A quick word of warning, if you are reading this because you want to feel better about your Huskers, don’t. Just move on, you won’t find what you are looking for here.
After two consecutive losses to finish the season, 37-10 to Penn State and now 40-16 to Iowa, it’s easy for fans like me to call the 2025 season a bust. They finished 4-5 in the Big Ten and even if they win a bowl game, they will only be 8-5, just one game better than last season. That isn’t improvement, that’s flatlining, especially when considering Nebraska’s 2025 schedule. When you take that into account, the best wins of the season are over Cincinnati and Northwestern. Cincy is currently 7-4 and has dropped its last three games. Northwestern is currently 6-5, not much to brag about.
Blame it on Matt Rhule, he started the year three ball rolling by bringing the subject up early on. Once he did, it gained momentum and Big Red bought in, convinced this was going to be the year Nebraska won double digit games. When Novembers to remember rolled around and we started to realize that wasn’t going to happen, we started bargaining with ourselves, saying 9-3 would be great, 8-4 acceptable, and 7-5 disappointing but better than before Rhule. Just so you know, better than before Rhule is a very low standard. So, here we are at 7-5 and realizing Matt Rhule’s year three hooey is just that, hooey. FYI, Rhule is 2-10 in November.
Part of the frustration for Husker fans lies in the fact that we all know what and who Iowa is. We knew what Nebraska would need to do to win this game. So, why can’t Nebraska’s staff and players put together a plan to execute those key things.
We knew Iowa takes care of the ball and doesn’t commit penalties. We responded with a fumble at the goal line, a muffed punt, and committed two personal foul penalties at critical times.
We knew Iowa’s offense was only as good as their QB play. So, we allowed Iowa’s QB Mark Gronowski to complete 9/16 passing for 166 yards and 1 TD while rushing 64 yards and 2 TDs. Three of those completions came on scrambles when he passed to tight end DJ Vonnahme for 91 yards and 1 TD. The Blackshirts never sacked Gronowski.
And we knew Iowa’s special teams were elite. Yet, Iowa got the safety on the muffed punt, which was a re-kick due to a penalty on them that pinned us deep. Iowa return man Kaden Wetjen had two kickoff returns for 71 yards. Husker punter Archie Wilson was unable to control field position as his skills were taken out of the game just keeping Wetjen from touching the ball. The rest were just solid special teams plays that limited Nebraska.
So why couldn’t Nebraska stop what they knew was coming? Why can’t the coaches say, “We may get beat, but we will not be beat by the things we know. We will stop Iowa from doing those things at all costs.” Still, it was as if we were unprepared for what Iowa was doing.
We also knew we couldn’t allow Iowa to pick up first downs and sustain drives, that our defense needed to get off the field. But Iowa had multiple long drives for scores.
Iowa’s touchdown drives:
3 plays 51 yards, TD, 1:37 off the clock
10 plays 75 yards, TD, 5:46 off the clock
9 plays 75 yards, TD, 2:16 off the clock
Half
7 plays 71 yards, TD, 3:51 off the clock
9 plays 63 yards, TD, 4:34 off the clock
While the Blackshirts gave up 379 total yards, 18 first downs, and 40 points, the offense wasn’t any better. Nebraska had 231 total yards in the first half, but just 69 yards in the second. QB TJ Lateef who injured a hamstring but played through it was 9/24 for 69 yards in the game. His receivers were of little help, dropping multiple balls at critical times.
Emmett Johnson rushed for 217 yards and 1 TD on a career high of 29 carries. 177 of those yards came in the first half. He also had 2 receptions for 22 yards. Give Iowa DC Phil Parker credit, they were prepared for TJ to roll out when passing and they obviously made halftime adjustments as Emmett Johnson was shut down in the 2nd half.
All and all the Huskers were dismal. What is it now – 10 or 11 consecutive years Iowa has defeated Nebraska in football. I’ve lost track. I do know the last three have been against Matt Rhule. The losses are something Husker fans are finding hard to stomach. So much so, they cleared out Memorial Stadium long before the game was over. They had seen enough. I hope it got Troy Dannen and Matt Rhule’s attention.
I’m not in the get rid of Matt Rhule camp just yet. I’ll give him the benefit of the doubt and see what he does over the next couple of years. I do think Nebraska football is improving, but you might need to drive a stake in the ground to verify there is movement. I will say this, Rhule preaches transparency, and it would go a long way with the fan base if he were to say publicly that he got ahead of himself in his year three rhetoric. Temple and Baylor were at different times and in different conferences. This is the Big Ten and Nebraska, Rhule is dealing with a whole different beast. As of now one he hasn’t figured out how to handle.
The season is over and Rhule needs to concentrate on winning a bowl game, which may help retain players. The season and the way it finished should leave several players dissatisfied. But this isn’t the old days when a player stayed and finished what he started, in today’s NIL world, it can mean moving on rather than sticking around. I worry about players like Jacory Barney and Nyziah Hunter. They got lost in several games and it showed.
Rhule and this staff have a ton of work and damage control to do with players and fans. So, let’s hope they win a bowl game, convince our top talent to stay, and make Nebraska, Nebraska again.
GO BIG RED!!
Photo courtesy of The Falls City Journal
Stats gathered from ESPN – Serving Sports Fans. Anytime. Anywhere.
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