As Nebraska prepares to host Illinois this week for its annual homecoming game, the Huskers are back in some old familiar territory.
After jumping out to a 4-0 start to the season, NU has vaulted up to No. 15 in both the Associated Press and USA Today Coaches polls. That marks the program’s highest ranking in nearly two full calendar years.
But as nice as it is to earn back some national respect, the Huskers know that their positioning in the top 25 really doesn’t mean anything if they can’t maintain their early success on through the rest of the season.
The last time Nebraska was rated this high was back on Nov. 15, 2014, when it started off 8-1 heading into a nationally-televised showdown with No. 22 Wisconsin in Madison. The Badgers won that game 59-24 behind a then-NCAA record 408 rushing yards and four touchdowns by Melvin Gordon.
The Huskers went on to lose two of their final three games to close out the year, and they wouldn’t return to the top 25 again until just this past week.
“The rankings are whatever right now,” senior wide receiver Jordan Westerkamp said. “All that we’re focused on is Illinois right now and what we have to do week in and week out. This is the most important game of our season and next week we obviously have a bye, but the following week whoever we play will be the most important game of the season. That’s just how it goes.”
Assuming Nebraska can take care of business against a 1-2 Fighting Illini squad on Saturday, it will go into its following bye week with a good chance to make an even bigger jump up the rankings.
There are three games this weekend between teams all rated higher than NU: No. 7 Stanford at No. 10 Washington, No. 8 Wisconsin at No. 4 Michigan, and No. 3 Louisville at No. 5 Clemson.
Then while Nebraska has the next week off during its bye, No. 11 Tennessee travels to No. 9 Texas A&M and No. 12 Florida State takes on No. 14 Miami.
Depending on how things shake out in those games, the Huskers could very well find themselves back in the top 10 for the first time since Nov. 5, 2011, when they got up to No. 9 before falling at home to unranked Northwestern, 28-25.
Even though NU is favored by as much as 21 points this week against Illinois, the players know they have no business looking ahead any further than Saturday.
“We just come out and have respect for each one of our opponents that we face each week,” senior offensive lineman Sam Hahn said. “Just respect who they are and know that they are a Big Ten opponent.
“I mean, we lost to Illinois last year, so it would be kind of dumb for us not to respect them. We’ve got to take pride in who we are and have confidence in our abilities and go out there and play our best.”
