Matt Rhule’s Third Season Magic Ends at Nebraska

Originally posted on Mike Farrell Sports
By Mark Pszonak | Last updated Oct 18, 2025 11:24 AM ET

Matt Rhule’s collegiate head coaching success has been very well publicized. Especially the massive turnarounds he helped orchestrate during the third season of his previous two stops at Temple and Baylor. Considering this is his third season at No. 25 Nebraska (5-2), the hope in Lincoln was that a similar season was going to happen with the Huskers. Last night, after a 24-6 loss at Minnesota, the chances of that season happening collapsed.

First, lets take a quick look back at Rhule’s third season at Temple and Baylor. First at Temple, the Owls went 10-4 after a 6-6 season the previous year. Then at Baylor, the Bears went 11-3 after finishing 7-6 the previous season. Considering Nebraska went 7-6 last season, the script was set up perfectly for a bigger season.

Oct 17, 2025; Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA; Nebraska Cornhuskers head coach Matt Rhule and Minnesota Golden Gophers head coach P.J. Fleck shake hands after the game at Huntington Bank Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Matt Krohn-Imagn Images

And through six games that was script was still on schedule. While the Huskers stumbled at home against No. 21 Michigan (4-2), they had shown improvement from last season. At least they did until last night’s loss.

On offense, quarterback Dylan Raiola was sacked nine times, and the unit only totaled 213 yards. The running game was especially anemic with 36 yards on 29 carries. Defensively, the Huskers couldn’t slow down Minnesota’s running game and specifically Darius Taylor, who rushed for 148 yards and one touchdown.

It was a rough reality check for everyone associated with the Nebraska program. While this season should still be better than last year’s 7-6 finish, the chances of a huge jump are now extremely unlikely. This is especially true if the Huskers can’t protect Raiola or stop the run.

No. 20 USC is still on the schedule, as well as the regular season finale against Iowa. Then there are wildcard games against Northwestern, Penn State and UCLA, since nobody knows what those teams will bring to the table on gameday.

With Nebraska fans already dealing with the Rhule to Penn State rumors, last night’s game was the last thing they needed. Now they’ll have to continue to deal with those rumors, while knowing that a magical season is out of reach.

This article first appeared on Mike Farrell Sports and was syndicated with permission.

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