Common Fan - A Nebraska Football Podcast

Nebraska’s regular season ended with a 40–16 gut punch that left Husker Nation stunned, exhausted, and questioning everything. On this edition of the Common Fan Podcast, TJ Birkel, Matty Owens Sr., and Geoff in Lincoln sit down shortly after the meltdown in Memorial Stadium to process a rivalry loss that felt like a referendum on the entire Matt Rhule era. The conversation is part therapy session, part postmortem, and part ra...

Throw out all the records. Throw out all the stats. Throw out anything that has happened this season. It’s Iowa week, and it is time for all of Husker Nation to unite against the hated Hawkeyes. 

Looking at Iowa’s history: 

• The Common Fans lay out the facts to explain why Nebraska football is and always will be superior to Iowa. 
• The Hawkeyes claim five national championships, but two are from the 1920s, and for the other three–fr...

Nebraska football walked into Happy Valley on Saturday night needing a breakthrough — and instead got bulldozed. The Huskers were outplayed, outcoached, and overpowered in a 37–10 loss to Penn State that leaves the fan base frustrated, salty, and searching for answers. On this week’s episode of the Common Fan Podcast, the crew breaks down everything that went wrong in State College and what it means for Matt Rhule heading int...

Mitch Sherman joins the Common Fans to discuss TJ Lateef, the remainder of Nebraska’s season, the outlook for recruiting and the transfer portal, possible bowl destinations, and much more! 

Assessing Coach Rhule’s comments about having the resources to compete for the best players in the nation: 

• There will be more resources, both in the form of dollars in the NIL collective and in sponsorship deals for players, to help shore up ...

The Common Fans discuss Nebraska’s bounce-back win against UCLA, TJ Lateef’s coming out party, Emmett Johnson’s continued dominance, and much more. 

On true freshman quarterback TJ Lateef: 

• Lateef sparkled in his debut as Nebraska’s quarterback, leading the Big Red past the Bruins in front of 20,000+ Husker fans at the Rose Bowl. 
• The offense seemed to find a spark they have been missin...

Evan Bland joins the Common Fans to discuss the loss to USC, Dylan Raiola’s injury, and the upcoming game against UCLA. 

On the atmosphere on Saturday night: 

• The blackout at Memorial Stadium was next level. It was an incredibly impressive effort from the fan base. 
• The blackout was particularly beneficial for the big recruiting guest list that was on hand. 

On the ...

The Common Fans discuss Nebraska’s heartbreaking loss to USC. 

• Huskers looked ready to play and came out strong on an electric night in Lincoln. 
• Coaching staff had a solid game plan, as the defense completely took away the Trojans’ passing game and the offense scored on two of its four 1st half drives. 
• Nebraska ultimately couldn’t close the deal, like so many recent heartbreak, gut pu...

Former Michigan Tight End and current Big Ten Network analyst Jake Butt joins the Common Fans to discuss Nebraska’s season to date and the upcoming game against USC. 

Jake shares some fantastic stories about his time as a player.

• Overlooked by Ohio State and Notre Dame, even though he grew up 15 minutes from Columbus.
• Coming face-to-face with Urban Meyer for the first time. 
• Winning the John Mackey Award as college football’s best ...

The Common Fans discuss Nebraska’s win over Northwestern and celebrate getting to bowl eligibility for the second consecutive season. 

Huskers get up off the mat after Minnesota: 

• After a disappointing performance in Minneapolis last Friday night, the Big Red brought more fight and energy to the game against the always-pesky Northwestern Wildcats. 
• It wasn’t always pretty–it rarely has ...

Mike’l Severe joins the Common Fans to discuss Nebraska’s meltdown in Minneapolis, the chatter among Husker Nation this week, and the coming battle against Northwestern. 

What went wrong against Minnesota: 

• Mike’l suggests the number one difference between the two teams on the field on Friday night was not anything related to blocking or tackling, or throwing or catching the football. It had everything to do with culture.
• Minnesot...

The Common Fans discuss Nebraska’s disappointing performance against the Minnesota Gophers on Friday night. 

• The Huskers were outcoached, outhit, and outplayed against the Gophers. Whether they were tired or felt like it would be an easy win, Nebraska simply didn’t show up against Minnesota. 
• It’s Lucy with the football once again–every time Nebraska feels like it’s about to turn a corner, we see a...

Josh Peterson joins the Common Fans to discuss all the latest with Husker football. 

The Penn State question:

• Would Matt Rhule leave for Happy Valley? 
• How high would he be on PSU’s list?
• Does anybody really know anything? 
• What Penn State needs to show their fans. 
• What Matt Rhule needs to hear to stay.

On the upcoming game again...

The Common Fans discuss Nebraska’s comeback win against Maryland on Saturday. 

• The Huskers give up two 10 point leads, and were losing with under two minutes to go, before pulling out a 34-31 victory.
• HUGE PROGRESS: Putting together not one but two 4th quarter scoring drives to ultimately propel the team to victory. 
• SPECIAL TEAMS AGAIN! The kickoff return team has entered the chat.

Brandon Vogel from The Counter Read joins the Common Fans to talk about the win over Michigan State and look ahead to Saturday’s game vs. Maryland.  

• Perhaps the biggest takeaway from the win over Michigan State was the huge step forward taken by the defense. 
• Blackshirts becoming a havoc defense. 
• The way the Huskers finished–scoring 24 unanswered points even after stalling in the middle part of the game–makes the 2025 squad seem...

The Common Fans discuss Nebraska’s roller coaster win over the Spartans.  

• Nebraska looked like they were going to cruise to victory after opening a 14-0 lead early in the game.
• After MSU scored 21 unanswered points, the Big Red appeared lost.
• Huskers come roaring back to take over the game and ultimately win comfortably, 38-27.
• Breakthrough game for the defense.
• Special teams comes up huge. 
• Dylan doesn’t quit.
• Discussing Nebraska’s ...

The Omaha World Herald’s Evan Bland joins the Common Fans to talk about the Michigan game, the first third of the season, and reasons for optimism for the Huskers in 2025. 

Reasons for optimism in 2025:

• Dylan Raiola is playing at an elite level. 
• Best group of wide receivers Nebraska has had in years. 
• Pass defense is the best in the nation. 
• Special...

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...