It's not that Nebraska lost its third straight game. It's not that the Huskers couldn't score against one of the worst defenses in the Big Ten. No, just like the other two losses this season, it was that every single person watching on TV and sitting in the stands could see it coming. They could feel the momentum change. And then they were all proven right.
I'm not even sure how exactly Matt Rhule gets the blame for this loss, but I don't know how he doesn't. At some point, his team has to find a way to win games like this. They have to prove the fans wrong at least once.
One reason why it's hard to blame Rhule specifically is because the team finds a new way to lose every single game. Against Indiana, a defense that shut the Hoosiers down for three quarters, suddenly couldn't cover anyone on two long touchdown passes. Against Oregon, a defense that was dominant all game allowed an 18 play, 5 minute drive to win it.
On Saturday night, the defense was dominant all night until Washington converted a 3rd and 15 with a 16 yard quarterback run by Demond Williams and then on 4th and 18 at mid field, allowed a 25 yard pass for a first down. Then, once again, nobody decided to cover the Huskies' best receiver who took another pass for 25 yards and the winning score.
But it wasn't really the defense's fault in any of the three games. When the offense scores 7 points all game, and cannot get a single point after a 1st and goal at the Huskies' 5 yard line, it's not the defenes's fault that the star quarterback who just resigned a big deal to return in 2027 threw three interceptions and couldn't complete more than 24 passes for 44 yards.
At this point in the season, there isn't anyone who can't be blamed and yet, there isn't anyone who can take all the blame. That's the sign of a program in disarray. At the end of the day, that falls on Matt Rhule.
Nebraska has no business not being at least 7-1 and at worst 6-2. That they've lost three straight games after leading in the fourth quarter, someone needs to be blamed, and that's why Matt Rhule makes the big bucks.
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