Matt Rhule fails to change narrative as Huskers fall to Wolverines

LINCOLN, Neb. — The Huskers couldn’t secure a signature win at home for their head coach, and now the team is dealing with more questions than answers as they approach the bye-week.

All of the hoopla that surrounded Nebraska’s matchup with Michigan centered around if Matt Rhule could snap the program’s 27-game losing streak against top-25 teams. Although the No. 21 Wolverines were without their head coach, and operated with a true freshman quarterback, they overcame a sold out crowd at Memorial Stadium, delivered in the clutch and ruined Rhule’s Big Ten opener with a 30-27 victory.

The entire ordeal frustrated Rhule because Nebraska left some points off the scoreboard. Not to mention the Wolverines shutout the Huskers in the first and third quarter. Rhule realizes how hard it’s going to be for his players to digest their first loss of the season, and wants to focus on the positive aspects from Saturday’s game.

“Obviously a disappointing loss for us, one in which if we’re smart about it, we can hopefully learn a lot about ourselves, where we need to improve and where we’re headed,” Rhule said. “Credit to them, they made the plays they needed to make, and we certainly had our chances.”

Poor execution on a fourth down attempt, and a missed field goal killed some promising drives for Nebraska in the first half. Despite the mistakes, the Huskers went into halftime with the game tied at 17, and had momentum. After all, quarterback Dylan Raiola completed a 52-yard hail mary touchdown pass to wideout Jacory Barney as time expired.

However, Michigan (3-1) had already exposed some weaknesses on both sides of the ball, and Nebraska failed to make the necessary adjustments. The Wolverines dominated in the trenches, which resulted in seven sacks on Raiola, and the Huskers’ offense only finished with a mere 43 yards on the ground. Raiola lacked the mobility to get outside of the pocket to throw the ball away, but Rhule thought the gunslinger held his own against an elite Michigan pass rush.

On top of that, the Blackshirts couldn’t do anything to stop Michigan’s rushing attack. Justice Haynes rushed for a game-high, 149 yards and a score. He also averaged 8.8 yards per carry, bounced off would-be tacklers and outran Nebraska’s defensive backs. His 75-yard touchdown run was the most explosive play of the game. Not being able to properly protect Raiola up front, having an abysmal rushing attack, and the Blackshirts missing several tackles led to a disaster in Rhule’s eyes.

“They pressued us, they brought blitzes, they challenged our running backs, and that’s what they’re good at,” he said. “We knew going into the game it would be about stopping the run, and our ability to pass protect, and getting to their quarterback.”

Bryce Underwood showed Big Red Nation why he was this year’s top quarterback out of high school, and carried Michigan to the finish line. Underwood didn’t look like a wide-eyed true freshman, and instead handled himself like seasoned veteran behind center. Rhule wanted to get more pressure on Underwood, but the defensive line couldn’t get home on a consistent basis. The biggest head-scratcher was the fact that the Blackshirts allowed a jaw-dropping, 286 rushing yards.

Once the smoke cleared, Michigan led Nebraska in total offense, yards per play and third down efficiency. Meanwhile the Huskers led the Wolverines in first downs, plays and time of possession, which Rhule wants to build on. Raiola completed 30 of his 41 passes for 308 yards, three touchdowns and an interception. He displayed great chemistry with tight end Luke Lindenmeyer, who caught a game-high, seven passes for 60 yards. Barney finished with 120 receiving yards, and two touchdowns on six catches.

Defensively, linebacker Javin Wright tallied 10 tackles, including one for loss, and Vincent Shavers added seven stops. Dasan McCullough recorded Nebraska’s only sack on the afternoon. Kicker Kyle Cunanan missed his first field goal attempt, but connected on his final two inside the 40-yard line. The Wolverines were the perfect measuring stick for the Huskers, and now Rhule knows there’ll be a lot for them to work on over the bye-week, including physicality, mental toughness, and execution.

“I don’t like where we’re at right now, and I feel like someone hit me with a hammer,” the 50-year old said. “I wanted to win the football game, and I thought we would win the football game, but it’s like anything else, there are things that were exposed that have to be improved, or we won’t be the team that we want to be.”

From this point moving forward, it’s going to be about how the players, and coaching staff respond to adversity. All of the window dressing against Akron, and Houston Baptist didn’t help against Big Ten competition. So Rhule has to shore up the weaknesses before Nebraska (3-1) resumes conference play at home against Michigan State.

Rhule likely won’t get a shot at ending the drought against ranked teams again until USC comes to Lincoln in November. Regardless, Rhule is proud that his players never gave up, kept fighting to the end and hopes Husker Nation found that encouraging.

“The only thing to me about this game that I didn’t want to do is have any regrets, or that we didn’t try, or that we didn’t try to play, I just didn’t want to go out there and play close.”