From a talent perspective Nebraska's roster has 20 - 4* players, 63 - 3* players and a handful of lower rated players that are contributing. Plus, I think there is 8-10 of those 4* players that have been beaten out by 3* or their true freshmen. So, our team is mostly made up of 3* talent with a few 4* players sprinkled in.
OSU has 13 - 5* players, 47 - 4* players, 25 - 3* players and I'd venture to guess no walkon/lower rated players contributing (I didn't check that). So, basically 4-5* players with probably a few underrated 3* guys jumping in.
Illinois has 1 - 5* player, 11 - 4* players and 66 - 3* players plus probably a few walkon/lower rated guys sprinkled in.
We are recruiting at a higher level now and this should shift over time, but it is going to take 3-5 years. In 247's team composite score, we are ranked 24th and every team above and 2 after us have at least 1 - 5* player. We have zero.
https://247sports.com/Season/2019-Football/CollegeTeamTalentComposite/
Coaching shouldn't get totally excused and they need to perform/develop better, but the talent gap is real between top 10 teams and Nebraska.