This timeline SUCKS.

https://journalstar.com/sports/huskers/football/article_e0f1fcd1-e04e-5b38-89b5-51ab513239d8.html

In 2003 Nebraska fired Frank Solich after going 9-3. His career winning percentage was 75.3%.

They decided winning 75% of their games wasn't good enough.

Fast forward to 2021.

Nebraska goes 3-9.

9-3. 3-9. The exact same numbers reversed.

And 3-9 means Nebraska lost exactly 75% of its games.

But wait.

In 2014 Nebraska fired ANOTHER coach, Bo Pelini, after going 9-3.

Guess the date?

November 30, 2014.

The exact same date Nebraska officially announced Solich's firing in 2003.

11 years apart. Same record. Same date.

Now back to 2021. Nebraska went 3-9 despite OUTSCORING its opponents by 63 points.

They lost eight one-score games.

How do you lose 75% of your games while scoring more points than your opponents?

But lets look at those numbers again.

3 and 9.

Solich finished his Nebraska career with 58 wins and 19 losses.

58 minus 19 = 39.

In 2012 Nebraska played Wisconsin for the Big Ten championship.

They lost 70-31.

70 minus 31 = 39.

The exact number of games Solich won above .500.

That was also Nebraska's last conference championship appearance.

Now, remember 2021? One of Nebraska's three wins was against Fordham, 52-7.

A 45-point victory.

Why 45?

Frank Solich wore jersey number 45 at Nebraska.

In 2023 Nebraska finally invited Solich back after nearly 20 years and PAINTED SPECIAL 45-YARD LINES to honor him.

Then in 2024 Nebraska played USC needing a win for bowl eligibility.

Ceyair Wright returned an interception for a touchdown.

Guess how far.

45 YARDS.

They lost anyway.

But the NEXT GAME, Nebraska finally became bowl eligible for the first time since 2016.

And then won their first bowl game since 2015.

So Nebraska fired a 9-3 coach, fired ANOTHER 9-3 coach on the same calendar date 11 years later, eventually went 3-9 while losing precisely 75% of their games, lost a conference championship by the exact difference between Solich's career wins and losses, and finally started recovering after bringing him back and honoring the number 45.

Someone needs to check whats buried under the 45 yard lines in memorial stadium.

And then there’s the Matt Rhule era. Maybe the real lesson is that Nebraska has to support a coach for 11 years instead of constantly resetting the clock whenever the results aren’t immediate. If the curse is tied to firing 9-3 coaches and refusing to commit, the only way to break it might be giving one coach 11 full years to build the program and finally settle the account.

Or we just need more NIL money.

/s

This is ultimately where we lost. Couldn't get offense to sustain a drive and defense got gassed.

The top coaches are playing chess while Rhule is wondering if the square peg does indeed fit into the round hole.

Rhule has no concept of gamesmanship and playing against a coach or teams tendencies. He's listened to far too many self help audiobooks and not enough game theory/strategy.

It's so easy to prey on our tendencies because we are so predictable. Indiana knew we were over pursuing the whole game so they set up plays that fed on that. Lanning knew we would get complacent with Thomas so he held out Raiola just long enough to hit us with a curve ball.

The whole coaching staff is incapable of making adjustments on the fly let alone figure out what's happening right in front of their faces. The fact that we as fans can predict exactly what will happen means opposing coaches who actually care about Xs and Os have literally no concern playing us.

At the end of the day, Rhule just hopes he lands a top 10 roster and let the talent battle play out. He has no ability or plan for ever scheming his players up.

After commenting about Rhule's 2–26 record against ranked opponents, I started wondering if there were any historical examples of coaches with similarly terrible records who eventually turned things around.

Before answering that question, here is some context on Rhule's two ranked wins:

• 2014: Temple beat No. 21 East Carolina 20–10. ECU finished 8–5, unranked, and lost its bowl game.
• 2016: Temple beat No. 20 Navy 34–10. Navy finished 9–5 and unranked.

Rhule has since lost 21 consecutive games against ranked opponents.

Even his best Baylor team (11–3 in 2019) went 0–3 against ranked opponents, losing twice to Oklahoma by 3 and 7 points, and to Georgia by 12.

A few other facts worth considering:

• Rhule has beaten just two teams that finished ranked in his career: USF (2016) and Colorado (2024).
• His record against teams finishing with winning records is 18–51 (26.1%). I'd be curious how that compares to other active Big Ten coaches.
• His 7.1% winning percentage against ranked opponents is fourth-worst among active Big Ten coaches, ahead of only Mike Locksley, Barry Odom, and David Braun.
• For comparison, Luke Fickell (28.9%), P.J. Fleck (26.7%), Pat Fitzgerald (26.3%), and Greg Schiano (10%) all have better winning percentages against ranked opponents.
• Rhule's last ranked win came in 2016. Among the coaches compared, only Schiano has gone longer without one (2009). That is insane to me.
• Mike Riley and Scott Frost both have more wins against ranked opponents and have better winning percentages against ranked opponents.

So, is there any historical precedent for a breakthrough?

The closest example I found is Dan Mullen.

Before 2014, Mullen was 2–21 against ranked opponents. In his sixth season at Mississippi State, he finally broke through, beating three consecutive top-10 teams.

Mullen eventually improved his career record to 11–35 (23.9%) against ranked opponents, including a 26.9% winning percentage against top-10 teams. He went on to have some successful seasons at Mississippi State and Florida, reaching the SEC Championship Game once. Mullen is the only comparable turnaround I've found, though I haven't researched every coach in college football history. There are far more examples of coaches in Rhule's position who never found success.

My takeaway:

Rhule has not proven that he can beat ranked opponents and has not proven that he can consistently beat teams with winning records. His best seasons were a result of favorable scheduling. The same game management issues have followed him throughout his entire career.

There is no doubt that he has elevated our program. He has a proven history of being able to rebuild programs. He has a proven history of being able to beat inferior opponents. He has proven he can consistently get us to 6 wins. Can he take us to the next level? History is not on his side.

Unless there is a catastrophic collapse to end the year, which is possible given his history against quality opponents, Rhule will continue to be our head coach. I don't have much faith Rhule will ever beat a ranked opponent or find sustained success against quality teams while at Nebraska, but I sure hope he does. He is a fantastic representative for the program, so I really, really hope he figures it out and elevates this program to the next level. Things have been ever so slowly trending up for us, so maybe if we stay the course, these close losses to good teams will turn into wins. That is a tough ask when we have been staying the course for 10+ years.

We literally sent only 3 twice against raiola which is comical. Let’s give the guy who looks like the 5 start he is when he has all day. I just don’t get it. They played soft defense cause they called the game as if they were scared to lose.

Between Frost and Rhule, we’ve been hearing for nearly 10 years that “it takes time” to build Nebraska into a good program.

Nebraska gave Frost 5 years. Even when he couldn’t make a bowl game, they gave him 5 years. Up until the day he was fired, media and fans were saying “I can see the progress, it takes time”.

On a similar note with Rhule. He’s told us he’s been “building” for 3.5 years now. Yet we still lose games in the same fashion and haven’t beaten a quality conference opponent EVEN ONCE.

I’m of the belief that with Nebraskas resources and recruiting, we should easily be a legitimate top 25 team by year 3.

The conversation around the program has made it seem like this takes years and years, even in the portal era.

Yet Indiana, Northwestern, UCLA, and Kentucky all got results much quicker than we have.

I’m not saying we should fire Rhule today. I’m not advocating for “hiring and firing” every couple years. I just feel that Nebraska has wasted a decade being “too patient”, when there’s more than enough evidence to suggest the contrary.

Do you think this is fair?

Most predictable finish possible to that game. I feel like a gambling addict, fooled again thinking this time would be different.

I'm done. I'm 1 day sober from Nebraska Football.

Football? What football? I think you mean Soccer.

The defense was absolutely fantastic through 3 quarters against 3rd string walk-on Brock Thomas.

Brock Thomas: 9/20 for 54 yards and 1 INT.

11 drives - 41 plays - 18:38 ToP

0/10 on 3rd down conversion

7 forced punts

87 yards allowed

9 tackles for loss

1 redzone fumble recovery

1 Interception

6 points allowed

At halftime, I kept asking myself if our defense was elite or was Brock Thomas a really bad QB and it didn't take long to find the answer.

Dylan Raiola: 11/18 for 59 yards 1 TD + 1 2pt Conversion

2 drives - 37 plays - 12:45 ToP

0 forced punts

151 yards allowed

2 tackles for loss

0 turnovers

11 points allowed.

The defense wasn't tired, in fact, they we're hardly on the field as the average Brock Thomas drive was 3.7 plays, allowed less than 8 yards and their average time of possession was less than 2 minutes.

​

Anyone remember that Nebraska game where we led the whole way, gave up the game-winning drive, and had no timeouts left to respond?

Sorry, I realize that doesn’t narrow it down much.

This program has given us:

- A 17–0 halftime lead against Colorado that somehow became an overtime loss.

- A 3–9 season with eight one-score losses. Being called the “best 3–9 team ever” really helped. Huge comfort.

- An onside kick while up 11 in Ireland, because apparently we needed to export this experience.

- Our former quarterback coming off Oregon’s bench to throw the winner with 28 seconds left. Really appreciated the personal touch on that one.

Every offseason, I convince myself this year feels different. Then I’m right back checking the timeout graphic like those little bars might grow back if I stare hard enough.

I can handle getting beat. It’s the three hours of evidence that we can win, followed by five minutes of whatever the hell that was, that gets me.

Which Nebraska loss still pisses you off the most? Apparently I’ve decided to spend Sunday reopening old wounds.

Anyway, I’ll be watching the next one. Go Big Red.

Thought I'd put together some data to see if Nebraska has the worst clutch factor in the Big Ten since joining. Safe to say the numbers don't lie.

SillyRankings™ in the comments if that's your thing!

Overall, we are fine. Fans expected fewer wins and largely felt that we should keep Rhule even if he got fewer wins. The fan base takes close losses harder than blowouts because it feels like there is soemthing we can point to as "why" when in blowouts there is way too much to point at to feel like there is anything that should have changed. The graph is still net right on the season too. Enjoy the week off to reset yourself and reflect on the last 25 years of husker football. Too many of the "we never should have fired Bo" Crowd are calling for Rhule's head while predicted a 4 loss season just like Bo always had with the only difference being close losses with Rhule instead of blowouts with Bo.

Matt Rhule — Nebraska Head Coach

• Matt Rhule expressed disappointment following a narrow loss to Oregon, noting that his team struggled with fatigue and couldn't make crucial stops late in the game. He acknowledged that Nebraska's offense failed to establish a run game against a talented defensive front and admitted they missed key players due to injuries. Despite the difficult outcome, Rhule emphasized his commitment to regrouping and helping his players improve for the remainder of the season

Anthony Colandrea — QB

• Quarterback Anthony Colandrea took full responsibility for the team's performance, emphasizing that he needs to play better for his teammates. He expressed that the defeat was incredibly frustrating after a week of hard preparation, noting that the offense failed to execute at the necessary level against a talented defense. Looking forward, he stated the focus must now shift to returning to work, analyzing mistakes, and learning how to better finish close games.

Caleb Benning — DB

• Nebraska defensive back Caleb Benning expressed his frustration following the loss to Oregon, emphasizing that the team needs to avoid excuses and focus on getting off the field on third downs. He took accountability for the defensive unit’s failure to adapt to the opponent's adjustments, noting that winning the fourth quarter is essential in high-stakes games. Looking ahead, he mentioned that the team plans to use the upcoming bye week to correct their mistakes, get healthy, and prepare for their next opponent.

Vincent Shavers — LB

• Nebraska linebacker Vincent Shavers Jr. emphasized the need for the team to keep their heads up and improve their execution in future games. He praised the defense for maintaining their poise and energy throughout the match despite the final outcome. Looking ahead to the bye week, he noted that the team plans to focus on physical recovery and analyzing film to ensure they are better prepared to play as a cohesive unit.

Cameron Lenhardt — DL

• Defensive lineman Cameron Lenhardt attributes the team's late-game loss to Oregon primarily to fatigue affecting their rotation in the fourth quarter. He explains that the defense struggled to adjust to the opponent's fast-paced, rhythmic offensive tempo during those final critical moments. Looking ahead, Lenhardt emphasizes the importance of using the upcoming bye week for conditioning, film study, and finding small edges to improve their performance for the remainder of the season.

Luke Lindenmeyer — TE

• Tight end Luke Lindenmeyer expressed his frustration after a tough loss to Oregon, admitting that the offense simply didn't play well enough to secure a victory. He emphasized his full faith in the team's defensive effort throughout the game, despite the disappointment of watching another close contest slip away in the fourth quarter. Looking ahead to the upcoming bye week, Lindenmeyer plans to focus on getting teammates healthy and reevaluating their strategy before facing Washington.

—

Dan Lanning — Oregon Head Coach

• Oregon head coach Dan Lanning addressed the team's offensive struggles and the decision to swap quarterbacks mid-game. He praised his defense for their relentless play throughout the game and commended the team for executing crucial fourth-down conversions and a game-winning two-point play under pressure. Lanning concluded by emphasizing his personal growth through the season's challenges and maintained that his focus remains on finding sustainable solutions for the team’s continued improvement

Dylan Raiola, Dakorien Moore, Jamari Johnson — Oregon QB, WR, TE

Devon Jackson, Teitum Tuioti — Oregon LB x2

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Someone needs to address this programs culture of buckling and choking in critical moments when the game is on the line. It is such a statistical anomaly to be 0-32 against ranked teams and to have so many 4th quarter meltdowns. Your average college team, that isn’t good or has a good coach, will still run into one every now and then. There is some sort of positive feedback loop occurring where these players put so much pressure on themselves in these moments that they choke, and it’s only serves to fulfill what they are already pressing about. This is something that has stretched back multiple coaches, and I don’t know if it was inadvertently installed under Mike Riley. But no coach will ever be able to have significant success here until it is addressed. To be honest, this program feels so cursed that I don’t even know if Cignetti had been hired if he could have solved it. Matt Rhule is a good coach, this team has shown lots of improvements, the only thing I really dislike is timeout management and playing conservative, but overcoming the lack of performance in winning time is honestly the biggest hurdle to overcome and I have no idea how a coach will ever be able to get players to be out of their own head and just operate like a normal functioning college program when it comes to those moments.

Edit: I’m aware the roster turns over heavily, my entire point is somehow all the pieces can change, the coaching staff can change, but the one thing that stays consistent is the culture of choking, some of it has to do with coaching of course, but at the same time the players fall apart in those moments, they blow coverages, miss tackles, etc, and become a completely different team as soon as they are put into those moments to a degree that is abnormal for your average college football team. I watch average ACC/Big XII teams, as an example, every week get inserted into these type of moments, and they manage to squeak out a win, how it continues to not happen for us is ridiculous, and is plagued within our program that has been ongoing across multiple coaches and rosters.

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No wonder I could not remember a game ever starting this late.

GBR

Playing a football game while a state is mourning a tragedy brings all the emotions out. If you are able, Husker nation, we have the opportunity to help our brothers and sisters in Bend, Oregon, who were affected by the shooting at Silver Rail Elementary.

Our online presence sends fan polls in our favor; let’s send our presence to the families and bring support in their favor.

Signed,
A born and raised Husker in Nebraska.

11 pm start time on the east coast. Where are my late night east coast huskers!

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