College GameDay: Picks for Nebraska vs Northwestern
The college football season officially gets underway Saturday, and one of the biggest games on the slate comes from Dublin, Ireland. That’s where Nebraska and Northwestern will face off as part of the Week 0 festivities — and the College GameDay crew made their picks for the big game.
It’s a big game for Nebraska, which saw a wave of change within its program during the offseason. Scott Frost signed a restructured contract which featured a pay cut and a reduced buyout, and he got busy revamping the coaching staff. Mark Whipple is now in as offensive coordinator and Mickey Joseph is in as wide receivers coach with a big role in recruiting.
On the field, the Cornhuskers got busy in the transfer portal, bringing in 16 players. The headliner for that transfer class is Casey Thompson, who started at Texas last year and became the Cornhuskers’ starter during training camp. Changes also came on defense with Ochaun Mathis notably coming in from TCU.
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For Northwestern, Pat Fitzgerald and Co. are coming off a rough year in 2021. The Wildcats went 3-9 overall and 1-8 in Big Ten play. In fact, Nebraska’s lone conference victory came over Northwestern, which adds to the intrigue of Saturday’s game in Ireland. Ryan Hilinski will start under center for the Wildcats with an offensive line anchored by Peter Skoronski, a preseason All-American and potential first-round NFL Draft pick.
The matchup is set, and the picks are in. Here’s how the College GameDay panel expects things to go at Aviva Stadium.
College GameDay crew picks for Nebraska vs Northwestern
Kirk Herbstreit: Nebraska
“I think the line of scrimmage is the difference,” Herbstreit said. “Even though they didn’t have a great year, they self-destructed in many cases. When they played Northwestern, they ran for 427 yards just rushing. So I think the line of scrimmage will be the difference. I like Nebraska.”
Desmond Howard: Nebraska
David Pollack: Nebraska