Let’s be honest. I don’t need to explain five reasons Nebraska is going to lose to Maryland. There are way more than five reasons so I’m not even going to break them down individually.

This article is different, I’m not really going to focus on Maryland. It’s hard to beat a dead horse with a baseball bat when you’ve been hitting it with a broom, hammer, shovel etc. Instead, here’s why we should expect a loss based on the product that Nebraska has produced all year.

Here’s the thing, Nebraska is bad this year. Everybody understands that, but what some people don’t understand is teams like Indiana, Purdon’t, Northwestern and Maryland all have a chance to beat Nebraska. Two of those already have. Just because Nebraska should “never lose to these teams,” doesn’t mean they won’t, especially when Nebraska is BAD bad.

The talent on the roster just isn’t there. Nebraska has some players who really flash, but there are gaping holes in other areas such as offensive line and linebacker. Not too mention it feels like Nebraska has absolutely no height at receiver, NONE. That’s a big issue, which isn’t going to get changed overnight like everyone had hoped.

Players are getting stronger in the weight room, and that’s great, but that doesn’t necessarily build natural football instincts. Nebraska needs defenders who fly around the field, who want to lead the league in tackles and turnovers. Nebraska needs fast, quick and shifty offensive weapons who have an offensive line that protects the quarterback and opens up holes in the running game.

Nebraska doesn’t have nearly enough of those guys yet. I understand it’s sad, but that’s the reality. Don’t expect Nebraska to win on Saturday.

BUT

By no means is that a call to give up on the team. Always believe, this team under the leadership of Scott Frost, who is still learning, can beat any team on any given Saturday. Our fearless leader Jon always tells us not to let a loss cloud the rest of our day. This time, I’m going to try to listen to him. [Jon: He nearly sent me to the ER with this line.]

We may all wake up on Sunday with Nebraska being left out of the postseason for the third year in a row, but we should expect this to be the case. This way, if Nebraska does have a chance to come home and become bowl eligible on Black Friday it’ll be a lot more exciting.

Just because we all should expect to lose this game on Saturday doesn’t mean in the future we shouldn’t expect to beat teams like Maryland 9.5/10 times we play them. I know I’ll be screaming “‘Skers by 90” as soon as Spring practice starts.