Common Fan - A Nebraska Football Podcast

The Common Fans are spicy as they discuss Nebraska’s frustrating loss to Michigan. 

• Nebraska lost–at times badly–at both lines of scrimmage. 
• The Nebraska run defense was gashed to the tune of almost 300 yards. 
• The Husker offensive line could not contain Michigan’s defenders, and the offense didn’t do much of anything in the 2nd half.
• Special teams bugaboos rear their ugly ...

Brian Christopherson joins the Common Fans to discuss the big game against Michigan and Nebraska’s 2025 season to date. 

• How much can we take from Akron and HCU?
• Trying to contain the running threat posed by Michigan’s Bryce Underwood and Justice Haynes. 
• Looking at Nebraska’s strengths vs. the Wolverines.
• Still no clarity at RB after Emmett Johnson.
• Will Nebrask...

The Common Fans discuss Nebraska’s dominating win over Houston Christian and look ahead to the long-awaited Michigan game. 

• For an 11am kickoff after a massive win over Akron last weekend, both the team and the crowd still brought the energy. 
• The Dane Key coming out party. 
• Defense dominates, but much stiffer tests await.
• Do we need to worry about the front seven on defense going into Big Ten play?  
• Starters out by halftime. 
• Is Kw...

Adam Carriker joins the Common Fans to discuss the wins over Akron and Cincinnati and the road ahead for the Big Red. 

• Matt Rhule’s fiery halftime speech and what it indicates about Rhule as a head coach. 
• How critical it was for Nebraska to get the W over Cincinnati.
• The huge benefit of three weeks of practice (and two likely wins) in the time between Cincinnati and Michigan. 
• What to make of Nebraska’s Big Ten schedule. 
• Can we be...

The Common Fans discuss Nebraska’s dominating win over Akron.

• Not much went wrong for the Big Red on Saturday night, as Nebraska dominated Akron in every facet of the game. 
• While the Zips are clearly not very good, it was still a sign of progress for this program to put away a team in such an overwhelming fashion. 
• A win like this was what everyone needed: the team, the program, the entire fan base, all of Husker Nation. 
• Six diff...

Gary Sharp joins the Common Fans to share his reactions to the Cincinnati game and talk about what’s next for Nebraska football.

• Gary saw plenty of issues for the Huskers to fix, but the game didn’t fundamentally change his outlook for the Big Red in 2025.
• Defensive line, depth at running back are obvious areas in need of improvement. 
• Gary also mentions the linebacker play as something...

The Common Fans discuss Nebraska’s thrilling win over Cincinnati at Arrowhead Stadium. 

• The Huskers showed plenty of promise on Thursday night, but the team also has lots to work on. 
• The Nebraska team that showed up at Arrowhead Stadium does not look like a playoff team…but that doesn’t mean the Big Red can’t still put together a special run in 2025.
• The most important thing was gettin...

The Common Fans celebrate the end of the offseason and the beginning of another season of Nebraska football! Before getting to their bold predictions, there is much to discuss regarding the latest and greatest surrounding Husker football: 

• The debate over whether or not you can be a fan of more than one college football team. 
• National commentators predicting Nebraska in the playoffs.
• Josh Pate, Phil Steele, Geoff Schwartz, Brando...

Mike’l Severe joins the Common Fans for the third of a three-episode series, breaking down every game on Nebraska’s schedule. The episodes will be released Monday, Wednesday, and Friday of this week, in anticipation of Nebraska’s first game next week. 

Today, Mike’l and the Common Fans go through the final four games on the Huskers’ schedule. 

On the game against USC in Lincoln:

• With US...

Mike’l Severe joins the Common Fans for the second of a three-episode series, breaking down every game on Nebraska’s schedule. The episodes will be released Monday, Wednesday, and Friday of this week, in anticipation of Nebraska’s first game next week. 

Today, Mike’l and the Common Fans go through the middle four games of the Huskers’ schedule. 

On the game against Michigan State:

• The c...

Mike’l Severe joins the Common Fans for the first of a three-episode series, breaking down every game on Nebraska’s schedule. The episodes will be released Monday, Wednesday, and Friday of this week, in anticipation of Nebraska’s first game next week. 

Today, Mike’l and the Common Fans go through the first four games of Nebraska’s schedule. 

On the opener against Cincinnati:

• The crew se...

Broadcasting legend Tim Brando joins the Common Fans to discuss the upcoming season, the outlook for Nebraska, his favorite to win the Big Ten, his old friend Lee Corso, plus much more! 

Brando sees the Huskers taking another step forward in 2025:

• Last year, Brando came on the Common Fan Podcast and correctly predicted Nebraska would make a bowl game and have a winning season in 2024. 
• ...

The Common Fans discuss the impact offensive coordinator Dana Holgorsen and special teams coordinator Mike Ekeler will have for Nebraska football in 2025. 

• In order to take the patented Year 3 leap under Matt Rhule, the Huskers will almost certainly need to win close games. 
• What can turn close losses into wins? Improvement on offense and special teams. 
• Holgorsen brings swagger and a s...

Tom Osborne biographer Henry Cordes of the Omaha World Herald and Brandon Vogel of the Counter Read Newsletter join the Common Fans for the final episode of the Tom Osborne series. 

• Simply put, TO is the best coach in Nebraska football history, and one of the greatest college football coaches of all time. 
• Beloved by his players to this day.
• Deep and lasting connection to his players, built on a concern for them first as people an...

College Football Hall of Famer Grant Wistrom and Omaha World Herald legend Tom Shatel join the Common Fans for the fifth episode of the Tom Osborne series. This episode focuses on the 1995-1997 seasons. 

• The dominance of the 1995 team.
• Averaged over 53 points per game; gave up just 14 and a half.
• They averaged more than 556 rushing yards per game. 
• No team came ...

For Episode 4 of the Tom Osborne series, the Common Fans are joined by All Big 8 wingback Abdul Muhammad and longtime Nebraska sports writer Mitch Sherman. This episode focuses on the period from 1990-1994. 

• Toward the end of the 1990 season, the Huskers were #2 in the country.
• Then they blew a 12-0 lead against Colorado, and suffered back-to-back blowouts against Oklahoma and vs. Georgia Tech in t...

The Common Fans interrupt their summer series on Tom Osborne to discuss the latest comments from Scott Frost. 

• In case you hadn’t noticed, Scott Frost is in the news again. 
• When asked what he learned from his time at Nebraska, Frost said, “Don't take the wrong job.”
• He went on to say, “I got tugged in a direction to try to help my alma mater and didn't really want to do it. It ...

In the third episode of their deep dive into Tom Osborne’s career, the Common Fans talk to Husker legend Steve Taylor and former Lincoln Journal Star sportswriter Ken Hambleton about TO’s teams of the 1980s. 

• TO takes things to another level.
• With five conference titles from 1980 to 1989, Nebraska had more wins than any other college football team in the decade. 
• Huskers co...

In the second episode of the Common Fans’ deep dive into Tom Osborne’s career, the boys look at TO’s early days as Nebraska’s head coach in the 1970s. 

• Husker legend Tom Ruud discusses his days playing for both Bob Devaney and Tom Osborne. 
• Long time sportswriters Mike Babcock and Brandon Vogel also join the conversation. 
• Changing of the guard from Devaney to Osborne. 
• Early struggles to beat Oklahoma. 
• Storyline that TO “can’t win...