Prior to the start of the Matt Rhule era, Nebraska had lost six straight games when starting its backup quarterback. You had to go back to a Ryker Fyfe-led 28-7 win over Maryland1 late in 2016 to find the last time the Huskers had won with a Plan B.
Rhule had to confront that streak in just his third game, a 35-11 win over Northern Illinois in which Heinrich Haarberg threw two touchdowns, ran for another and led the Huskers in rushing. Haarberg would go 5-22 as the starter before getting injured early in the Maryland game in 2023.
Saturday night’s 28-21 win over UCLA, behind TJ Lateef’s 13-of-15, three-TD night in his first start, represented Nebraska’s sixth win while starting the backup QB under Rhule. To put it another way, nearly a third of Rhule’s 19 wins in Lincoln have come with the guy judged to be not quite as good as the other guy…