Flying high at 5-1 after back-to-back second half comeback wins! Ranked in the top 25 again!Getting talked about for a big job at the alma mater!It was quite the week for Nebraska head coach Matt Rhule. Outside of some bad run defense, it’s gone according to plan for his team in 2025. NU has won close games. They’ve shown character in the face of adversity. The Year Three (trademarked) vibes are all there.
Then the team he played for, Penn State, fired James Franklin after a pair of brutal losses to massive underdogs UCLA and Northwestern (two teams the Huskers will see this season). That job is open at possibly the perfect time for Rhule, as his Nebraska trajectory is pointing up. Ever the talker, Rhule did well to sit on the fence in his media appearances to keep us guessing. Onto a strong second half of the season and see what shakes out, right? Right?
P.J. Fleck had other ideas Friday night.Rhule and Nebraska got flat-out beat 24-6 in Minneapolis in a game that was simultaneously not that bad and not that close. What was clear was how prepared the Golden Gophers were compared to Rhule’s Huskers.
It’s no secret that Minnesota plays their style, and unapologetically at that. Run the ball, play action, plod their way down the field, limit mistakes, and see if they can come out the other side. That formula has been a bad matchup for NU over the years, and even though the 2025 Gophers aren’t running it quite as well as they have in years past, Friday was no exception…