2016 Nebraska Cornhuskers football team

Previous season and offseason

In the 2015 Nebraska Cornhuskers football season, the team finished 5-7 in the regular season, their 39-38 win over playoff team Michigan State being the most notable. Though not bowl eligible based on their regular-season record, the Cornhuskers went to the Foster Farms Bowl (as a result of a lack of bowl-eligible teams and their high Academic Progress Rate) and beat UCLA 37-29. The team finished 4th in the Big Ten West division at the end of the season.

On July 23, 2016, senior punter and returning starter Sam Foltz was killed in a single-car crash in Waukesha County, Wisconsin following serving as staff for a training camp for high school kickers and punters. Former Michigan State punter Mike Sadler was also killed; LSU kicker Colby Delahoussaye was also in the accident but sustained only non-life-threatening injuries.

Departures

The offensive line had 7 departures, prompting heavy recruiting of offensive line players out of high school. Departures included:

Incoming transfers

*Player is not eligible to play in 2016 season due to transfer regulations
**Son of Nebraska WR coach Keith Williams

Position key

Nebraska Football 2016 Recruiting Class

Walk-on recruits

National signing day was on Wednesday, February 3, 2016.

Spring practice

72,992 fans attended the Nebraska spring game, continuing the streak of 60,000+ in attendance for Nebraska spring games since 2008. At the end of the game, Kyle Kasun intercepted the ball as the time expired, allowing the white team to win. The final score was White 46–41. Tommy Armstrong Jr., Ryker Fyfe and Patrick O'Brien all started at quarterback for team Red.

Schedule

Nebraska announced its 2016 football schedule on July 11, 2013. The 2016 schedule consists of 7 home and 5 away games in the regular season. The Cornhuskers will host Big Ten opponents Illinois, Maryland, Minnesota, and Purdue, and will travel to Indiana, Iowa, Northwestern, Ohio State, and Wisconsin.

The team will host all three of the non–conference games which are against the Fresno State Bulldogs and the Wyoming Cowboys both from the Mountain West Conference, and the Oregon Ducks from the Pac-12 Conference (PAC-12). This will be Nebraska's 7th game against Oregon, and head coach Mike Riley's 13th overall game against Oregon, as he previously coached for Oregon rival Oregon State.

Fresno State

Nebraska opened the 2016 season with a non-conference matchup against Fresno State at Memorial Stadium. The game marked the start of the second season for head coach Mike Riley. The game marked the completion of a three-game series with Fresno State. The Huskers defeated Fresno State in Lincoln 42-29 in 2011 before winning on the road in Fresno 55-19 in 2014. These three games are the only meetings between the Huskers and Bulldogs in program history. Before the game, there was a tribute to the late Nebraska punter Sam Foltz, who was killed in a car crash in July. Before their first punt, the Huskers observed a moment of silence for Foltz by sending only 10 players onto the field with no punter waiting for the snap. A delay of game penalty was called on the Huskers, which the Bulldogs declined.

Wyoming

The 2016 edition of the Nebraska–Wyoming series marked the 8th meeting between the two neighboring state programs. Nebraska entered the game with a perfect 7–0 all-time record against the Wyoming Cowboys. Senior quarterback Tommy Armstrong Jr. threw three touchdown passes during this matchup, in which he set the record for most career touchdown passes in the Nebraska program history, surpassing Taylor Martinez's previous record of 56. The Cornhuskers defeated the Cowboys 52–17 in front of a crowd of 89,895, the stadium's 349th consecutive sellout.

Oregon

Nebraska and Oregon played for the 7th time between the two programs on September 17, 2016 at Memorial Stadium in Lincoln, Nebraska. The Ducks went for the two point conversion after every touchdown, only succeeding once, early in the game. Nebraska went on to win the game 35-32, giving Oregon their first loss of the season, and Nebraska their third win to improve their record to 3–0. Nebraska had 428 total offensive yards the whole game, and the Ducks had 482. The Cornhuskers will travel to Eugene, Oregon in the 2017 season to face the Ducks at Autzen Stadium, game 2 of the home-and-home series between the two programs.

Northwestern

Nebraska opened conference play with their first road game of the season in Evanston, Illinois against Northwestern. The Cornhuskers won the contest by a score of 24-13. Early in the game, I-back Terrell Newby fumbled the ball at the sideline near the end zone, resulting in a touchback, giving Northwestern the ball. In the second quarter, Northwestern quarterback Clayton Thorson ran the ball 42 yards for a touchdown. Thorson also had a 24-yard touchdown pass to Austin Carr in the 3rd quarter. Nebraska will play the Wildcats at home in 2017 at Memorial Stadium in Lincoln, Nebraska.

Illinois

Nebraska played its second conference game at home against the Illinois Fighting Illini on October 1, 2016. Nebraska beat the Illini by a score of 31-16, claiming their 5th win on the season to make the Cornhuskers 5-0.

Wisconsin

Nebraska played the Wisconsin Badgers on October 29, 2016 at Camp Randall Stadium in Madison, Wisconsin. The Cornhuskers entered the game ranked at #7 in the AP Poll, while Wisconsin sat not far behind at #11. The game was the 11th game in the series, Wisconsin winning the previous matchup, 23-21 in Lincoln on October 10, 2015. Wisconsin won the game 23-17 in overtime. Wisconsin scored first in overtime, but missed the extra point attempt. Nebraska failed to score after, allowing Wisconsin to win the game. The all-time series record is now 7-4 in Wisconsin's favor.

Maryland

Nebraska went undefeated at home for the first time in 4 years thanks to their win over Maryland.

All-Conference Awards

2016 Big Ten All-Conference Honors

Team awards

2016 Nebraska Football Team Awards