Sad to say, but Nebraska got outplayed by UCLA today, the Bruins have had 5 tough losses (LSU, Oregon, Penn State, Indiana and Minnesota, all bowl-eligible teams), they outplayed Nebraska on offense and defense today, but the real difference-maker was an offense that could only score 20 and gave up 7.
USC looks awful against Washington tonight, Iowa is leading Wisconsin, whose rushing game might actually be less potent than Nebraska’s. So maybe the Huskers still can get that elusive 6th win, but they didn’t play like winners today, and it showed.
The playcalling just isn’t working, and I don’t know if Rhule has what it takes to recognize that and make a change, such as by replacing the OC. If not, Rhule’s seat will start getting warm as the month progresses and hotter next year if the Huskers continue to play like they’ve played during most of the Rhule era. Rhule still doesn’t really have a signature win at Nebraska, and close losses to rated teams are still just losses.
Raiola went out with some kind of injury, and Haarberg didn’t quite have enough to win the game.
I do agree! Something has changed since the first few games. Offensive is different. The play calling has Raiola is doing something different than his first few games and it clearly isn’t working!
I am sure will figure it out hopefully sooner than later.
Defensive got better but was flat when game started. They proved last week how good they can be, hope they figure that out too!
It still blows me away that most all of the fans have things figured out what needs to be done but the HC and the OC are totally blind to things. That just doesn’t make sense no matter who the HC and OC are. Other than his years in the NFL Rhule has a very respectable resume in the college game.
I have always been on the side of pumping the breaks on wanting the OC, or anyone, fired. Fireing someone is never the answer by itself. Firing someone is the easy part. All that need be done is tell the person they are gone. The hard part is hiring someone that is perceptively better than the person that was fired. Sometimes they are better but a certain amount of times they aren’t. Hiring someone is always a gamble. The bottom line is no one really knows until the new person is in place for a period of time how things will work out.
Is it possible the players aren’t as good as we think they are? It is still up to the players to execute what the coaches call. I agree that sometimes the coaches don’t make a good call but I don’t think they miss the target on every play. Sometimes the fault lies with the players. In my opinion this offense isn’t really very good especially the interior line. The blame doesn’t totally go on the coaches unless the problem is who they are recruiting. But the portal and NIL makes recruiting almost an impossible task.
Have you ever had to fire someone you had hired and placed in a position with significant responsibilities? I have, and I debated it internally for a very long time. And I was literally sick afterwards. There’s a reason why large companies tend to have groups who handle employee terminations, many managers just can’t do it, much less do it without creating legal issues.
No, it isn’t easy, and finding replacements isn’t easy, either, especially good ones. Coaches tend to have circles of people they work with over and over again, sometimes this leads to their success, sometimes this leads to their eventual downfall.
I have been wait and see about Rhule after enduring the last 21 years. Maybe two decades have blunted my expectations but rather than starting the carousel again I’m on onboard with letting the season play out and giving coach room to operate. A bowl season would be a good step forward. Perhaps the Colorado win boosted my expectations and the last few weeks have been a wake up call that NU remains a work in progress.
I’m in agreement that another spin on the (head) coaching carousel is not yet warranted. But something has to change, because I don’t see progress this year, in fact I see the opposite of progress over the last 3 games. Is that players, coaches, coaching procedures, motivation, game day preparation, weight training or a combination of things?
Sources are reporting that the tests on Raiola’s back were negative, so he is expected to be able to play against USC. The Huskers have their 2nd bye week this week.
I missed watching the UCLA game but from what I’ve read and heard since Saturday, it sounds like the team was another mental no-show. Rhule comes across as an inspirational sort but maybe he’s not getting through.
Also understand there was some booing from the stands toward our players during the game. Hate to have that at Memorial Stadium, regardless of the situation.
It seemed more like a case of not being able to adapt to well-designed game plans on UCLA’s part. Raiola is a true freshman, and on Saturday that lack of experience was a major factor. The fact that the Huskers were able to take the lead in the 4th quarter suggests motivation was not an issue, but the defense was never really able to figure UCLA out and by the end of the game they were pretty tired, too.
As I noted during the game on the chat channel, UCLA’s losses were all to pretty good teams: Indiana, LSU, Oregon, Penn State and Minnesota. All are bowl-eligible.
I was at the game, and the only boo’s I heard were directed at 1. UCLA, 2. Referees. However, after Buscinni (SP) made a monster kick, the crowd responded with Boooo, with the ‘scinni’ implied.
The crowd loves ooo-cheering for players that have ‘ooo’ in their name. i.e. Suh, Ruud, etc.
There’s a post on X from Amie Just quoting Rhule as saying ‘My job is to consider everything’, Rhule is also planning on bring in some ‘friends in the business’ to help him evaluate.
I think Dylan has been hurt since probably the Illinois game, maybe a shoulder. Just hasn’t looked the same - of course maybe that’s because the defenses have been better, but who knows.