It’s fair to assume that Nebraska fans didn’t enjoy staying up late on Saturday just to watch the Huskers fall short of getting a significant road win against an Oregon team that is somehow vulnerable to losing in the regular season, right?
That’s a fair thing to assume, I’m pretty sure.
Because things didn’t go Nebraska’s way on Saturday and they sure looked like they would. The Huskers, in the fourth quarter, were holding onto a 14-6 lead over Oregon in Autzen Stadium. And with the game in jeopardy, Oregon head coach Dan Lanning made the decision to get former Nebraska quarterback Dylan Raiola on the field.
And off the bench, Raiola managed to help the Ducks’ offense surge. Oregon scored 11 points in the final frame of the game and that was punctuated as Raiola connected with Jamari Johnson in the end zone for a touchdown with less than 30 seconds in the game to secure a 17-14 win over his former team.
There’s no way Nebraska fans enjoyed seeing that happen.
And it probably stings a bit more when you consider the context of how much they’re paying Matt Rhule and how Nebraska also recently fell short of beating an Indiana team that is somehow vulnerable to losing in the regular season as well.
Indiana also managed to get a late-game surge to beat Nebraska
In back-to-back weeks, Nebraska hasn’t been able to complete a win over a better opponent despite having a late game lead. And that has to be infuriating for the Cornhuskers, their coaching staff, and their fans.
Against Curt Cignetti and the Indiana Hoosiers, Nebraska was holding a 17-6 lead in the fourth quarter with just a dozen minutes left in the game. And somehow, some way, the Huskers allowed the Hoosiers to break them.
Indiana immediately then scored on a 75-yard touchdown pass and then got into the end zone again on fourth-and-1 with about seven minutes left in the game. The Hoosiers walked out of Lincoln with a 20-17 win over the Huskers.
This is really starting to feel like the same sort of failure two weeks in a row (and also possibly a bigger issue with this program).
Matt Rhule hasn’t exactly had an easy time trying to rebuild the Huskers
Nebraska is paying this man a lot of money. When the Huskers hired him, Rhule received a $74 million contract, which is massive (but kinda made a bit of sense at the time given how Rhule previously established the Temple Owls and rebuilt the Baylor Bears).
It’s a lot of money. And since then, the Huskers haven’t really received a full ROI on that contract.
In Nebraska’s first season with Rhule, the Huskers started out 5-3 and then finished the 2023 season with four consecutive losses to Michigan State, Maryland, Wisconsin, and Iowa. During the 2024 season, Nebraska started out 5-1 and ended at 7-6 after losing to Indiana, Ohio State, UCLA, USC, and Iowa (they did beat Wisconsin in there and got a bowl win over Boston College).
Last season, Nebraska was 7-3 and ended at 7-6 by losing to Penn State, Iowa, and Utah to round out the year (those three losses came by a combined margin of 121-48, which is not ideal).
Firing Rhule would be a very expensive sort of decision to make. The Huskers made the choice to extend Rhule out to 2032 after last season in a contract that’s worth $87 million.
Before that extension was made, firing Rhule would have cost Nebraska roughly $50 million.
Because his contract is 90% guaranteed, that number ballooned a bit.
Took a look at Matt Rhule's Nebraska contract extension, with the focus on his new $15M buyout *to leave*.
— Stewart Mandel (@slmandel) October 30, 2025
Not mentioned: The contract is 90 percent guaranteed. So his current buyout *if fired* has increased from $49 million to $71 million.
We are never breaking this cycle.
There’s no quick and easy fix for Nebraska. And technically speaking, there’s still a strong chance that Rhule and the Huskers can end this season on a high note. But if things don’t go well down the stretch, Nebraska fans will be justified in feeling like they’re cursed.
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