Nothing went right for Nebraska on Saturday afternoon. The Huskers were blown out at home by the No. 2 ranked Michigan Wolverines 42-7 in front of a sold-out crowd at Memorial Stadium.
Nebraska will now prepare for a rare Friday night game when they travel to Illinois. After the loss, head coach Matt Rhule said that the game on Friday and how the team responds will tell the story of the 2023 season.
We should never accept losing. We should never be like ‘it’s okay. It’s Michigan, it’s okay.’ We should never accept that at all. They shouldn’t be real positive. Everyone in Nebraska will find out about this team next Friday night. We’ll find out about me. We’ll find out about them. We’ll find out about all of us on Friday night. And that doesn’t mean winning and losing. If Illinois is better than us, so be it.
Rhule also made it clear that this will not be a loss that he will forget about any time soon.
But, we’ll see it on Friday night. We’ll see how excited we look, how much we’re flying around, what we look like. We’ll see. I hope it bothers them and we’re in a day and age where sometimes, everyone wants to be too cool for school. I hope it bothers them because it bothers me. I can tell you that much right now. That game bothered me a lot.
He also stressed the importance of winning and losing as a team.
I will say this – I love these players. They’re great young men and they all want to win. There’s no ‘hey, it’s their fault.’ We’re all in it together. We’ll battle. We’ll find out who we are Friday night, so I hope everyone watches.”
Nebraska now prepares for Illinois on Friday night. Kickoff is set for 7:00 p.m. on FS1.
Find a photo gallery of Nebraska’s loss to Michigan below.