Can the Huskers Win Seven Games?

Husker Dan believes that’s the total needed for Scott Frost to keep his job. After the loss in Dublin, the odds aren’t with him.

Scott Bruhn photo/Nebraska Communications

After Saturday's disappointing loss to Northwestern in Dublin, here are some things I'm not going to discuss in this column:

1. The boneheaded failed onside kick in the 3rd quarter
2. The Huskers' inability to have a consistent running game
3. Why couldn't Nebraska stop the Wildcats' rushing game?
4. Why couldn't the Husker coaches adapt to NW's second-half changes that saw the Wildcats shut down the Huskers after they had scored 28 points?
5. Why on Saturday morning on ESPN's "Game Day" did Kirk Herbstreit pick the Huskers to win the Big Ten West this year?
6. Why didn't all the puking the Husker O-line did in fall camp result in better line play?
7. Why did Frost's team lose its seventh consecutive game by single digits?
8. Where was the supposedly great Husker pass rush?
9. How was it that NW's QB, Ryan Hilinksi, was able to complete 71% of his passes (315 yards and 2 TDs 0 INTs) against Nebraska Saturday? In all of last year he completed just 54% of his passes and had more INTs (4) than he had TDs (3).

No siree, Bob. I'm not going to say a word about any of that.

Okay, the Huskers have 11 more games to play, so there is plenty of time to "turn things around." Of course, there is some truth to that notion.

But as Lee Corso always says, "Not so fast!" I just want to present a mathematical exercise.

I believe in order for Scott Frost to retain his job, his team has to win at least seven games in the regular season. That would also mean that to get to that win total, Nebraska can lose no more than five games.

With Saturday's loss to the Wildcats, the Huskers are down to only four more losses. Northwestern was one of Nebraska's six "winnable" games (IMO).

With 11 games to go, the Huskers at a minimum have to go 7-4 the rest of the way. How probable is that?

Not very.

The remaining "winnable" games are North Dakota, Georgia Southern, @Indiana, @Rutgers and Illinois. If the Huskers win all 5, they will still need to get two more wins out of the rest of the schedule that includes Oklahoma, @Purdue, Minnesota, @Michigan, Wisconsin and @Iowa. Last year, Nebraska lost to every one of those teams.  

Lose any more of those "winnable" games and the pressure will mount for Scott Frost. Can the Huskers get seven wins this year and save his job?

Note: To any of you who have farms, don't do any betting this fall.

John Cook's 'Blackshorts'
No, that's not a typo. Ken, a long time Husker fan, sent me a picture recently of a T-shirt he designed for the Husker volleyball team. Because the players always wear black shorts, his T-shirt creation is spot on! Congratulations to Coach Cook and the rest of the Number 1 Ranked Huskers! Go Big Red!

How ’Bout Them Huskers
On this week's podcast, grandson Will and I talk in depth about "The Debacle in Dublin" and we take a peek at the North Dakota game. Don't miss this episode.

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