Matt Rhule’s Nebraska Crockpot Recipe Will Outlast Curt Cignetti’s Microwave

Cignetti’s Microwave – Transfer 13 Players Transferred In From an 11-2 Team 

Curt Cignetti arrived at Indiana with great bravado. During his introduction to Hoosier fans at a basketball game, he took the mic to proclaim that Purdue, Ohio State, and Michigan all "sucked." There were a lot of raised eyebrows and rolling eyes at that moment. But not anymore. Cignetti has masterminded one of the greatest immediate turnarounds in college football history.

Following Cignetti to Indiana were 13 players who were part of an 11-2 James Madison team. Cignetti led the Dukes to an 8-3 record the season before as a newly transitioned program that arrived in the Sun Belt Conference from the FCS. All told Cignetti hit the transfer portal hard for 31 incoming players, including quarterback Kurtis Rourke from the Ohio Bobcats.

Cignetti’s success is not an accident. Arguably, his best win was last week at home against the Washington Huskies. Without Rourke, who was sidelined with a thumb injury, and in an obvious letdown spot after routing Nebraska on Fox Big Noon Saturday, the Hoosiers prevailed 31-17.

With a November 9 home game against the Michigan Wolverines and a November 23 road date against the Ohio State Buckeyes, Cignetti has the chance to prove his words that both schools “suck" while chasing the Big Ten championship and CFP.  

Cignetti is a good and proven coach who is producing a season that Indiana fans thought they would never live to see. But this historic campaign for the Hoosiers had better be enjoyed while it lasts.

If Cignetti stays, he may still win, but not likely at this rate. More traditional recruiting and transfer portal prospects that did not come from an 11-2 team will fill his future rosters. Thus, the Indiana "microwave" approach is fulfilling for now, but not something that will likely satisfy in the future compared to now.

Is Rhule’s Crockpot Dinner Finally Ready? 

Following the debacle at Indiana, Nebraska and Rhule faced a firestorm of criticism. Rhule’s honeymoon in Lincoln ended, and the same doubts that plagued his predecessors resurfaced. 

Nebraska was expected to be ruined at Ohio State last Saturday. Instead, the Big Red rose to the occasion and lost a game (21-17) that they arguably should have won. Nebraska’s performance at Ohio State was indicative of the culture and program that Rhule is building. The Big Red flashed its pride and full faith in Rhule.

Like Dabo Swinney at Clemson, Rhule is using the slower traditional approach to making a more substantive meal that will last. On Saturday, Nebraska hosts the UCLA Bruins, with an opportunity to clinch a bowl berth. How the struggling UCLA offense scores on the Blackshirts remains a legitimate question. UCLA’s porous defense should give the struggling Nebraska offense opportunities to exploit.

Once Nebraska clinches its sixth win for bowl eligibility, it will be more relaxed and could take off like a rocket.

Indiana and Cignetti are to be saluted for all they have accomplished in an inspirational season that has captivated the country.  

Nebraska and Rhule earn respect for building toward bigger and better days ahead.