With fall camp slated to open in just a few days, the 2024 college football season is right around the corner. In year two of the Luke Fickell era, Wisconsin has further revamped its roster but faces a daunting schedule littered with marquee matchups.

Throughout July, BadgerBlitz.com will break down each game on Wisconsin's slate. We'll continue with Nebraska, a team entering year two of the Matt Rhule era.

RELATED: WESTERN MICHIGAN | SOUTH DAKOTA | ALABAMA | USC | PURDUE | RUTGERS | NORTHWESTERN | PENN STATE | IOWA | OREGON

It's been an excruciating decade for Nebraska. The national championships of the 90s are still cherished in Lincoln, but they do little to ease the pain that this program has endured in recent years. The once mighty Huskers haven't been to a bowl game since 2016, haven't won double-digit games since 2012 and haven't won a major bowl game since the 1999 Fiesta Bowl.

Under the second-year head coach Rhule, however, this program has new life. There's more hype around the Huskers than there has been in years, and for good reason. Landing the top signal-caller in the 2024 recruiting class, Dylan Raiola — flipping him from Georgia no less — certainly helps. So does a brand new, state-of-the-art football facility. This is a team primed to take a leap, but it must exorcise the demons that've plagued Nebraska for the better part of a decade.

The Huskers teams of recent years, especially under former head coach Scott Frost, were known for mind-numbing mistakes, untimely turnovers, special teams guffaws and straight-up poor coaching in critical moments. Nebraska took a step forward last season in Rhule's debut, but there's still work to be done — the Huskers still led the nation in turnovers lost. This is a critical season in Lincoln for Rhule's vision, for national perception of the program and for a tortured fanbase yearning for the greatness once synonymous with Nebraska football.

Though he hasn't officially been named the starter, Raiola has the shortest odds to lead Nebraska's offense in 2024. The top high school quarterback in the nation oozes talent, and according to our Nebraska colleague Steve Marik, he's looked the part this offseason. We'll let him break the gunslinger down in further detail, but there's simply no good reason to keep him off the field, especially when the rest of the quarterback room consists of, most notably, a three-star true freshman and the underwhelming Heinrich Haarberg.

The Huskers haven't deployed a skill player that truly strikes fear into a defense since the speedy wideout Trey Palmer in 2022, but they've revamped their wide receiver room with two transfers that figure to start right away. Jahmal Banks (Wake Forest) is a big-play threat with excellent hands whom the Badgers also pursued in the portal. Isaiah Neyor (Texas) essentially missed the entire 2023 season, but the 6-foot-4 wideout is certainly a capable contributor. In 2021 with Wyoming, he posted 44 catches for 878 yards and 12 touchdowns.

At tight end, Thomas Fidone II returns after a respectable season in which he reeled in 25 catches for 260 yards and four scores. Nebraska loses its leading rusher at tailback in Anthony Grant, but returns three other ball-carriers who populated the Huskers' backfield last season. None of them boast impressive numbers, but at the very least they represent some form of continuity.

Nebraska also returns three of its top four offensive lineman from a season ago. The offensive trenches must improve after the Huskers allowed 30 sacks last fall, but the returning experience is a good start.

All in all, Nebraska has done a decent job setting Railoa up for success on this side of the ball. There's plenty of returning experience and production — and fewer and fewer excuses for a lethargic offense.

Another Big Ten foe, another reliably stout defense. Nebraska finished top-15 in total defense and scoring defense last year, and the Huskers boasted a top-10 rushing defense as well. 78 percent of that production returns, per ESPN, so there's no reason as to why the Huskers shouldn't field an elite defense once again.

The two most productive players on this side of the ball return to Lincoln: safety Isaac Gifford and linebacker Javin Wright. Gifford logged 86 tackles and was dynamic in coverage as well, recording eight PBUs and one interception. Wright, meanwhile, totaled 51 tackles and did it all with a sack, a forced fumble and two interceptions.

Nebraska also returns its entire starting defensive line, which was a forced to be reckoned with last season. We mentioned how stout they were against the run, but they created production as pass-rushers too. Nash Hutmacher recorded 4.5 sacks, while Jamari Butler had 5.5 of his own. Ty Robinson also returns, and he has a knack for swatting passes at the line of scrimmage, as he logged 6 PBUs last fall.

The Huskers didn't hit the transfer portal too hard on the defensive side of the ball, but a key addition in that department is cornerback Blye Hill from FCS Saint Francis. He picked off two passes and broke up five last season, and should immediately compete for starter-level snaps as an outside corner. At 6-foot-3, he has intriguing measurables and if his game can translate to the Big Ten, Nebraska may have found a diamond in the rough.

As for the rest of the secondary, the Huskers lose their top corner in Quinton Newsome but return both Malcolm Hartzog and Tommi Hill. Those two should start at corner alongside the Saint Francis transfer Hill, resulting in a comfortably experienced unit.

We could be cute and highlight another player to watch, but why? Raiola is one of the biggest storylines in the sport after his whirlwind recruitment. In high school, his arm talent, pocket presence and ability to hit extremely difficult off-platform throws helped him become the five-star, cream-of-the-crop player he was.

Now, it goes without saying that Big Ten play is another story altogether. This conference is littered with elite defenses in particular, but Raiola should have time to ease into the season with out-of-conference games against UTEP and Northern Iowa. The quarterback's development and performance should be a weekly top story in college football. Nebraska's hopes this season hinge on Raiola's ability to play at a high level as quickly as possible.

We spoke to Steve Marik of InsideNebraska to get an inside scoop on the Huskers:

1. What will it take for the Huskers to match the offseason hype they've received?

The team just needs to stop beating itself like it has been doing and the progress everyone is waiting to see will be made. The pieces are there for it to happen.

2. What's the early buzz on Dylan Raiola?

The early buzz is Dylan Raiola is for real. Of course, no one will truly know how he’s going to react to college defenses until he actually does it. And it’s important to remember he’s going to make freshman mistakes because he’s a freshman. But from what we’ve heard and seen, he was impressive in the spring. Raiola went 16-of-22 for 239 yards and two touchdowns in the spring game and wowed with a few of his throws. The elite arm talent is there, no doubt about it. He’s expected to win the starting quarterback job.

3. What are the expectations for Matt Rhule in his second season in Lincoln?

The expectation is to snap the seven-year bowl-less streak and play in the post season for the first time since 2016, when Mike Riley was roaming the sidelines. Last year’s group was close to reaching six wins, but bad offense haunted the team and wasted a really strong defense that finished No. 13 in the country in scoring (18.3), No. 9 in rushing yards allowed (92.92) and No. 6 in rushing yards per attempt (2.97).

4. Who or what is the biggest X-factor on this team?

Like I mentioned in the first question about not beating themselves, the Huskers simply need to stop making the back-breaking mistakes. Last season the offense turned the ball over 31 times — 16 interceptions and 15 lost fumbles — which tied Georgia Southern for most in FBS football. Nebraska returns key parts to a veteran defense that was really good in 2023. The Huskers have an old offensive line with well over 100 combined career starts. The receiving corps has speed, some size — finally — and real potential. Star tight end Thomas Fidone II is entering his second consecutive year of full health after ACL injuries. At this point the running backs don’t appear to be game changers, but they’re capable. It’s a pretty good situation Raiola, or whoever will be the starting quarterback, is walking into. So if the turnovers are limited, this team appears to be a 7- or 8-win squad.

_________________________________________________

*Chat about this article in The Badgers' Den

*Check out our videos, interviews, and Q&As on our YouTube channel

*Subscribe and listen to the BadgerBlitz.com podcast (as seen on Apple, Google, Spotify and wherever you listen to podcasts)

*Follow us on Twitter: @McNamaraRivals, @TheBadgerNation, @RaulV45, @seamus_rohrer, @DonnieSlusher_

*Like us on Facebook