Un-Pretty in Pink

Sixty ugly minutes in Minneapolis has Huskers fans rethinking everything 

Stack the sacks: With Huskers trimmed in pink, it was the blue-collar Minnesota defense who shined on Friday, with Nebraska quarterback Dylan Raiola getting put to sleep a mind-boggling – and discouraging – NINE times. Illustration by Anthony Aleman 

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One step forward and like, I dunno, 10 steps back. Fifteen steps? A thousand? 

In the aftermath of Nebraska’s 24-6 loss to Minnesota on Friday, pick a number of steps, any number. I will accept it. Here doggie, doggie. Come here boy. Come on and get your bone. Like a cruel dog owner dangling a tasty lil’ treat in front of his hopeful and supposed best friend, the Huskers pulled the bone away one more time, stepped outside for a cigarette and never came back. A big tease at best, and pure cruelty at worst. It’s all too familiar.  

Nebraska entered the game ranked No. 25 and were 7.5-point favorites. Minnesota – who had beaten us five times in a row, now six – finally seemed ripe for the picking. P.J. Fleck’s typically physical, run-heavy crew ranked dead last in the Big Ten in several

rushing categories, and they had exactly zero good wins. The game was broadcast on national television; our uniforms were trimmed in pink in support of breast cancer awareness, so karma had to be on our side; and this would be the night we announced to the country that, despite the Penn State rumors of the previous week, Year 3 of Matt Rhule was for real.  

And then … well, you bleepin’ saw that shitshow. It was obvious about halfway through the first quarter that this would be no walkover. Uh-oh. Not even close. The Huskers proceeded to buckle underneath an avalanche of sacks and – as it always seems to happen when teams play us – the Gophers regained their stride in the form of a dominating run game and timely passing. Outcoached, outplayed, out-toughed, out-everything’d. Imagine telling some drunk Huskers fans in 1983 that you were from the future and one day Minnesota would beat us six straight times. Inconceivable. There surely would’ve been a dead body on O Street.  

Here’s the deal. We all – fans and media members – got way, way, way too far out over our skis about wins over Michigan State and Maryland, who are a combined 1-7 in Big Ten play (the lone win being Maryland’s victory over hapless Wisconsin, who has not scored one single point in its last two games). Not exactly murderer’s row. But that’s how hungry we are for that bone. Here doggie, doggie. I suppose it’s worth mentioning that the Cincinnati win continues to age well. They are now 6-1 and ranked No. 21. (Although something tells me if we lined up again, they’d kick our asses; I’ve got a bad taste in my mouth, if you can’t tell.) But Michigan State and Maryland? Come on, man! As we said last week: We are soooo easy. Boneheads. 

The question is, were the players feeling themselves a little too much, too? Distracted by the Matt Rhule-to-Penn State discussion/rumors/drama? Or are we just shitty? Maybe theplayers were disappointed in what Rhule said at the podium the Monday before the game? After all, he alluded to the fact that he needs a $40 million roster to win.

According to any source I can find (and granted, player valuations aren’t made public and therefore it’s all speculation), Nebraska’s current roster adds up to between $13 and $15 million. I’m sure Rhule had other strategic motivations for saying what he said, but imagine your boss declaring publicly that if only they had someone more valuable than YOU, the company would be crushing it. I mean … WTF, coach? 

Is it possible I’m reading too much into it? Yeah. Who knows. But College Football Playoff dreams and talk of an 10-2 or 11-1 regular season now seem utterly ridiculous. Just like that. I’d love to tell you it was just one game, but with the offensive and defensive lines playing like they are, it’s awfully hard to think that way right now. And that’s a segway worthy of police officers cruising the streets circa 2010, because there’s a lot more frontline talk coming up in “Four Downs.” So let’s get to it. Hut, hut, hut, hut, hut … hike?  

FOUR DOWNS 

1. The offensive line sucks. At least they do right now and there is no point in sugarcoating it. They suuuuuck. In their defense, there are a few contributing factors that might be making them appear suckier than they actually suck: bad play-calling, quarterback Dylan Raiola calling holding the ball too long, possible miscommunications, misguided audibles, etc.

If you haven’t heard, Nebraska surrendered nine sacks Friday night. They also gave up seven to Michigan, five to Michigan State, only one to Maryland (champagne on me!) and now nine to the Gophers. Breaking news: That’s a lot. If – IF – you want to brightside the offensive line, football is a team sport. In fact, let’s back up a second: there was an exhausting – and annoyingly passionate – amount of discourse this week over who’s to blame more: the offensive line for poor pass protection or Dylan for holding on to the ball too long. People have all picked a camp in which to squat. My opinion? Twenty-four to six has us all seeing ghosts, man. In the end, a sack is a sack is a sack. 

Is a turnaround possible? If so, it mostly falls on offensive coordinator Dana Holgorsen, the scheming guru who, it seemed at least, would be the key to unlocking Dylan (and he has, to some degree). But Friday was a brutal display of (lack of) imagination. What happened to all your swag, Dana? Anyone could see that Nebraska needed to A) run the ball more and B) throw quick, short passes to slow Minnesota’s pass rush. Every idiot I know was screaming for these two things: “It’s not that hard!” Well, I would proffer that calling a college football game as an offensive coordinator is actually that hard. But, while extremely rare, sometimes the idiots on the couch are right. This was one of those rare cases.  

2. Minnesota’s 14-play, 98-yard drive that chewed up 8 minutes and 43 seconds of the clock in the third quarter was game, set, match. Punter Archie Wilson made the play of the game for Nebraska. That’s right, our punter made our play of the game when he pinned the Gophers on the 2-yard-line after the opening drive of the second half. Hope! It was all set up for Nebraska to get a quick three-and-out, then get the ball back with great field position and take the lead. Nope! Minnesota went into the horse trailer, grabbed a pair of snippers, and gelded the Blackshirts with a gut-wrenching drive that felt like it sent the Matt Rhule back to Square One and cemented this game as the worst of the coach’s era.  

All that being said – and this was a bad night, and they got pushed around – I still think the problems on John Butler’s defense pale in comparison to the problems on offense. More often than not he has them in pretty good position to make the play; they’re just not making them. The defensive line is too small, the players tackle like shit and, most aggravatingly, poor angles are being taken – certain players in the secondary could use some time in a Geometry 101.        

3. It’s not as simple as you think it is, but can Holgorsen incorporate T.J. Lateef into the gameplan to give the offensive line some relief? I don’t think anyone in their right mind is calling for backup quarterback T.J. Lateef (at right) to replace Dylan as the starter. (Although judging by some of the callers and e-mailers into postmortem shows like “Big Red Overreaction” and “The Husker Online Postgame Show,” some people are in fact out of their right minds.) As great as he is when he has time, Dylan might have a fatal flaw as it pertains to modern-day football. You know it and I know it. He’s just not a running threat, and when the offensive line sucks this bad, the recipe is simple: rush three guys and drop eight guys into coverage. With that much coverage and without help from his offensive coordinator, it’s no wonder Dylan holds on to the ball so long.  

So integrating Lateef into some sort of quarterback run game might work, although Big Ten defensive coordinators aren’t stupid. If they see No. 14 in the game, they’re going to know what’s likely coming. And may I remind you – especially those who are out of their right minds – that while yes, Lateef has “looked good,” he “looked good” against the likes of Akron and Houston Christian, in mop-up duty no less. What would that look like in the thick of it against a Big Ten team? Hey man, it could be really good; I’m just here to remind you going from playing against Houston Christian to playing in the Big Ten is not so easily transferable.  

And I love the guy, but Dylan’s not off the hook. He’s got to be better. The full-body extension shovel pass and the left-handed throw for a first down were fun, and jaw-dropping, but that’s not what Nebraska is paying Dylan to do. We’re paying him to hit a wide-open Dane Key on the first quarter fade route that would’ve given Nebraska an early and momentum-seizing 7-0 lead.      

4. Coaching: What to do, what to do?  

Rhule: Well, the Penn State rumors/panic might have been short-lived. I can’t imagine the higher-ups in Pennsylvania watched this game and said, “We want that guy.” Only time will tell, I suppose. I’m just worried he’s more of an elite talker than an elite head coach. And, by the way, being an elite talker can be an important part of the job (the grouchy Nick Sabans of the world are the rarest of the rare), especially in 2025 where you have to kiss the asses of 18-year-olds (you always had to kiss the asses of 18-year-olds, but not like you have to now) and especially when you’re trying to woo most of said 18-year-olds to an unfamiliar part of the country – but mostly to a program that hasn’t been good in at least a decade and hasn’t been great in 25 years. The culture seems – seemed? – good, but more results on the field need to follow.  

Holgorsen: We’ve covered this already. There could possibly be some things going on we have no idea about, but on the surface it was a wildly disappointing night from him.  

Donovan Raiola: I came across a fake headline on social media Sunday night that said “Donovan Raiola Fired.” Speaking of the stupid world of 2025 in which we live, I did what we all have to do and fact-checked it before freaking out and firing off text messages to friends. But an argument could be made that Uncle Donny is the No.1 reason that Dylan is at Nebraska in the first place; an argument could also be made that Uncle Donny is the reason Dylan was on the ground nine times Friday night. It would be dumb to fire him now but this is patently unacceptable.   

It’s pretty crazy that all it takes is one game. The devasting loss revealed deep-seated problems indicating that Nebraska can beat the Michigan States and Marylands of the world but don’t seem equipped to take their show on the road against even middle-of-the-pack Big Ten teams. As Robin Washut of the aforementioned “Husker Online” podcast said after the game, “can they just fix one thing? Just one?” (Which is also how I feel about all the road construction and orange barrels in downtown Omaha, but I digress. IYKYK.) But Washut has a point. It starts with fixing one damn thing; hopefully that will be the triage on the offensive line.  

Here doggie, doggie. Seven days ago, things were trending so far in the right direction that it seemed as if the Big Red Matt Rhule Panic of 2025 might get its own Wikipedia page. Was our guy going to leave us for Penn State? By midnight on Friday, I was getting text messages that said, “Penn State can have him.” But the 24-hour rule will always apply: Anything a passionate and pissed off Cornhusker fan says within the first 24 hours after a loss shall not be used against them in the court of whatever frickin’ fantasy world we’re existing in. 

The road to getting fixed starts Saturday against suddenly spry Northwestern. Despite declarations of “I’m done,” I’ll be parked in front of the TV and you will, too. Barking, wondering, hoping.