5-5
No matter the reasons, no matter the situation, no matter the factors that are out of the team's control, that's the reality Nebraska football has found itself in for a second consecutive season under head coach Matt Rhule:
Five wins, five losses, two more games to go.
For the second straight year, that will feature matchups with the Wisconsin Badgers and Iowa Hawkeyes. The circumstances will be changed when the Huskers square up with Iowa this time around. There will be no appearance in the Big Ten Championship Game on the line for the Hawkeyes (as there were the previous two seasons), and Iowa will not have a 10-win season in play (as it achieved last year with its win in Lincoln).
Against Wisconsin? Well, that one is pretty much a repeat. Call it a Groundhog Day type of game.
Last season, both programs entered the matchup led by first-year head coaches with Rhule pitted against Luke Fickell. Both teams had 5-5 records looking to punch a bowl game ticket, and both teams were in the midst of a losing streak. Nebraska was on a two-game skid following a pair of three-point losses, which included a second time that year losing by a final score of 13-10, and Wisconsin was coming off three L's in a row that featured two losses by a 24-10 final score and another by a 20-14 final score.
We digress but, still, just simply bizarre all around.
Nebraska is limping, crawling really, as we head into Saturday's kickoff (2:30 p.m. CT on Big Ten Network) as it's stumbling through a four-game losing streak that features three one-score losses. The Badgers are reeling once again, too, as owners of a three-game skid featuring a blowout road loss at Iowa and two home losses to top-five teams Penn State and Oregon.
Don't forget: Rhule demoted his offensive coordinator just before his team's most recent game (on the road at USC), making the formal announcement during last Monday's Game Week press conference. Fickell fired his OC just before his team's upcoming game (on the road at Nebraska), making the formal announcement on Sunday.
Oh, how the times are not a-changin'.
That's a similar belief that some may be feeling on Monday when Rhule stepped to the podium to deliver answers to some crucial questions about the Badgers – and then proceeded to give a familiar refrain about the Huskers' failures, struggles and the perceived curse that has been putting Nebraska fans' heads into a blender for the better part of a decade or two.
