Big Ten season preview: Nebraska Cornhuskers

Few programs were happier to turn the page to 2016 than Nebraska.

The Cornhuskers suffered through a 5-7 regular season in Mike Riley's first year as head coach, losing those seven games by a combined 31 points and going through all sorts of bad end-of-game scenarios.

Things perked up when Nebraska was granted a bowl slot, thanks to a dearth of eligible teams and its own outstanding work in the classroom. The Huskers took full advantage, beating UCLA 37-29 in the Foster Farms Bowl and raising optimism for this year.

Mike Riley went 6-7 in his first year as head coach at Nebraska.Unfortunately, the program endured a tragedy late this summer when punter Sam Foltz was killed in an automobile…