pessimistic side for this year. In no way am I bashing Scott Frost. I do believe he is a remarkable coach and the future of Husker football is bright. However, I think Husker football this year may not turn out super well.

The game against Akron hurt the Huskers in more ways than just the lost opportunity to get a win. Now, I have heard of multiple possibilities for the Huskers making up that game. One possibility, and probably the most likely one, is for the Huskers to play Akron during championship weekend. This would be around Dec. 1. This will probably only take place if Nebraska (or Akron for that matter) needs one more win to become bowl eligible.

Not playing the first scheduled game of the year also put the Huskers behind their future opponents. Now after next week, NU will have two games under its belt and that problem will no longer be a problem.

But, I believe that it hurt NU a ton this week. During the first game of the year, both teams work out the kinks. Season openers with teams of “equal” talent and ability, sometimes come down to who can work out the kinks faster or get over the first game mistakes that every team will inevitably make.

Now, some people will say that the Huskers just had an extra week of practice. However, nothing gets the season started like getting to go onto the field and go full speed for the entire game. Players are not going full speed, full contact very often in practice.

I do believe that Scott Frost is the future of Husker football, but as a NU fan that is very critical of this year, I don’t think we are making a bowl game this year, especially if we cannot come to an agreement with Akron to complete or restart that game.

Looking ahead at the schedule, there are four remaining games that we “should” win: Troy, Purdue, Minnesota and Illinois.

None of these games are going to be “sure wins,” but those are in the category of “should win”. Also, those four games are at home, which I think could be the difference at some point this season.

Now, there are two games that I think are “can-win” games: Northwestern and Iowa. Both of these games are on the road, making them that much harder. I believe that we might come away with one of these wins, which would put us at five wins, assuming that we win all four of the “should win” games.

There are four remaining games in our schedule, all away. These games are Michigan, Wisconsin, and Ohio State. All away, I don’t see us winning any of them.

So all-in-all, I would not be surprised if our bowl eligibility will come down to us playing Akron at the end of the season.

We will see.