Tag: Matt Rhule

Cornhuskers Wire offers insight on Nebraska’s new offensive play-caller

A Nebraska analyst explains why the Huskers and Matt Rhule had to change offensive play-callers before playing USC. There’s a lot going on behind the scenes.

Earlier this week, Nebraska football announced that it will make a major offensive change ahead of the matchup with USC on Saturday. Former Houston and West Virginia head coach Dana Holgorsen, who recently joined the Cornhuskers as an offensive consultant, will take over the team’s offensive play calling for the remainder of the season.

Holgorsen replaces Marcus Satterfield, who had served as Nebraska’s offensive coordinator since the start of the 2023 season. Satterfield will now solely serve as the team’s tight ends coach.

Following the announcement, Evan Bredeson of Cornhuskers Wire offered some perspective on the move.

“Matt Rhule had to make a change. I don’t know that any of us thought he would do something this drastic, especially considering how loyal he is to the guys on his staff. The fact that he made the change though is welcomed news. The offense had been regressing the last two years under Marcus Satterfield. Quarterback Dylan Raiola is playing worse now than he did at the start of the season, and if a staff change wasn’t made at the top of the offense, the chances of him hitting the portal was possible.

“With Holgorsen, I expect to see shorter passes designed to get the quarterback into rhythm early. Nebraska’s passing game had evolved to screen pass or deep shot. Nothing really in between. I also think we’ll see a lot more of the tight ends being involved in the passing game. Dana is known to have an affinity for using tight ends and the huskers actually have some depth at that position group and have not been utilizing it in any effective way this season.

“And they will run the football. Even though DH is an Air Raid guy, all of his top offenses always had a very good running game. Matt Rhule has said over and over again since arriving in Lincoln that he wants to be able to run the football consistently with power. The offense has simply not delivered on that front.”

USC takes on Nebraska at 1 p.m. Pacific Standard Time this Saturday.

Visit our friends at Fighting Irish Wire, Buffaloes Wire, Ducks Wire, UW Huskies Wire and UCLA Wire.

Matt Rhule discusses Dylan Raiola’s reaction to the hiring of Dana Holgorsen

Dylan Raiola has put his trust in Matt Rhule and Dana Holgorsen.

Nebraska announced Dana Holgorsen as its offensive coordinator on Monday. Coach Matt Rhule held a press conference on Monday to discuss the impact this would have on the program. He was specifically asked about quarterback Dylan Raiola.

The freshman had a hot start to the season but has struggled a bit since then. He has recorded 1.921 passing yards, ten touchdowns, and eight interceptions. He has struggled in his last five games, as he has two touchdowns and six interceptions.

Raiola may get a bit of a reset with Holgorsen’s playcalling. Rhule discussed the quarterback’s reaction to the change during the press conference.

“Dylan trusts me and trusts the program. He just took it as ‘hey what are we doing today.’ He’s trying to get his back healthy. All the guys had a really positive reaction to it. It goes back to what I said last week, players need to play, players need to go make plays. If you watch on Saturdays, players have to go make plays. Dana (Holgorsen) and the staff will give the players the best opportunity to go make plays so we need the guys to make them. The whole play calling thing, we’ve tried to handle that, now go make some plays. Football is a game where players win games. We’ve got good players, we expect them to go win some games.”

The Huskers’ offense may take a slightly different look in the near future as they look to find something that can move Raiola and the unit in the right direction. It will be interesting to see how the offense functions as they take on the USC Trojans this coming Saturday. The kickoff time for the game is set for 3:00 p.m. CT and can be seen on Fox.

Contact/Follow us @CornhuskersWire on X, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Nebraska news, notes, and opinions.

Nebraska makes big coaching change before USC game

Nebraska Cornhuskers coach Matt Rhule made a key coaching change before Saturday’s game against the USC Trojans. The Huskers are going for it.

After an off week last week, the USC Trojans (4-5) are preparing for a big matchup against new Big Ten Conference neighbor Nebraska (5-4). It’s a crucial game for USC football, given that the Trojans need two wins to gain bowl eligibility.

The Cornhuskers are led by head coach Matt Rhule, who is searching for answers following three straight losses including a 27-20 defeat against a struggling UCLA squad that was 2-5 at the time.

A big problem with Nebraska has been the offense, which has scored 20 or fewer points in each of its last four games, including seven points in two of the four games.

Thus, on Monday, Rhule announced a key change that will affect the upcoming game against the Trojans. Former Houston and West Virginia head coach Dana Holgorsen will be taking over as the team’s offensive coordinator, confirmed by Matt Zenitz on X/Twitter.

Holgorsen previously worked as an offensive consultant for the team and will now replace Marcus Satterfield, whose responsibility will be as tight end coach.

How much this change will impact the matchup against USC on Saturday is yet to be seen, but an already tough opponent will be getting tougher with the change. Holgorsen’s ability to field high-octane offenses at past coaching stops suggests that Nebraska is getting an upgrade in offensive tactics.

Visit our friends at Fighting Irish Wire, Buffaloes Wire, Ducks Wire, UW Huskies Wire and UCLA Wire.

UCLA football upsets Nebraska for second-straight Big Ten win

The Bruins survived on Saturday to take down their second-straight Big Ten opponent.

The UCLA Bruins have back-to-back wins for the first time in the 2024 college football season. Taking down their second-straight Big Ten opponent, UCLA upset Nebraska on the road 27-20 to improve to 3-5 on the season.

Behind a productive performance by all three units, the Bruins offense, defense, and special teams played in perfect unison, never trailing in the game for a second.

The Bruins started the day strong, owning the time of possession and holding Nebraska to only two yards in the first quarter. A pair of field goals and a touchdown pass later, the Bruins held a narrow but pronounced 13-7 lead.

In the second half, the Bruins kept piling it on. Linebacker Kain Medrano intercepted Cornhusker quarterback Dylan Raiola and returned it for a 38-yard pick-six, and shortly after, Bruins quarterback Ethan Garbers tossed his second touchdown to wideout Kwazi Gilmerpass to give the Bruins a 27-14 lead. Despite a late surge by the Cornhuskers, UCLA’s defense stiffened to secure the win with a game-sealing pick by cornerback Kaylin Moore.

Garbers put together another nice game through the air and on the ground, combining for 275 yards on 17-25 passing with two touchdowns.

Capitalizing on the over-aggressiveness of the Cornhusker defense, offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy’s use of play-action and misdirection proved to be a winning, on-the-fly strategy for the Bruins offense all game long.

But the most notable takeaway from the Bruins win was that head coach DeShaun Foster, for the second week in a row, had his players ready to go on the road. With four winnable games remaining for UCLA, bowl eligibility could be on the table for the surging 2024 Bruins.

Huskers coach Matt Rhule impressed with ‘championship’ mentality

Matt Rhule was proud of his team following Saturday’s loss.

Nebraska football coach Matt Rhule was proud of his team’s effort on Saturday despite the 21-17 loss to the Ohio State Buckeyes. Rhule noticed a shift in mindset during Saturday’s game.

Nebraska was able to hang tough with Ohio State throughout the game. They outgained the Buckeyes on the ground by a 121-64 margin. They also gained 18 first downs compared to Ohio State’s 11.

The coach was impressed with his team’s resolve and ability to compete with the fourth-ranked team in the country. He spoke about their mentality following the game.

“This is the first time since I’ve been here that I’ve felt a championship mindset in this locker room.”

Nebraska put together a strong showing after losing in blowout fashion to Indiana last week. Up next is a difficult November slate that features the likes of USC, Wisconsin, and Iowa. First, they have to take on UCLA next weekend as they aim to get their sixth win.

Contact/Follow us @CornhuskersWire on X, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Nebraska news, notes, and opinions.

What Nebraska head coach Matt Rhule said about Ohio State after the game Saturday

Rhule was quick to credit Ohio State despite the close shave. #GoBucks

Well, that was closer than anyone thought.

The Nebraska Cornhuskers came into Ohio Stadium and gave the Buckeyes all they could handle, taking the game into the fourth quarter and making Ohio State win the game on a defensive interception to steal a close, 21-17 victory on Saturday afternoon.

Nebraska head coach Matt Rhule had to be pleased with his team’s performance against one of the best rosters in college football, yet disappointed for not being able to finish the deal when he stepped to the podium after the game, and that was definitely the case based on his comments.

We like to keep tabs on what the opposing coach says after each OSU game, and we had one of our writers there again to capture the video and audio from what Rhule said about Ohio State after the game. If you missed any of those comments you can catch them all thanks to our YouTube Channel.

Rhule credited the Buckeyes, especially what he saw from them on defense, but also praised his team for bouncing back among other things. Hit play below to catch everything he said after the game.

The win improves Ohio State’s record to 6-1, and now it’s time to prepare for one of the biggest hurdles of the season — a trip to Happy Valley to take on Penn State next week.

Contact/Follow us @BuckeyesWire on X (formerly Twitter) and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Ohio State news, notes and opinion. Follow Phil Harrison on X.

Matt Rhule pleased with tight end Thomas Fidone’s progress

Matt Rhule likes Thomas Fidone’s progress this season.

Nebraska football head coach Matt Rhule discussed the role of tight end Thomas Fidone as the team gets ready to take on the Ohio State Buckeyes on Saturday.

Fidone has been a minor contributor in the Huskers offense to this point in the season. He has tallied 20 catches for 218 yards on the season. He made a large impact against Indiana, catching six passes for 91 yards. That was his highest output of the season. A 28-yard grab was his longest of the afternoon.

To this point in the season, he has struggled to find a consistent role in the offense. Rhule talked about the tight end’s performance on Saturday, and it appears he wants to get him going more in the offense.

“When you have a game like that and the score isn’t going your way, you still have to go play. You can’t control how everyone else is playing. I thought Thomas caught the ball with his hands, one versus man and made some big plays. He’s getting better and better and better. I thought he had a really good bye week. He sprained his ankle a little bit, so we were worried if he was going to be able to play. He came out and he played and he’s playing really good football. He’s a guy that you always want to have involved in the offense.”

It will be interesting to see what role the program carves out for him offensively. A large part of the offensive focus has been on the outside receivers. Making the tight end more of a focal point in the game plan could help Fidone get things going and help quarterback Dylan Raiola back on track.

[lawrence-related id=31480]

Contact/Follow us @CornhuskersWire on X, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Nebraska news, notes, and opinions.

WATCH: What Nebraska coach Matt Rhule said about Ohio State before Saturday

Listen to what Matt Rhule said about facing Ohio State. #GoBucks

Ohio State enjoyed a week off last week, but you can bet it wasn’t the equivalent of a Hawaiian vacation. Instead, the Buckeyes were looking to find ways to sure up its defense and in-game situations after a heartbreaking loss at Oregon.

OSU is back in action this weekend, hosting Nebraska in a game it will be looking to put a better product on the field. In some ways, the Cornhuskers are in a similar spot, having been taken behind the woodshed vs. Indiana their last time out.

Nebraska head coach Matt Rhule met with the media this week in Lincoln to preview the matchup with Ohio State and to also reflect on his team’s performance (or lack thereof) against Indiana last week and had plenty of interesting things to say about the Buckeyes.

In case you missed any of his comments, you can catch them all here thanks to the “Inside Nebraska” YouTube channel. Click on the play button below and listen to Rhule discuss the challenge of playing Ohio State in a pretty wide-ranging press conference ahead of the game.

Ohio State and Nebraska are set to kick things off in the ‘Shoe on Saturday at Noon ET. You can check back here as we continue with some pregame analysis and also through and after the game.

Contact/Follow us @BuckeyesWire on X (formerly Twitter) and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Ohio State news, notes and opinion. Follow Phil Harrison on X.

Nebraska coach Matt Rhule points out one glaring problem for WRs

Matt Rhule would like to see improvement from the wide receivers in certain coverages.

Nebraska football is trying to find solutions after the team’s 56-7 loss to Indiana on Saturday. Coach Matt Rhule covered multiple topics in his press conference on Monday, and one area he discussed was the play of his wide receivers.

The wide receivers struggled to get any consistent production on Saturday. The leading pass-catcher for the program was tight end Thomas Fidone. He caught six passes for 91 yards on the day. Jaylen LIoyd was the team’s leading receiver on the afternoon, catching three passes for 36 yards.

Lack of separation has been a problem for the wide receiver unit throughout the season. Rhule wants to work on improving this moving forward, especially when it comes to making things happen in press coverage. He elaborated on this during his press conference.

“I think we had a lot of guys open a lot of the day. I do think that when we’re getting pressed and pressed man, we’re not doing a good enough job. We’re not doing a good enough job of getting releases and getting off press. So I think it’s twofold. I talked to you guys about last year, if you give us zone coverage, we have guys running wide open. I do think we’re pretty good at running by people and throwing the ball.”

There could be several reasons for the lack of success in press coverage. It could be something as simple as play concepts or a lack of physicality and aggressiveness. However, it’s become clear that the wide receiver unit has been struggling throughout the season.

Nevertheless, there is time to turn things around. The Huskers have the talent to succeed at the position. It just comes down to execution. It will be interesting to see if some measure of success can be had against Ohio State on Saturday.

Contact/Follow us @CornhuskersWire on X, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Nebraska news, notes, and opinions.

Huskers coach Matt Rhule caught off guard by loss

Matt Rhule did not expect his team to lose to Indiana.

Nebraska football head coach Matt Rhule was shocked by his team’s 56-7 loss to Indiana on Saturday. He admitted as much in his postgame press conference.

Indiana had their way with Nebraska on both sides of the football. The Hoosiers accumulated 495 yards of total offense and 215 yards on the ground. They averaged a staggering 7.9 yards per play and recorded 24 first downs in total. They were also able to maximize their drives, as they did not kick a field goal throughout the entire game.

Rhule indicated he did not see this type of game happening, as transcribed by the Lincoln Journal-Star’s Amie Just.

“I’ll be honest with you. I didn’t see this coming. I thought we were gonna play great.”

Nebraska will get no rest following this game as they prepare to take on a top-ten team in the Ohio State Buckeyes. Adjustments will have to be made between now and then, and things need to be fixed quickly in order to succeed.

[lawrence-related id=31288]

Contact/Follow us @CornhuskersWire on X, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Nebraska news, notes, and opinions.