For the second straight week, Nebraska outplayed its opponent for three quarters. For the second straight week, it was badly outplayed by its opponent in the fourth quarter. To add insult to injury, the main reason why Oregon outscored NU 11-0 in the final period was that former Husker quarterback Dylan Raiola was brought into the game after sitting for the first three quarters in favor of Brock Thomas.
Thanks to a 19-yard play, nearly five-minute drive that essentially allowed Oregon to control the ball for the majority of the fourth quarter, the Ducks scored the go-ahead touchdown with just 33 seconds to go. They eventually won 17-14, and the Huskers go into the bye week trying desperately to figure out how to close out a game.
Here are the winners and losers from a game Nebraska had to have, looked like it had, and then coughed up, falling to 5-2.
Winner: Dylan Raiola got the revenge on Nebraska he was clearly craving
Former Nebraska quarterback Dylan Raiola talked a decent game about not holding a grudge over how things went down last year when he transferred out. His body language when he finally came in after watching Thomas struggle to complete a pass said otherwise.
On Raiola's first drive of the game, he took a quarterback keeper on 3rd and 5 and ran six yards for the first down. After the run he got up and signaled the first down. He showed a level of excitement on that single signal that made it clear he wanted to show Nebraska what it was missing.
Raiola didn't have a stellar outing, he was 11 for 18 passing but put up just 59 yards. He did have the game winning touchdown pass though. Otherwise, he was the game manager the Ducks needed after scoring just two field goals before he came in.
Loser: Archie Wilson's ups and downs for Nebraska continue
Second year punter Archie Wilson has had a decent, if unspectacular 2026 season. He's in the top half of the country in net punting yardage and every once in a while he can really uncork a kick like he did when he booted one punt 60 yards.
However, Wilson also tends to make mistakes that will make a fan pull their hair out, and he made an extremely costly one on Saturday night when he fielded a snap to early in the third quarter while putting his knee on the ground to steady himself. By doing that, the ball was ruled down at the Huskers' 19 yard line. Oregon didn't move the ball much as Thomas was still the quarterback, but htey didn't need to move it to kick a field goal and make the score 14-9.
In other words, that field goal, that Oregon didn't have to work at , at all was the deciding 3 points in Nebraska's loss. The loss isn't solely on Wilson's shoulders but he had the roughest of rough nights.
Winner: Caleb Benning tried to carry Nebraska on his back
The absence of both Jamir Conn and Rex Guthrie meant that Caleb Benning was pressed into his most extensive action of the season. He rewarded defensive coordinator Rob Aurich for his confidence in him by recording a career high 11 tackles, 2.5 tackles for loss, 1 pass breakup and a forced fumble.
Benning, the son of famed Nebraska running back Damon Benning sent a message to the staff that he can be relied on. That could be a massive for the rest of the season, and it could have been massive on Saturday if the Huskers' offense helped the Blackshirts at all.
Winner: Dwayne McDougle tried to play hero for Nebraska again
It's been an up and down year for Nebraska's safeties, but they played pretty well on Saturday night. In addition to Benning, Dwane McDougle record 13 tackles, 1 pass breakup and an interception that could have helped seal the win against Oregon, if NU's offense wasn't too busy tripping over itself.
Nebraska fans might remember it was McDougle's pick-six against Maryland that helped turn that game around and allowed the Huskers to go on a big run. He likely thought the pick against Brock Thomas would do the same, but it wasn't enough after the team folded again in the fourth quarter.
Winner: Owen Chambliss continues to be a rock in the middle of Nebraska's defense
After missing the first few games of the season, linebacker Owen Chambliss has made his presence felt on defense every game, even if his name doesn't get called all that often. In fact, on Sunday, Chambliss had the quietest 15-tackle game you're likely to ever see. In those 15 tackles he also had 2 tackles for loss.
Now, despite missing the first two games, Chambliss leads the team in tackles and looks like he could still get to 100 tackles on the season. If the San Diego State linebacker manages to hit the century club, it would be the first time a Blackshirt did that in quite some time. It's hard to know where NU would be without Chambliss.
Loser: Nebraska's running game
During the offseason, serious concerns surrounded Nebraska's running back room. With Mekhi Nelson and Jamal Rule playing as well as they did early in the season, there was hope that people had underestimated the step back compared to 2025 and Emmett Johnson. Unfortunately, the running game appears to be a real concern and is hamstringing the offense as the season goes on.
In three of the last four games, including Saturday night, Nebraska's leading rusher was quarterback Anthony Colandrea. That he led the team with 38 yards rushing is a bigger issue. It didn't help that Jamal Rule was injured after just 3 carries but in general, not only couldn't the running backs find a hole, but when a hole was there, they tended not to hit it fast enough.
Nebraska had 78 yards on 33 carries, take out Colandrea's numbers and the backs had 40 yards on 20 carries. Rule ran for 5 yards on his 3 carries. Nelson ran for 25 yards on 11 carries. Isaiah Mozee's 28 yards on 4 carries looks ok, until you remember he had 26 yards on one run and 2 yards on 3 carries after that.
Nebraska's running game has been slowly getting less effective each game since the Big Ten started. It (hopefully) hit r
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