After the first few years of the Matt Rhule era at Notre Dame involved far too many turnovers on offense and not nearly enough turnovers forced on defense, the Huskers have flipped the script in that regard so far this season.
“The ball is everything,” freshman running back Jamal Rule said recently when he met with the media.
He's far from the only person on the Nebraska offense living by that rule this year. The Huskers are the only team among the 138 programs in the FBS that have not lost a single fumble so far this season. That's the kind of stat that makes you want to knock on wood every time it comes up.
It's not just luck, either, that they haven't lost fumbles. The Huskers have only put the ball on the turf five times all year. Quarterback Anthony Colandrea has fumbled three times. Jacory Barney has fumbled twice, once on a punt return. Two players have accounted for every single fumble.
Matt Rhule’s Nebraska football team has transformed its turnover problems in 2026
NU's done a good job of keeping composure after jumping on the rare fumble too. Three of the five possessions that ended in a fumble still resulted in a score.
It's not just a turnaround in the Rhule era. Nebraska has struggled to hold onto the ball for quite a while. Rhule’s first Husker team in 2023 fumbled 31 times and lost 14. Scott Frost offenses always gave up 7 to 12 loose balls. The fewest lost in any Bill Callahan or Bo Pelini-era campaign was 11, with a high of 22 in 2012.
One of the most interesting aspects of the increased ball security is that running backs coach EJ Barthel saw it coming. Maybe not to this degree, but he saw a unit that didn't give up the ball much back in training camp.
In August, Barthel said the group ball security among the rushers was “the best I’ve had so far.”
Nebraska has found a formula that works very well for them so far this season. It's how they started 5-0 and how they led late in their two losses. On Halloween night, the Huskers need to scare Washington into turning it over a few times while showing the ball control skills they've had all year.
Add us as a preferred source on Google