CBS Sports gives Nebraska a major silver lining if Matt Rhule leaves for Penn State

The talk of Nebraska head coach Matt Rhule to Penn State has begun to die down a little, but that is more thanks to the fact that Florida and LSU fired their head coaches and have taken the spotlight. That does not mean that Rhule still isn't one of the leading candidates to take the job with the Nittany Lions.

CBS decided to play a little game where, if Rhule goes to Penn State, who would replace him at Nebraska? So we are going to play with them. CBS Sports predicted that if Rhule were to leave Lincoln, they think Iowa State head coach Matt Campbell would be a good fit to take over the Cornhuskers program.

Thinking about this change is obviously not something Husker fans want, as they like what Rhule is doing at Nebraska, but if he takes the job at Penn State, Campbell is not the worst candidate for the job.

At Iowa State, Campbell has built a strong program over the last 10 seasons. It did start out rough, but Campbell, like Rhule, did with Nebraska, took over an Iowa State program that was incredibly bad. Campbell led the Cyclones to a bowl game and an 8-win season in just his second year, and even built of streak of five straight bowl game appearances that was broken in 2022.

Since then, in 2023, the Cyclones made it to another bowl game, and then in 2024, they were really pushing to be in the Big 12 Championship. Iowa State did fall short, but ended with an 11-win season, including a win in the Pop Tarts Bowl against Miami.

Campbell has proven he can win with what he has at Iowa State, and he could have so much more at Nebraska, especially with being in the Big Ten. Like CBS said as well, the change in culture wouldn't be that big going from Ames, Iowa, to Lincoln, Nebraska.

If Rhule does decide to head back home to Penn State, Campbell should be one of the first calls Nebraska needs to make as his replacement.