Halloween under the lights

[Huskergod84]

What we learned after Rhule's contract negotiations was that he wanted an NIL budget to match the 'big boys.' What happened is that YES - our budget for retaining players and getting some studs off the transfer portal increased. YAY! BUT alas, - everybody else's budget increased too. We're not bad on that front but we're certainly not in the top ten.

What Matt Rhule said a year or so ago in one of his long, sit-down interviews was that he's had to fight a 'Nebraska donor culture' where Big Money said to him 'we don't do it that way at Nebraska.' His response was if you want to return Nebraska to elite status, you're going to have to start.

As teams like Texas and Oregon have shown, a team chock-full of expensive NFL prospects doesn't guarantee you the playoffs, but choosing 'not to play the game' when you're in the B1G or the SEC doesn't give you very much wiggle room.

Our wiggle room here in 2026 is small. Chances of making the playoffs at this point requires us to win five straight, which is unlikely.

But our play this season (to this point at least) has shown me that we've ratcheted our program up to another level. But sustainability, at least until CFB's Wild Wild West starts to settle down in 2030, is going to require more and more big money.

You have an excuse for everything for Matt dont you. Took over too bad of a team, yeah like Temple and Baylor weren't far worse than we were. Dont spend enough money on NIL. Like top 20 money isnt enough. Whats next?
Look we all know we were in a bad place when Rhule got here. But we weren't KSU in the 80s bad, we weren't Baylor after the sex scandle bad and we weren't Temple (do they even still have a football team?) bad. Rhule is supposed to be a program builder and a player developer. Name one player who has gotten better since he has been here. ONE.
Its time to start winning. And its time to be done with "I'm firing this assistant coach this year so that will make us better".
I actually like Matt and I am rooting for him to succeed but its time to start doing it plain and simple. No more excuses.

 

[innmc]

Alright I admit I haven't studied or done my research on where we stand with NIL. Partly because it is such a foreign concept for this old timer that I just can't comprehend it all has changed so much so fast.
After reading the response I guess you are all right and I'm wrong. FIRE EVERYBODY!

 

[Hunchback Johnny]

Alright I admit I haven't studied or done my research on where we stand with NIL. Partly because it is such a foreign concept for this old timer that I just can't comprehend it all has changed so much so fast.
After reading the response I guess you are all right and I'm wrong. FIRE EVERYBODY!

NO, innmc. Don't change your stance and positivity. Dr Fum's and your attitude give me hope that I am missing something you guys see. These last two games have me thinking I have seen this act before. Hope I'm wrong. Keep fighting the good fight. If the Huskers win 8 I'll be happy. I found Rhule's rambling presser Monday to be very concerning. It sounded to me like a desperate coach searching for answers. I have this awful feeling the ship is taking on water, and 6 wins may be the limit.

 

[Huskergod84]

If they can figure out the offense I think we have a VERY good chance to win out. The defense has been AWESOME. They held the defending national champs to 20 points for gods sake and an Oregon team who started the season #3 to 16. That kind of defense wins National Championships. Unfortunately the offense the last two games was almost a non factor. You cant have your offense disappear when it matters most. Get the offense back on track and you are looking at one of the best teams in college football. Can they do it....???? I hope so

 

[OhioHusker]

The team is better. There is no doubt about that. But they have lost the last two games, and I think everyone will agree they lost because of coaching, not the players. That is not acceptable.

Could they win five straight? Yes, they could. I'll say it right now that if Saying is done for the year they should beat OSU. That backup QB is absolutely awful.

 

[Crusader Husker]

RUN THE DAMN BALL fixes all that ails us. The 1- and 2-yard runs will turn into 3- to 5-yard runs in the 4th quarter. It is really that simple.

Can I change my name to RTDB?

 

[SUHnami]

I hate to sound argumentative but we're a little over HALFWAY thru the frickin' season and in playoff contention and you want to opine about what'll happen if we go 0-5?

Goodness gracious, what's going on around here?

Lol if you aren't concerned about us going 0-5 then do you really want Nebraska to get back to being good? It should concern everyone. Look at all the injuries. 3 of our top 4 RBs are out either for the year or the next few games. Our best DL man is out possibly for the year with a broken foot. Also there are numerous other injuries.

Yes we should win at least one more game maybe two but with how the coaching staff seems to go stone cold frozen in 2 consecutive 4th quarters and the players follow suit, it's ver plausible we lose out.and end up 5-7. A 7 game losing streak would and should get most if not all coaches fired.

 

[Doc Fumble]

Lol if you aren't concerned about us going 0-5

Am I concerned about going 0-5? LOL. Hell no.

I follow Husker football because it's a source of enjoyment. Through the good times and the not-so-good, it's been a passion of mine. And I've been excited to see how we've performed this season. Before the season, a lot of us fans said we didn't want summer hype, we wanted to see honest-to-goodness, tangible progress on the field. I've sure seen it and I don't think I'm alone.

Last January, I was confidently told that teams like Oregon (Preseason #1), Indiana (defending champ), and Ohio State would destroy us this fall just like Penn State and Iowa did last year. But our gut-wrenching losses against the Ducks and Hoosiers are NOW used to justify starting over again because "Rhule can't win the big ones." The trouble with using that crap against me is that I'm old enough to remember another coach who was never going to get over the hump.

If some folks here want to keep living in the past decade, that's your right. It sure feels awfully depressing to me but, hey, whatever floats your boat.

 

[SUHnami]

Am I concerned about going 0-5? LOL. Hell no.

I follow Husker football because it's a source of enjoyment. Through the good times and the not-so-good, it's been a passion of mine. And I've been excited to see how we've performed this season. Before the season, a lot of us fans said we didn't want summer hype, we wanted to see honest-to-goodness, tangible progress on the field. I've sure seen it and I don't think I'm alone.

Last January, I was confidently told that teams like Oregon (Preseason #1), Indiana (defending champ), and Ohio State would destroy us this fall just like Penn State and Iowa did last year. But our gut-wrenching losses against the Ducks and Hoosiers are NOW used to justify starting over again because "Rhule can't win the big ones." The trouble with using that crap against me is that I'm old enough to remember another coach who was never going to get over the hump.

If some folks here want to keep living in the past decade, that's your right. It sure feels awfully depressing to me but, hey, whatever floats your boat.

If we lose the next 5 games making it 7 losses in a row he absolutely should be gone. Frost lost his 1st 6 games but then won a couple. This is Rhules 4th year and we should absolutely not lose the next 5 games. If so he should be gone.

 

[Doc Fumble]

If we lose the next 5 games making it 7 losses in a row he absolutely should be gone. Frost lost his 1st 6 games but then won a couple. This is Rhules 4th year and we should absolutely not lose the next 5 games. If so he should be gone.

This is a nonsensical debate. Why discuss an end-of-the-season hypothetical (and a highly unlikely one at that) now in late October??!?

 

[Hunchback Johnny]

The team is better. There is no doubt about that. But they have lost the last two games, and I think everyone will agree they lost because of coaching, not the players. That is not acceptable.

Could they win five straight? Yes, they could. I'll say it right now that if Saying is done for the year they should beat OSU. That backup QB is absolutely awful.

Is the backup Bauserman Bad? We need him to be really bad or Smith is still going to get his.

 

[Nebraska99]

Is the backup Bauserman Bad? We need him to be really bad or Smith is still going to get his.

Smith definitely is a force to be reckoned with. Against IU he had his "worst" receiving game with 68 reception yards.

 

[Crusader Husker]

Is the backup Bauserman Bad? We need him to be really bad or Smith is still going to get his.

Probably not, It will be interesting to see what he looks like this week. I feel like the fans thought Julian Syin' was a step back too. OSU recruits well and develops skill-position players. The OL has been their problem.

 

[Hunchback Johnny]

This is a nonsensical debate. Why discuss an end-of-the-season hypothetical (and a highly unlikely one at that) now in late October??!?

I don't know if it is sensitized or desensitized but Coach Matt has a record here at Nebraska we can evaluate. The last 6 games in each of his first 3 seasons he is 5-13. Many of those games the Huskers have inexplicably snatched Defeat from the jaws of Victory. We are seeing the same thing play out again this season against Nebraska's first real competition.

To finish out the season we have OSU and Iowa. No need to go into our success rate against them.

We have an Illinois team that manhandled Oregon one week after we folded up the tent against them.

We have a Washington team that found their way against a much-improved Purdue team on the road just before their off week while we lost a heartbreaker to the Underachievers.

Finally, we will be playing a second straight road game against Rutgers.

While I think it possible we go 4-2, I think it is very much possible we finish 2-4 or worse also. I pretty much think Ohio nailed it. The team is much better this year, but overcoming Coach Matt's deficiencies may be a monumental task.

 

[Doc Fumble]

The team is much better this year, but overcoming Coach Matt's deficiencies may be a monumental task.

The thing I find a bit strange is that MOST EVERYONE thought Nebraska was looking at a 7-5 season again. Was anybody boldly proclaiming we'd be 7-0 and in the nation's top ten? Yet we were only a few plays away from being there.

Yet apparently going toe-to-toe instead of being blown out as predicted was worse. It apparently exposed Coach Matt Rhule's deficiencies. Now we need to fire the guy because he can't pull off the big upset in Year 4. News Flash, I remember all the vitriol Tom Osborne took after going 0-5 in his first five match-ups against OU and Barry Switzer. All the coaching geniuses in Huskerland were unanimous that Tom had proven he couldn't cut it against an elite coach like Switzer. It was time to move on.

FWIW, Nebraska has played better than Vegas expected in every game so far this season.

 

[Crusader Husker]

Have we beaten teams the 10 years that were ranked at some point during the season? I do not know the answer.

I have thought about it before; the issue is beating the teams you should. Those games are ahead. The low-hanging fruit will be: looking back, we should have beaten Oregon and Indiana. That is not what I mean. I expected us to be 5-2 right now. The Fire Matt crowd did not expect us to be 5-2 right now. Many saw MSU as a loss.

 

[Hunchback Johnny]

The thing I find a bit strange is that MOST EVERYONE thought Nebraska was looking at a 7-5 season again. Was anybody boldly proclaiming we'd be 7-0 and in the nation's top ten? Yet we were only a few plays away from being there.

Yet apparently going toe-to-toe instead of being blown out as predicted was worse. It apparently exposed Coach Matt Rhule's deficiencies.

I'll say this one more time Doc. It's not that we lost. It's how we lost. It happens every freaking time. As I said earlier, we far too often snatch defeat from the jaws of victory. When the players change every year, but the results remain the same, that lands squarely on coaching.

I'm still waiting for Coach Matt to win his very first game as Husker head coach as a betting underdog. In 4 years, he has not won one single game when the other team is favored. You yourself have mentioned how unpredictable college football is today with all the upsets. One thing has proven to be very predictable in Lincoln. If Nebraska is not favored to win, they are not going to.

100% failure rate. That is an incredible statistic.

 

[Huusker]

I'm not terribly optimistic about the remainder of the season, but I'm willing to sit back and enjoy whatever good things happen. There are bound to be some nice plays coming our way. I'm numb to fourth quarter collapses after experiencing two in a row. I have no playoff illusions.

I'm hoping Rule is back to full speed. Without a running game, there won't be many B1G wins. But this season is teaching me to expect the unexpected. It's been a strange year across college football to this point.

As for Rhule's future, 5-7 this year would not get him fired. A losing record next year might not even do it. People who want him gone need to face reality. His silence amid the Penn State speculation last year resulted in a contract extension. It would take something very serious to end his employment.

A bigger question is why do that? Why do people want to start over from scratch every four years?

 

[SUHnami]

This is a nonsensical debate. Why discuss an end-of-the-season hypothetical (and a highly unlikely one at that) now in late October??!?

Why? Cause it's possible they could? Alot of debates are hypothetical. Just because you have no defense for it doesn't mean it can't be debated. Just saying.

 

[Doc Fumble]

Why? Cause it's possible they could? Alot of debates are hypothetical. Just because you have no defense for it doesn't mean it can't be debated. Just saying.

Okie dokie.