The 2020 Nebraska Cornhuskers football team represented the

University of Nebraska A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, ...

in the

2020 NCAA Division I FBS football season The 2020 NCAA Division I FBS football season was the 151st season of college football games in the United States. Organized by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) at its highest level of competition, the Football Bowl Subdivisio ...

. The team was coached by third-year head coach

Scott Frost Scott Andrew Frost (born January 4, 1975) is a former American football coach and player. He was the head football coach at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln from 2018 to 2022. Born in Lincoln, Nebraska, Frost played college football as a qu ...

and played their games at Memorial Stadium in

Lincoln, Nebraska Lincoln is the capital city of the U.S. state of Nebraska and the county seat of Lancaster County. The city covers with a population of 292,657 in 2021. It is the second-most populous city in Nebraska and the 73rd-largest in the United Sta ...

, as members of the West Division in the

Big Ten Conference The Big Ten Conference (stylized B1G, formerly the Western Conference and the Big Nine Conference) is the oldest Division I collegiate athletic conference in the United States. Founded as the Intercollegiate Conference of Faculty Representati ...

. On August 11, 2020, the Big Ten Conference suspended all fall sports competitions due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...

. The team disclosed an attempt to play a fall football season as an

independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in the New Hope, Pennsylvania, area of the United States during the early 1930s * Independ ...

, but Commissioner

Kevin Warren Kevin Fulbright Warren (born November 17, 1963) is an American attorney and sports executive. He is the Commissioner of the Big Ten Conference. The first Commissioner who is African-American, he is also the first in any of the major American stu ...

stated they could not do so without facing consequences. In late-August, a group of Nebraska players also sued the Big Ten, alleging that its council did not actually vote on the postponement. On September 16, the Big Ten reinstated the season, announcing an eight-game season beginning on October 24. After playing to a 3–5 record, all in conference games, the team announced on December 20 that it would not participate in any

bowl game In North America, a bowl game is one of a number of post-season college football games that are primarily played by teams belonging to the NCAA's Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS). For most of its history, the Division I Bowl Subdivi ...

Offseason

2020 NFL Draft

Transfers

Outgoing

Incoming

Recruits

The Cornhuskers signed a total of 23 scholarship recruits and 20 walk-ons during the Early Signing Period on December 18, 2019.

Scholarship recruits

Walk-on recruits

Preseason

Award watch lists

Preseason media polls

Below are the results of the media poll with total points received next to each school and first-place votes in parentheses. For the 2020 poll, Ohio State was voted as the favorite to win both the East Division and the Big Ten Championship Game. This is the 10th iteration of the preseason media poll conducted by Cleveland.com, which polls at least one credentialed media member for each Big Ten team. Only twice in the last ten years has the media accurately predicted the Big Ten champion.

Schedule

Nebraska had games scheduled against

Central Michigan Central Michigan, also called Mid Michigan, is a region in the Lower Peninsula of the U.S. state of Michigan. As its name implies, it is the middle area of the Lower Peninsula. Lower Michigan is said to resemble a mitten, and Mid Michigan cor ...

South Dakota State South Dakota State University is a public land-grant research university in Brookings, South Dakota. Founded in 1881, it is the state's largest and most comprehensive university and the oldest continually-operating university in South Dakota. The ...

, and

Cincinnati Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state line wit ...

, but canceled these games on July 9 due to the Big Ten Conference's decision to play a conference-only schedule due to the

. On September 19, the Big Ten announced a new league schedule to accommodate a new 9-game conference-only season, where the ninth game will feature cross divisional matchups of #1 vs #1, #2 vs. #2, etc. On October 29, Nebraska attempted to replace the Wisconsin game with a game against FCS school Chattanooga. However, it was denied by the Big Ten Conference, which reaffirmed its policy against scheduling nonconference games for the 2020 season. ''Nebraska's game with Wisconsin was canceled due to a COVID-19 outbreak at Wisconsin. The game will not be rescheduled. Instead, both teams will have a bye and will have just seven games''. ''Nebraska's game with Rutgers has been adjusted from a 3:00 PM to a 6:30 PM kickoff time on Friday, December 18 after the cancellation of the Indiana-Purdue game.''

Roster and coaching staff

Depth chart

Game summaries

at No. 5 Ohio State

vs Wisconsin

The Wisconsin at Nebraska game was canceled due to a COVID-19 outbreak at Wisconsin. The game will not be rescheduled. Instead, both teams will have a bye and will have just seven games.

at Northwestern

vs Penn State

vs Illinois

at No. 24 Iowa

at Purdue

vs Minnesota

at Rutgers

Big Ten awards

All-Conference awards

2020 Big Ten Offense All-Conference Teams and Awards2020 Big Ten All-Conference Teams and Awards
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Rankings

Players drafted into the NFL

References

{{Nebraska Cornhuskers football navbox

Nebraska Nebraska () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by South Dakota to the north; Iowa to the east and Missouri to the southeast, both across the Missouri River; Kansas to the south; Colorado to the sout ...

Nebraska Cornhuskers football seasons

Nebraska Cornhuskers football The Nebraska Cornhuskers football team competes as part of the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision, representing the University of Nebraska–Lincoln in the West Division of the Big Ten. Nebraska plays its home games at Memorial Stadium, ...