Matt Rhule calls for accountability after Nebraska loses consecutive fourth-quarter leads
Nebraska’s coach said he and his team failed in late losses to Indiana and Oregon, even as he argued the Cornhuskers have the talent to compete with top teams.
Nebraska coach Matt Rhule called for accountability on October 19 after the Cornhuskers lost consecutive fourth-quarter leads to Indiana and Oregon. Rhule said he shared responsibility for the defeats but believed Nebraska was capable of competing with top teams, according to the Associated Press.
Rhule said Nebraska had been a play away in each game from possibly being a top-10 team. That was his assessment of the team’s potential, alongside an acknowledgment that it had failed to finish either game. ‘At the same time we have failed, I have failed, in each of those last two games,’ he said, according to AP.
How Nebraska lost its leads against Indiana and Oregon
Nebraska led Indiana 17-6 with 12 minutes left on October 10 but lost 20-17. AP reported that Indiana scored on a 75-yard touchdown play immediately after Nebraska took that lead. Later, with Nebraska’s defensive personnel wrong for the play, Indiana converted fourth-and-1 into a 44-yard game-winning touchdown.
Against Oregon on October 17, Nebraska led 14-6 midway through the fourth quarter before losing 17-14. Former Nebraska quarterback Dylan Raiola led the Ducks’ comeback. AP reported that Oregon put together scoring drives of 17 and 20 plays and that Raiola completed a fourth-and-3 pass on a crossing route Nebraska had anticipated.
Nebraska had held each opponent to two field goals through three quarters, AP reported, then allowed Indiana 14 points and Oregon 11 in the fourth. Rhule called the Oregon defeat a game Nebraska should have won while crediting the Ducks for finding a way to win it.
Rhule demands accountability before Washington game
Rhule said coaches and players needed to examine their own mistakes, citing the wrong defensive personnel against Indiana, a runner going out of bounds instead of cutting back and a missed pass-protection block. ‘Nothing happened to us. There aren’t going to be any victims,’ he said, according to AP.
The recent finishes add to a longer pattern. AP reported that Nebraska also lost games it led in the fourth quarter against Illinois, Ohio State and Iowa in 2024 and Southern California last season. The Cornhuskers have lost 31 straight games against Top 25 opponents, according to AP.
Rhule said he expected Nebraska to have a chance to win every remaining game, but that it needed to be better in important moments. Nebraska’s next scheduled game is at home against Washington on October 31, with a 7 p.m. Central kickoff on BTN, according to the university’s athletics department.
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Sources and context
- Rhule says Nebraska likely a top-10 team if not for 4th-quarter breakdowns against Hoosiers, DucksAssociated Press, republished by Yahoo Sports
- Nebraska-Washington Set for 7 p.m. on BTNUniversity of Nebraska Athletics
AI-assisted article checked against the listed sources. NewsJaws did not conduct interviews or attend the reported events.