The Nebraska football team might be coming off a tough loss, but it appears Las Vegas believes the Huskers are going to right the ship next Saturday. The early line on the Cornhuskers game against the Northern Illinois Huskies has been released and the Huskers are fairly heavy favorites against the traditional MAC conference power. In fact, the line for next Saturday's game is basically the inverse of what the Cornhuskers were facing in their game against Oregon on Saturday.
The Cornhuskers have opened as 14-point favorites against Northern Illinois, a sign that the offensive and defensive showing in the second half might have indeed salvaged the Huskers' perception in the college football world.
No, the Nebraska football team is not being considered a contender for the College football playoff, but they also aren't looking like a team that literally all comers have a real shot against.
Northern Illinois vs Nebraska football over the years
Despite the fact that the two team's relatively close geographical locations, the Huskers and the Huskies have matched up against each other just twice in the two programs' history. Not surprisingly, the Nebraska football team has won both games, which were played in 1989 and 1990. The Huskers, under Tom Osborne, made short work of Northern Illinois beating them 48-17 in 1989 and 60-14 in 1990.
It's a safe bet that Cornhuskers fans are hoping that Mike Riley and company can put up that kind of a score on Saturday after watching the offense struggle to beat Arkansas State and come up just short in a harried comeback against the Ducks.
It's a safe bet all eyes will be on Tanner Lee, who followed up a relatively solid first game with a shaky second start that included four interceptions.
The turnovers were only part of the problem for the new starting quarterback. Lee appeared uncomfortable in the pocket against the Oregon pass rush, often being quite a bit more off target than he appeared in the season opener.
Northern Illinois struggling in 2017
While the two touchdown spread for the Nebraska football programs shows them as a solid favorite, it would likely be bigger had the showing from the Huskers been sharper in the first two weeks of the year. The Huskies beat FCS Eastern Illinois 38-10 for their first victory of the season a week ago.
Northern Illinois opened the year losing to a mediocre Boston College team 23-20. Nebraska football will need to hold serve if they want to tamp down any lingering criticism after their first two games.
