What stood out to Matt Rhule in his review of Indiana game

As the Nebraska football team flew home from Bloomington, Indiana, Rhule spent the flight watching the film of NU’s 56-7 loss. Then came rewatches of the game on Sunday, followed by a final look at the film on Monday morning for good measure.

And when Nebraska gathered for a team meeting, it wasn’t the typical film review Rhule would put in front of them. According to the Husker head coach, the entire Nebraska roster and coaching staff rewatched the first half of the Indiana loss together.

“All the answers are on the tape, and it’s just like, ‘Hey guys, look at this. Look at this. Look at this,’” Rhule said.

In his 30-minute appearance before the media on Monday, Rhule scarcely fielded any questions about Nebraska’s upcoming opponent, No. 4 Ohio State, instead breaking down NU’s loss to Indiana in depth. That was for good reason because the Huskers know they’ll have no chance of taking down the Buckeyes if the issues that surfaced last Saturday continue.

On the defensive side of the ball, Rhule identified Nebraska’s tackling and run defense as glaring weaknesses. Indiana ran for over 200 yards, averaging 6.5 yards per carry as they ran for five scores against a Nebraska defensive front which had allowed zero rushing touchdowns in their six prior games.

Players not being in the right spot or misplaying one of Indiana’s play-action fakes also hurt a Nebraska team that missed 11 tackles.

“I think it always comes down to just football — if you’re supposed to be in the B gap, then be in the B gap; don’t go to the A gap,” Rhule said.

Offensively, Nebraska’s wide receivers will have plenty to improve in practice this week after struggling to create separation from defenders against Indiana. Nebraska has wideouts who want to play in the NFL, Rhule said — and to do so, they have to be able to beat one-on-one coverage.

“If I made a cutup of the press reps where we didn’t beat the guy off the line, some of them were really bad,” Rhule said.

Then there was the perimeter blocking, an area of Nebraska’s game that Rhule said has been a “deficiency” all season.

When rewatching the game film, Rhule highlighted a player where running back Emmett Johnson made a great play to spin out of a tackle attempt. With just one more block on the perimeter, Johnson could’ve gone for a touchdown — but Nebraska didn’t execute and paid the price instead.

“I just show the guys, as a team, how much we all affect each other,” Rhule said. “A missed block on a bubble screen leads to a fourth-and-8 pick, which leads to the ball going all the way down the 20 which leads to a touchdown. Everyone’s got to do their job and do it at a high level.”

Offensively, Rhule also feels that Nebraska needs to do better with dealing with blitzes and showing run-pass option looks which keep opposing defenses honest. Nebraska’s ground game needs to get going too — the Huskers have yet to have an 100-yard rusher in a game this season.

It’s a lot for Nebraska to handle ahead of its road trip to Ohio State, but improvements in each and every area will be needed as the Huskers move forward.

“We legitimately worked on these things over and over, and no one’s going to want to hear this, but maybe they’ll show up this week or maybe they’ll show up next week,” Rhule said. “These are not things we haven’t done all year, all spring, we just got to that moment and didn’t do the things I know we’re capable of doing. We just weren’t ready for that moment (and) we weren’t ready for that game.”