Talk to one Nebraska football fan after another, and they’ll all come up with different indicators of whether the program has really turned things around. However, it seems like all the signs and pieces of evidence pale in comparison to one situation that, ironically enough, most teams don’t want to go anywhere near simply because it puts the game into an extra-high-pressure situation.
No team has dealt with the extra pressure worse over the last few years than the Huskers. In the last eight games where NU has gone to overtime, it’s been a guaranteed loss. Worse than a guaranteed loss, if the Cornhuskers go to overtime these days, they look wildly incompetent. So if Matt Rhule and his staff can find a way to win their next overtime game, it could be the clearest sign yet that things really are turning around.
One of the biggest issues Nebraska had when Matt Rhule arrived in Lincoln was that they couldn’t win one-score games. The Huskers were 2-10 in the regular season in one-score games during Rhule’s first two years. Then they beat Boston College 20-15 in the Pinstripe Bowl and then went a very respectable 4-2 in one-score games last year. That’s one monkey off NU’s back.
Overtime game performances are still a giant gorilla weighing the program down. It’s a gorilla that’s bothered the Huskers before Rhule. NU was 0-6 in OT contests before he arrived. It’s 0-2 under Rhule.
Nebraska football must end its eight-game overtime losing streak
The losses have been ugly. Lots of sacks, lots of turnovers. Overall, in those eight losses, Nebraska opponents scored four touchdowns and four field goals. That NU held its opponents to four field goals alone should have translated into at least a couple of wins. However, NU's four interceptions, three turnovers on downs, and a missed field goal equal 0-8.
The Huskers didn’t have an overtime game in 2025. That might have been why they were 4-2 in one-score contests. NU has managed to gird its loins and win late. But sooner or later, the program will see a game end regulation tied.
The sheer level of incompetence isn’t one coaching staff, and it’s not one group of players. All of that should add up to eventually turning the tide and winning. Maybe even winning as easily as Nebraska’s opponents have been able to do it.
Before the last eight games, the Huskers were 8-1 since overtime was first instituted. Nebraska can get back to that kind of dominance, or at least it can get back to competence. When it does, that could be a very good sign that the program really is turning the corner.
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