Same Record, New Resolve: Why Nebraska’s 5-1 Start Isn’t a Repeat of 2024

As we all know, Nebraska followed that loss with two close wins over Purdue and Rutgers, but they weren’t enough to instill confidence in the pollsters, let alone Nebraska’s fan base.

Fast forward to 2025, and here we are again. Just like last year, Nebraska started 3-0 before suffering its first loss to a ranked Big Ten team (swap out No. 24 Illinois with No. 21 Michigan). The only difference was the Huskers didn’t crack the top-25 before that loss, but after wins over Michigan State and a 4-1 Maryland team, enough voters thought “why not.”

The 25th-ranked Huskers are on the road for their only non-Black Friday “Friday” game of the year. You might remember – that was the same setup for last year’s Illinois loss. With so many similarities, it’d be easy to ramp up the pessimism ahead of NU’s game at Minnesota. However, if you dig just a little deeper, you can see not only why Nebraska’s ranked heading into the game, but why there’s reason to think they might climb in those rankings.

Before Nebraska took on Maryland this past Saturday, Terrapin coach Mike Locksley lamented that his team wasn’t winning the fourth quarter. Leading into their game against the Huskers, they let Washington outscore them 21-3 in the fourth quarter for a stunning comeback victory.

The very next weekend, Nebraska came to town and trailed by 7 entering the fourth quarter. The Huskers then put up 10 unanswered points to escape College Park with the 34-31 win. It was another loss in the fourth quarter for Maryland to send them to 4-2 after a perfect 4-0 start to the year.

On the other side, Nebraska got to leave our nation’s capital with a 5-1 record and a national ranking to wake up to Sunday morning. Because of the rhetoric heading into that game against Maryland, it got me thinking – why does this season actually “feel” different? Almost any pundit under the sun is pointing to the fact that it’s “Year 3” under Matt Rhule, but there has to be more at play.

Just recently, I also wrote about how the culture has officially shifted because Nebraska’s like Macauley Culkin in Home Alone stepping outside his house saying he’s not afraid anymore. Now the Husker faithful just needs to hope there’s not a scary neighbor to scare the Big Red back into the house (take it easy, Iowa).

After doing a little digging, it was easy to find out why the play on the field is matching the “feel” around this year’s team, and it’s exactly what coach Locksley at Maryland was preaching to his team. It’s all in the fourth quarter. Nebraska is finally winning in “win time.”

Let’s first take a look at 2024. In the table above, you’ll notice Nebraska’s fourth-quarter scores against its opponents left a lot to be desired. What’s even more odd is if you credited each score with a win or a loss, Nebraska would have still finished 2024 6-6. Ironically enough, the game against Wisconsin was still the game that sealed bowl eligibility for the team.

It’s also important to look at the USC and Iowa games. Nebraska lost by eight to the Trojans after losing the fourth quarter by seven. It’s worse against the Hawkeyes, as Nebraska surrendered 10 points to their border rival en route to losing by three. Simply put, the killer instinct wasn’t there.

Now, let’s look at 2025. Through half a season, Nebraska is 5-0-1 in fourth quarters, with the tie coming in a 7-7 fourth quarter against Cincinnati – a game Nebraska won by three. In the five other fourth-quarter “wins,” the Huskers entered the fourth quarter trailing or tied in three of them, with the last two ending in wins against Michigan State (tied heading into the fourth) and Maryland (down 7 entering the fourth).

When hearing from the players and coaches after the win over Maryland, they acknowledged that some of it is absolutely a culture shift, but most of it involves the six inches between their ears. The team finally believes those tight situations are in their favor, not something to run away from.

“We scored 10 points in the final seven, six minutes, right?” Nebraska coach Matt Rhule asked following his team’s 34-31 win over Maryland. “That’s what winning teams do. I thought our crowd just became electric – just the feeling down there just felt inevitable that we were going to score because of everything that was happening and especially from the crowd. I have to give a ton of credit to the fans and the crowd that was here.”

It’s been well-documented that Nebraska overcame one of quarterback Dylan Raiola’s worst games under center for the Huskers to still earn the win against the Terps. However, that just plays into the fact that Nebraska is a changed team even more. Rhule said despite three interceptions from his star QB, the sophomore went out and simply made the play of the game when it mattered most.

“That touchdown he threw to Dane in the back of the end zone – I mean, that might have been not a great decision, but he made it, and he made the play,” Rhule said. “The last touchdown to Dane there, one-handed catch, (if) that ball’s at least six inches less (and) it’s picked. I’m proud of the kid.”

Nebraska running back Emmett Johnson, who rumbled for 176 yards in the win over Maryland, sided with his coach when it came to that last drive. He said there wasn’t a doubt in the mind of anyone in that huddle that they were going to find the end zone.

“Everybody was extremely confident on that last drive,” Johnson said. “We knew we just got to take it one play at a time, and that’s what we did.”

“Today truly felt like one team, and I think that’s something that’s really hard to build, something we’ve been coming together towards for a really, really long time,” NU offensive lineman Henry Lutovsky added after the game. “At times last year, we didn’t have that, but today it showed through.”

The team is once again at the critical juncture of a 5-1 record with a magical season in front of them. Last year, the next two teams to greet them were two undefeated teams in No. 16 Indiana and eventual national champion and No. 4 Ohio State. The Hoosiers embarrassed the Huskers 56-7 before the team gave Ohio State all it could handle in a 21-17 loss to the Buckeyes.

This season, instead of the Hoosiers, it’s the Golden Gophers of Minnesota. Then, instead of the Buckeyes, it’s a test against a Northwestern team that just went to Happy Valley and beat Penn State. While “on paper” it seems like an easier stretch, it’s at this point where Nebraska will truly find out if this season is finally going to take the turn its entire fan base has been waiting a quarter-century for.

The Gophers enter 4-2 after a win over Purdue this past Saturday, and Rhule will be the first to tell you that he expects a dog fight in Minneapolis on Friday. The only difference between game seven of 2024 and game seven of 2025 is the team’s mindset. It appears they’re done hoping to win and instead preparing and expecting to come away with the W.

“I think it just continues to breed confidence,” Rhule said of his team’s late-game heroics as of late. “The biggest thing I felt was no one panicked on the sideline, but they weren’t panicked last week. Cincinnati game – that’s three close wins. It comes down to the end, and our guys are very, very comfortable in that fourth quarter.”