Jake Butt on How Far Nebraska Football Has Come — and Where the Huskers Still Need to Improve

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 Tight End. Jake sees Nebraska as having made huge strides in several critical areas: Winning one score games. Improvement in turnover margin. Special teams is so vastly improved, the third phase is likely responsible for at least two of Nebraska’s wins this year. Jake calls out Mike Ekeler in particular as a massive addition to Rhule’s staff over the offseason. That said, the Huskers need to develop in the one area that is most important for winning in college football: the trenches. Missing Nash Hutmacher and Ty Robinson on defense. Offensive line has sustained some injuries, but they still need to be better. Jake sees winning in the trenches as the next step Matt Rhule’s program needs to take to get over the hump and start playing at an elite level. Assessing Dylan Raiola eight games into his sophomore year:  Dylan likes to make the huge play, but sometimes that can come back to bite you. With maturity comes understanding about when it’s appropriate to make the big play, and when you need to throw it away. Jake would put Dylan definitely in the top half of Big Ten quarterbacks, and possibly in the top quarter. Dylan’s leadership has been a huge intangible benefit to the 2025 Nebraska football team.Looking ahead to USC: November is championship football season. It’s when the contenders get separated from the pretenders. This game will be a huge separator for both programs. Key for this game: the run game for both teams. USC’s run game is much improved over previous years. For Nebraska to win, they have to stop the run, and be able to run the ball. Like the Common Fans, Jake is a huge fan of Emmett Johnson. Feed Emmett!!!This and so much more on the latest episode of the Common Fan Podcast! As always, GBR for LIFE! Subscribe on YouTube: www.youtube.com/@commonfanGBR   Check out our website: www.commonfan.co  Our Partners: You can now find all Common Fan videos and articles on www.huskermax.com as well as www.si.com/college/college-football/team/nebraska-cornhuskers.   For more Husker coverage, check out Carriker Chronicles: https://carrikerchronicles.com/  For more college football coverage, check out The College Huddle: https://thecollegehuddle.com/  Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy