January 10, 2024 By: Mark Knudson

Huskers and Broncos football fans feeling unique sort of pain

Follow Mark on Twitter/X @markknudson41

Conservative estimates place the number of Nebraska football fans living in the front range region at well over 100,000. It’s a pretty fair bet that a majority of them are also Denver Broncos fans.

What a long and painful past eight years it’s has been for these poor people. Both on Saturdays and on Sundays. Especially when you’re used to winning. A lot.

Sort of a double jeopardy.

More context: Since the Denver Broncos came into existence, Nebraska has won five National Championships and played for four more. And while they waited a little longer to taste success, over the same time period, the Broncos have been to eight Super Bowls and won three of them.

Only five schools have won more national titles than Nebraska, and only six NFL teams have won more Lombardi Trophies than Denver.

The parallels in their rich histories are everywhere. These are two proud programs with fanatically devoted fan bases who have enjoyed a rich history of winning. Nebraska has sold every ticket to every home game for a record 396 consecutive games. The Broncos sell-out streak is over 400, including home playoff games.

Winning had been almost a constant.

Until recently.

The two teams have been dealing with parallel struggles over the past eight years. Both have fallen on hard times. The tickets may have been sold, but those in attendance – and those that choose to stay home – haven’t been real happy.

Problems typically start at the top, and in Nebraska’s case, it’s been in the Athletic Director’s office. Nebraska is on their third one since 2017. Meanwhile, the Broncos ownership struggles since the passing of the late, great owner Pat Bowlen have weighed heavily on the team.

Both the Huskers and the Broncos believe they have the right folks in charge now. Time will tell.

Feeling good about the future is great, however, turnarounds aren’t quick. Both Denver and Nebraska featured (another) new head coach this past season, and both still narrowly missed out on breaking their long postseason droughts…on last second, walk off field goals converted by bitter rivals in late season home games. The Huskers were eliminated on a walk off field goal by Iowa, while the Broncos playoff hopes were dashed on a last second field goal by lowly New England.

Both endured season-long struggles on offense that even solid defensive play could not overcome. Both finished a game below break even.

The 2023 season just continued several painful trends:

After going 5-7, Nebraska’s overall winning percentage since the start of the 2017 season is now 375%.
After finishing 8-9, Denver’s overall winning percentage since the start of the 2016 season (the only winning season since the Super Bowl 50) is just below .400%
Nebraska’s last postseason appearance – a loss to Tennessee in the Music City Bowl – was in December of 2016.
Denver’s last postseason appearance was the Super Bowl win 11 months earlier, in February of 2016.
Since that last bowl appearance, Nebraska has been through four head coaches, including one interim head coach after an in-season firing.
Since they won that Super Bowl, Denver has had five different head coaches, including one interim head coach after an in-season firing.
At quarterback, Nebraska has sent out 11 different players to start under center since the Music City Bowl.
At quarterback, Denver has sent out 13 different guys to take snaps since Peyton Manning retired.

If fans are looking for more positive trends, there are some to consider. The Huskers just inked the top-rated high school recruit quarterback available this offseason. Look for the Huskers to go with the true freshman starter under center next season.

The Broncos could very definitely follow suit – select a young rookie quarterback in the April NFL Draft and hand him the keys next September. Again, time will tell.

Can either outfit break their agonizing postseason drought with a rookie under center?

Guess those buying and filling the seats of those sold out stadiums will find out.