Joel Klatt explains why he could see Nebraska threatening for College Football Playoff

Going into the 2025 season, FOX Sports analyst Joel Klatt took some time to pick the teams that he thinks can crash the College Football Playoff party. Nebraska was not one of them.

That said, Klatt noted the Cornhuskers were under consideration for his nod. There was just one primary limiting factor amidst all the positives.

“A team I considered here was Nebraska. OK?” Klatt said on The Joel Klatt Show. “Things that I love about Nebraska: No. 1, it’s Year 3 with Matt Rhule. And we know that in Year 3 with Matt Rhule every other place that he’s been — Temple and Baylor — they’ve taken a jump. And maybe that could be this year for the Cornhuskers in Year 3 with Rhule in Lincoln.”

In his first year at Temple, the Owls won just two games. By the third year they had won 10. In his first year at Baylor, the Bears won just one game. By the third year they had won 11.

But that’s not necessarily an indicator that Nebraska will do the same. Klatt provided some more concrete bullet points on why the Cornhuskers could contend for a CFP berth.

“I really like what they did on the offensive side,” Klatt said. “Bringing in Dana Holgorsen late last season as the offensive coordinator and then retaining him. I believe that the offense, in a lot of respects, can be fixed.

“He’s specifically talked about, Dana has, simplifying the system so that the players can go and play fast. He felt like there was too much on the players from a mental standpoint and that that bogged them down and they didn’t play fast enough. And he has even more specifically called that out in relation to the young quarterback last year, Dylan Raiola, who had a lot on his plate as a true freshman.”

However, there are some negatives for Nebraska too. That’s what keeps Klatt from picking the Cornhuskers outright.

“What do I not like about what’s coming back for Nebraska?” Klatt asked. “Well, I didn’t pick them because they lost Tony White, their defensive coordinator. He’s very good. So they promoted from within with John Butler.

“They lose those two defensive tackles. And if you want to talk about why their defense was so good last year, it was because of the defensive tackles. (Nash) Hutmacher and Ty Robinson, they lose both of those guys so they had to hit the portal. Why did I not pick them? It’s because of that. That was the heart and soul of their defense, so I question whether their defense will be as strong this year as it was a year ago.”

Finally, Klatt analyzed the schedule for Nebraska. It’ll give Rhule and company a chance to build momentum before a brutal final month.

“Can they be 7-1 going into November? No doubt about it,” Klatt said. “Their first eight games, home versus Michigan in September and at Minnesota on a Friday night. Those are really the only two difficult games that they have in their first eight. There’s an opportunity there to have a quality season going into November. November looks like this: host USC, at UCLA, at Penn State, and Iowa. So that’s what Nebraska has in front of them.”