There are season openers you survive, season openers you win, and season openers that tell you something. Nebraska’s Saturday morning date with Ohio needs to be the third kind.
The Huskers enter Matt Rhule’s fourth season as a 24½-point favorite, playing at Memorial Stadium against a good, disciplined MAC program that went 9-4 last year and has won seven straight bowl games. Yes, they return very few of their starters, but nobody should confuse Ohio with a sacrificial lamb. But nobody should confuse this with a toss-up, either.
Nebraska has the better roster. More size. More depth. Home field. And, perhaps most importantly, a quarterback in Anthony Colandrea who gives offensive coordinator Dana Holgorsen something Nebraska desperately needed last year: an escape hatch…