Monday Morning Quarterback: Do you see the Huskers getting to 8 wins in the 2021 season?

Bill Moos said that a “realistic expectation” for the Huskers this season would be 8 or 9 wins. Another tough schedule for Big Red doesn’t leave much room for slippage for the team to pull this off.

8/28 @Illinois – A must-win game to start the season for the Huskers against a second tier Big 10 team with a new coach coming off an unsuccessful year. Huskers win this one.

9/4 and 9/11 – Back-to-back home games against Fordham and Buffalo should be wins for the Huskers. This puts the Huskers at 3-0 going into the Oklahoma game.

9/18 @Oklahoma – A win would be huge, epic even. Oklahoma looks loaded this year and is being discussed as favorite for the BCS and strong contender for the championship so have to put this down as an L. A close game would be tremendous for the Huskers.

9/25 @Michigan State – Not a top tier Big Ten, but a challenging game for the Huskers. The new coach looks legit and the Spartans are returning their top 3 receivers and top 3 rushers, among others. If the Huskers don’t get this win there seems little chance the teams get to 8 wins. So…. Big Red gets the W and is 4-1 coming out of September.

Then there are three huge games, two at home, for Coach Frost and the Huskers – especially if they are going to get to a bowl, let alone to 8 wins. These are the type of upper half Big 10 teams that the Huskers need to start beating, especially at home. This will be the stretch that determines the season for the Huskers.

10/2 Northwestern – Lost a number of key starters from last year, so definitely a winnable game at home for the Huskers. How the Huskers handle business at home this year is huge if they want to make the move up in the conference.

10/9 Michigan – Two coaches on the hot seat. Wolverines coming into Lincoln after a bye week. This would be such a sweet win for Frost and the Husker faithful. Memorial should be rocking.

10/16 @Minnesota – Minnesota is not expected to be as strong this year, primarily because of defense, but still is bringing back a good quarterback and a 1,000-yard rusher. Big Red would have taken this one last year if not for crucial turnovers.

Huskers get two of these three games heading into a bye week, putting them at 6-2 before playing Purdue at home.

10/30 Purdue – Nebraska should/better have no problem beating Purdue’s weak defense at home after the bye week. This gets the Huskers to 7-2 going into the home stretch of three very tough games.

11/6 Ohio State – An expected loss. A competitive game at home against a loaded Ohio State team would be huge heading into the final two games. Huskers at 7-3 heading into the last two games with the best teams in the West.

11/20 @Wisconsin – The Badgers have a good quarterback and running back, a lot of talent returning on the offensive line and on defense, along with a strong recruiting class, and are the preseason pick to win the West. An unlikely win at Madison for Huskers, putting them at 7-4 heading into the last game of the season.

11/26 Iowa – Husker fans want this one, big time. Six straight losses of the Heroes Trophy has been a foul pill to swallow. Iowa ended last year strong, they have a lot of returning starters, and they will be coming off a bye week. The Huskers, especially the Blackshirts, need to show up big at home to get this win and an 8-4 season record in 2021.

What do you think – do the Huskers get to eight wins this year?