Matt Rhule wants Nebraska to play free after Illinois loss

The days after the Nebraska football team’s overtime loss to Illinois were spent in self-reflection.

On Saturday, coaches spent time watching future opponents like Purdue. On Sunday, head coach Matt Rhule came into the program’s facility to meet with players one-on-one as he broke down what happened in the Huskers’ first loss of the season.

And when NU’s weekly routine resumed on Monday, Rhule had to remind his team to leave the crushing defeat behind them.

“We went through this disappointing, disappointing game and we have to emerge on the other side,” Rhule said. “As I told them today, guys (were) walking around with their heads down today and all that, (I said), ‘Ain’t no time for that, we’ve got to get ready for Purdue.’”

Moving on is easier said than done when the weekly film review showed a much different Nebraska team than the one that began the year with three comfortable wins. That was most visible on the defensive side of the ball where the Huskers went from allowing 20 points across 180 minutes of football to surrendering 31 in 60-plus minutes of action.

Specific areas where improvements are needed include Nebraska’s third-down defense, tackling and ability to get off blocks. For the second week in a row, Rhule was also displeased with the amount of yards after contact the Huskers surrendered.

“I thought our guys played hard — I had no issue with that stuff — it was just a lot of uncharacteristic mistakes and I put that on me,” he said.

Despite feeling that his Huskers brought good energy into the game, Rhule said that he could feel Illinois’ “passion” for the game stemming from NU’s win over the Illini a year prior.

The difference in the teams’ mindsets truly began to show as the second half progressed with Illinois controlling the ball and putting the pressure on Nebraska. While Rhule said Illinois “played loose,” Nebraska was “too tight” as it dealt with the pressures of a one-score game.

“I have to find a way to get our team when the game gets tight to not get tight, but enjoy the battle and enjoy the competition,” Rhule said. “It just felt really tight out there in the second half except for some guys.”

Freshman quarterback Dylan Raiola and many of the young Huskers who hadn’t experienced the program’s struggles with one-score games were among those who continued to play fearlessly late in the game according to Rhule.

However, just about nothing went right during an overtime period that the head coach deemed a “debacle.”

Caught off guard on defense, Nebraska didn’t play a look right that it had practiced and prepared for. And when the Huskers went backward offensively, the final fourth-down play just about summed up the issues on the night.

An Illinois linebacker blitzed up the middle untouched, dumping Raiola to the ground for a fifth and final sack. It was a play Nebraska could have prevented with a blitz pickup from its running back — but that never happened.

“At the end of the day, it was just a missed assignment; it’s not like we’re not good,” Rhule said. “That’s my message to our guys.”

In moving past the loss to Illinois, Rhule and the Nebraska coaching staff are making sure that the players understand that “none of it was quite good enough” in the team’s loss to Illinois, yet they still had a chance to win the game.

To Rhule, that shows how far the Huskers have already come from a year prior. The fine margins of games still continue to evade Nebraska, though, with Rhule hoping to find a solution from conversations with players and coaches throughout the week.

Having been pleased with the team’s leadership and the ownership players have taken over their performances and results, Rhule said moving forward is simple for the Huskers — they just have to play better.

Despite the emotional blow suffered by Nebraska in its most recent loss, the Huskers aren’t blowing things up and rethinking their weekly routine. Tweaks and adjustments will be needed as Nebraska crafts its game plan for this Saturday’s contest at Purdue, but the process remains the same.

One loss hasn’t shaken the confidence Rhule feels in his team — but it has shown that the 2024 Huskers still have a ways to go before they reach the level of play demanded by their coaches.

“Hopefully this was a good wake-up call (because) I have to own the fact that our team went out there and didn’t execute in crucial situations,” Rhule said. “… Our guys do winning things, (so) I just want them to be themselves in these moments and stop worrying about all this other stuff and just go out and compete.”