Cincinnati opens its 2025 season at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City in a neutral site game against the Nebraska Huskers. The Bearcats finished the 2024 season with a 5-7 record under Scott Satterfield, closing the season winless in its last five games and missing a bowl. Meantime, Nebraska posted a 7–6 record under Matt Rhule, earning bowl eligibility for the first time since 2016 and capturing the Pinstripe Bowl.
The game kicks off at 8:00 p.m. CT on Thursday on ESPN from Kansas City, Missouri. The Huskers are favored by 6.5 points and the over/under is set at 53.5 points. Here are two key players to watch in this game, followed by the top storylines for each team, and a prediction from Heartland College Sports.
Two Key Players to Watch
Dylan Raiola, Quarterback, Nebraska
Raiola comes into the 2025 season with a ton of hype and expectations. His 2024 campaign was up and down, finishing with 13 touchdowns to 11 interceptions, while throwing for over 2,800 yards and completing 67% of his passes. If Nebraska is going to be a dark horse in the Big Ten this season, he needs to take a huge jump and become one of the top passers in the conference.
Dontay Corleone, Defensive Tackle, Cincinnati
Dontay Corleone is a 6-1, 320-pound wrecking ball with All-America talent at nose tackle. He’s a back-to-back All-Big 12 player on the defensive line, and will be the engine that runs the Cincinnati defense that could take a big step forward with improvements at linebacker in the transfer portal.
Two Key Storylines
Nebraska’s Fast Start?
This is going to be a home crowd environment for Nebraska, with thousands of fans flooding down to Kansas City for this game at Arrowhead Stadium. And last year, it was Cincinnati who had no problems getting off to fast starts, beating their opponents 100-61 in the first quarter of games last year.
Slow Down Raiola
Raiola is supported by an impressive trio of wide receivers: Dane Key, Nyziah Hunter and Jacory Barney Jr. Cincinnati is going to need a plan to slow this passing attack down. Cincinnati has a lot of new faces in its secondary. Matthew McDoom is a top corner get from Coastal Carolina, and safeties Xavier Williams (Middle Tennessee) and Christian Harrison (Tennessee) will be instant difference-makers. And if these guys want to make their presence felt early, this game will be a great test.
Prediction: Nebraska 31, Cincinnati 28
Nebraska lost some key pieces on defense and Cincinnati is going to be able to put up some points behind an underrated quarterback in Branden Sorsby, an offensive line that got some big upgrades in the portal, along with a a solid 1-2 rushing attack of Evan Pryor and Tawee Walker. However, Nebraska’s offense will be humming in Year 3 under Rhule, and will do enough to beat Cincinnati behind a home-crowd atmosphere in Kansas City. Cincinnati’s secondary can be better than last year, but it’s new, and it will take time for the portal additions to gel on the back end. Cincinnati gets the cover, but Nebraska wins, and the over hits in this game.
