The 2020 Nebraska Cornhuskers football team represented the University of Nebraska in the 2020 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The team was coached by third-year head coach Scott Frost and played their games at Memorial Stadium in Lincoln, Nebraska, as members of the West Division in the Big Ten Conference.
On August 11, 2020, the Big Ten Conference suspended all fall sports competitions due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The team disclosed an attempt to play a fall football season as an independent, but Commissioner Kevin Warren stated they could not do so without facing consequences. In late-August, a group of Nebraska players also sued the Big Ten, alleging that its council did not actually vote on the postponement. On September 16, the Big Ten reinstated the season, announcing an eight-game season beginning on October 24.
After playing to a 3–5 record, all in conference games, the team announced on December 20 that it would not participate in any bowl game.
Offseason
2020 NFL draft +RoundPickPlayerTeam6194Khalil DavisTampa Bay Buccaneers7232Carlos DavisPittsburgh SteelersUndraftedDarrion DanielsSan Francisco 49ersLamar JacksonNew York Jets
Transfers
Outgoing Name Number Position Height Weight Class Hometown Destination Jaylin Bradley #33 RB 6'0" 200 Junior Bellevue, NE N/A Moses Bryant #35 CB 5'11" 200 Sophomore Elkhorn, NE N/A Andrew Bunch #17 QB 6'1" 215 Senior Thompson's Station, TN Southeast Missouri State Tony Butler #25 CB 6'2" 220 Senior Lakewood, OH Kent State Darien Chase #13 WR 6'1" 180 RS-Freshman Vancouver, WA Portland State Ethan Cox #16 CB 5'10" 195 Junior Blair, NE N/A AJ Forbes #52 OL 6'4" 310 Sophomore Bellevue, NE Montana Jaiden Francois #12 CB 6'0" 185 Freshman Homestead, FL Central Florida Henry Gray N/A CB 6'0" 175 Freshman Hollywood, FL Florida International Keyshawn Greene #17 LB 6'3" 175 Freshman Crawfordville, FL Florida Atlantic Andre Hunt #15 WR 6'0" 190 Sophomore Palmdale, CA (dismissed from team) Pernell Jefferson #32 LB 6'2" 250 Senior New Orleans, LA Arkansas–Monticello Joey Johnson #53 LB 6'3" 240 Sophomore Gretna, NE N/A Miles Jones #22 WR 5'8" 175 Sophomore Miramar, FL Tennessee Dylan Jorgensen #97 PK 5'9" 185 Sophomore Lincoln, NE N/A Katerian Legrone #12 TE 6'3" 235 Sophomore Atlanta, GA (dismissed from team) Jaevon McQuitty #4 WR 6'0" 200 Junior Columbia, MO South Dakota Jordan Paup #57 LB 6'3" 245 Junior Central City, NE Abilene Christian Barret Pickering #32 PK 6'0" 200 Junior Birmingham, AL (retired) John Raridon #50 OL 6'4" 315 Senior West Des Moines, IA (retired) JD Spielman #10 WR 5'9" 180 Senior Eden Prairie, MN TCU Isaiah Stalbird #49 S 6'0" 210 Sophomore Kearney, NE South Dakota State Noah Vedral #16 QB 6'1" 200 Junior Wahoo, NE Rutgers Matt Waldoch #35 PK 6'0" 170 Junior Geneva, IL (retired) Maurice Washington #28 RB 6'1" 190 Junior Stockton, CA (dismissed from team) Jaron Woodyard #8 WR 5'11" 185 Senior Gaithersburg, MD Marshall
Incoming +NameNumberPositionHeightWeightClassHometownPrevious SchoolJared Bubak#80TE6'5"240SeniorLincoln, NEArizona StateConnor CulpN/APK5'10"185SeniorPhoenix, AZLSULevi FalckN/AWR6'2"205SeniorCircle Pines, MNSouth DakotaEzra MillerN/AOL6'6"310SophomoreHolstein, IAIowaNouredin Nouili#63OL6'4"285SophomoreFrankfurt, GermanyColorado StateZach Schlager#25LB6'0"210SophomoreMcCook, NEColorado State
Recruits The Cornhuskers signed a total of 23 scholarship recruits and 20 walk-ons during the Early Signing Period on December 18, 2019.
Scholarship recruits
Walk-on recruits
Preseason
Award watch lists Doak Walker AwardDedrick MillsRBSRJohn Mackey AwardJack StollTESRMaxwell AwardAdrian MartinezQBJRPaul Hornung AwardWan'Dale RobinsonWRSOWuerffel TrophyBen StilleDLSR
Preseason media polls Below are the results of the media poll with total points received next to each school and first-place votes in parentheses. For the 2020 poll, Ohio State was voted as the favorite to win both the East Division and the Big Ten Championship Game. This is the 10th iteration of the preseason media poll conducted by Cleveland.com, which polls at least one credentialed media member for each Big Ten team. Only twice in the last ten years has the media accurately predicted the Big Ten champion. +East 1 Ohio State 237 (33) 2 Penn State 204 (1) 3 Michigan 169 4 Indiana 134 5 Michigan State 94 6 Maryland 76 7 Rutgers 38 +West 1 Wisconsin 221 (19) 2 Minnesota 209.5 (14) 3 Iowa 157 4 Nebraska 117 5 Purdue 105 6 Northwestern 87.5 (1) 7 Illinois 55 Media poll (Big Ten Championship) 1 Ohio State over Wisconsin 19 2 Ohio State over Minnesota 13 3 Ohio State over Northwestern 1 4 Penn State over Minnesota 1
Schedule Nebraska had games scheduled against Central Michigan, South Dakota State, and Cincinnati, but canceled these games on July 9 due to the Big Ten Conference's decision to play a conference-only schedule due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
On September 19, the Big Ten announced a new league schedule to accommodate a new 9-game conference-only season, where the ninth game will feature cross divisional matchups of #1 vs #1, #2 vs. #2, etc.
On October 29, Nebraska attempted to replace the Wisconsin game with a game against FCS school Chattanooga. However, it was denied by the Big Ten Conference, which reaffirmed its policy against scheduling nonconference games for the 2020 season.
Nebraska's game with Wisconsin was canceled due to a COVID-19 outbreak at Wisconsin. The game was not rescheduled. Instead, both teams had a bye week and played only eight conference games.
Nebraska's game with Rutgers was adjusted from a 3:00 p.m. to a 6:30 p.m. kickoff time on Friday, December 18, after the cancellation of the Indiana-Purdue game.Nebraska-Rutgers Now Set for 6:30 p.m. (CT) on Friday
Roster and coaching staff
Depth Chart start of season
Depth Chart End of season
Game summaries
at No. 5 Ohio State
Statistics NEB OSU First downs 17 28 Total yards 370 491 Rushes/yards 36–210 48–215 Passing yards 160 276 Passing: Comp–Att–Int 16–20–0 20–21–0 Time of possession 26:46 33:14 Team Category Player StatisticsNebraska Passing Adrian Martinez 12/15, 105 yards Rushing Adrian Martinez 13 carries, 85 yards, TD Receiving Wan'Dale Robinson 6 receptions, 49 yardsOhio State Passing Justin Fields 20/21, 276 yards, 2 TD Rushing Justin Fields 15 carries, 54 yards, TD Receiving Garrett Wilson 7 receptions, 129 yards, TD
vs Wisconsin
The Wisconsin at Nebraska game was canceled due to a COVID-19 outbreak at Wisconsin. The game will not be rescheduled. Instead, both teams will have a bye and will have just seven games.
at Northwestern
Statistics NEB NW First downs 28 14 Total yards 442 317 Rushes/yards 43–224 38–148 Passing yards 218 169 Passing: Comp–Att–Int 24–45–2 16–27–2 Time of possession 32:27 27:33 Team Category Player StatisticsNebraska Passing Adrian Martinez 12/27, 125 yards, INT Rushing Adrian Martinez 13 carries, 102 yards Receiving Marcus Fleming 5 receptions, 75 yardsNorthwestern Passing Peyton Ramsey 16/27, 169 yards, 2 TD, 2 INT Rushing Drake Anderson 18 carries, 89 yards, TD Receiving John Raine 4 receptions, 33 yards, TD
vs Penn State
Statistics PSU NEB First downs 30 17 Total yards 501 298 Rushes/yards 52–245 39–146 Passing yards 256 152 Passing: Comp–Att–Int 19–39–1 13–21–1 Time of possession 36:24 23:36 Team Category Player StatisticsPenn State Passing Will Levis 14/31, 219 yards Rushing Devyn Ford 16 carries, 66 yards, TD Receiving Pat Freiermuth 7 receptions, 113 yardsNebraska Passing Luke McCaffrey 13/21, 152 yards, TD, INT Rushing Luke McCaffrey 13 carries, 67 yards, TD Receiving Zavier Betts 2 receptions, 54 yards, TD
vs Illinois
Statistics ILL NEB First downs 25 25 Total yards 490 392 Rushes/yards 52–285 44–215 Passing yards 205 177 Passing: Comp–Att–Int 18–25–0 18–30–3 Time of possession 36:21 23:39 Team Category Player StatisticsIllinois Passing Brandon Peters 18/25, 205 yards, TD Rushing Mike Epstein 13 carries, 113 yards, TD Receiving Josh Imatorbhebhe 4 receptions, 71 yards, TDNebraska Passing Luke McCaffrey 15/26, 134 yards, 3 INT Rushing Luke McCaffrey 26 carries, 122 yards, 2 TD Receiving Wan'Dale Robinson 6 receptions, 60 yards
at No. 24 Iowa
Statistics NEB IOWA First downs 20 22 Total yards 338 322 Rushes/yards 38–143 45–129 Passing yards 195 193 Passing: Comp–Att–Int 21–25–0 18–30–1 Time of possession 25:36 34:24 Team Category Player StatisticsNebraska Passing Adrian Martinez 18/20, 174 yards Rushing Luke McCaffrey 5 carries, 42 yards Receiving Wan'Dale Robinson 9 receptions, 75 yardsIowa Passing Spencer Petras 18/30, 193 yards, TD, INT Rushing Tyler Goodson 30 carries, 111 yards Receiving Ihmir Smith-Marsette 3 receptions, 44 yards
at Purdue
Statistics NEB PUR First downs 20 19 Total yards 364 332 Rushes/yards 40–111 17–-2 Passing yards 253 334 Passing: Comp–Att–Int 24–31–0 33–47–0 Time of possession 33:49 26:11 Team Category Player StatisticsNebraska Passing Adrian Martinez 23/30, 242 yards, TD Rushing Dedrick Mills 16 carries, 60 yards, TD Receiving Wan'Dale Robinson 9 receptions, 114 yardsPurdue Passing Jack Plummer 33/47, 334 yards, 3 TD Rushing Zander Horvath 7 carries, 21 yards Receiving David Bell 10 receptions, 132 yards, TD
vs Minnesota
Statistics MINN NEB First downs 19 17 Total yards 387 308 Rushes/yards 43–206 36–197 Passing yards 181 111 Passing: Comp–Att–Int 17–30–0 16–29–1 Time of possession 35:28 24:12 Team Category Player StatisticsMinnesota Passing Tanner Morgan 17/30, 181 yards, TD Rushing Mohamed Ibrahim 20 carries, 108 yards, 2 TD Receiving Chris Autman-Bell 5 receptions, 82 yardsNebraska Passing Adrian Martinez 16/27, 111 yards, TD Rushing Adrian Martinez 15 carries, 96 yards, TD Receiving Wan'Dale Robinson 6 receptions, 41 yards
at Rutgers
Statistics NEB RUTG First downs 27 9 Total yards 620 252 Rushes/yards 58–365 30–130 Passing yards 255 122 Passing: Comp–Att–Int 24–28–2 11–22–1 Time of possession 39:31 20:29 Team Category Player StatisticsNebraska Passing Adrian Martinez 24/28, 255 yards, TD, 2 INT Rushing Dedrick Mills 25 carries, 191 yards Receiving Wan'Dale Robinson 6 receptions, 79 yards, TDRutgers Passing Artur Sitkowski 10/20, 122 yards Rushing Johnny Langan 9 carries, 54 yards Receiving Bo Melton 5 receptions, 81 yards
Big Ten awards
All-Conference awards
2020 Big Ten Offense All-Conference Teams and Awards2020 Big Ten All-Conference Teams and Awards
Bakken-Andersen Kicker of the YearPKConnor Culp
Coaches All-Big TenPKConnor CulpFirst TeamCBCam Taylor-BrittSecond TeamWRWan'Dale RobinsonHonorable MentionOLMatt FarniokHonorable MentionOLBrenden JaimesHonorable MentionDLBen StilleHonorable MentionLBJoJo DomannHonorable MentionLBWill HonasHonorable MentionSMarquel DismukeHonorable MentionSDeontai WilliamsHonorable Mention
Media All-Big TenPKConnor CulpFirst TeamOLMatt FarniokHonorable MentionOLBrenden JaimesHonorable MentionDLBen StilleHonorable MentionLBJoJo DomannHonorable MentionLBWill HonasHonorable MentionCBDicaprio BootleHonorable MentionCBCam Taylor-BrittHonorable MentionSMarquel DismukeHonorable MentionSDeontai WilliamsHonorable Mention
Rankings
Players drafted into the NFL
5 159 Brenden Jaimes OT Los Angeles Chargers 7 238 Matt Farniok OG Dallas Cowboys
References