Tag: Nebraska Michigan State Football

Huskers disappointed with performance in loss

Following Nebraska’s 20-17 defeat to the Michigan State Spartans on Saturday afternoon, head coach Matt Rhule expressed his disappointment in the result. 

Following Nebraska’s 20-17 defeat to the Michigan State Spartans on Saturday afternoon, head coach Matt Rhule expressed his disappointment in the result.

“You know, obviously disappointed in the result today. A lot of credit goes to Michigan State. They battled, they fought. They’re a team that’s lost these games this year in the fourth quarter and they found a way to win it. That’s a credit to them, credit to coach Barnett. It was a great atmosphere. Disappointed. Just wasn’t our best game today. I think all across the board. We didn’t tackle the way we normally do. We gave up some big plays.”

The Husker defense only allowed 295 total yards of offense but did surrender 232 yards in the air for an average of 9.7 yards per pass. The offense struggled heavily, with only 277 yards of total offense and three turnovers. The Husker head coach also said he was proud of the way his team played, regardless of the result.

“Proud of the guys’ effort. I thought they fought at the end to go back and get the ball back on defense and try to block the kick. Go down and try to give us a chance to kick a field goal and tie the game, which I expect us to go do. But, the whole performance was just not our best.”

Nebraska will now prepare to host the Maryland Terrapins this Saturday at Memorial Stadium. Kickoff is scheduled for 11:00 a.m. and can be seen on Peacock.

Find social media reactions to the game below.

Rhule frustrated by Huskers turnover problem

Nebraska football head coach Matt Rhule met with the media following the Huskers’ 20-17 loss to Michigan State.

Nebraska football head coach Matt Rhule met with the media following the Huskers’ 20-17 loss to Michigan State. Rhule expressed his frustration with his team’s continuous turnover problem.

“There’ll never be an excuse for being minus three (in turnovers), right? It’s minus three and you lose by three. I mean, you’re probably a better football team than that. So, as I said to our guys, we’re a good football team. We’re finding out what it’s like to play games with consequences late in the year. When you come in after winning a couple of games they’re finding out for the first time that people are ready for you.”

The Huskers entered Saturday’s game ranked 126th in the nation in turnover margin with a minus nine through eight games. After Saturday’s game against Michigan State, they now sit at minus 12 for the college football season. Rhule admitted that this recent setback is a painful lesson for the team to learn.

“They studied you all week. And you’re gonna have to fight, scratch and claw and not just assume, oh, we stopped them for two drives, we’re gonna get them going now. Or, hey, we ran the ball. For the first drive coming out of halftime we had 30 rushing yards in the drive and then we sputtered. So there’s a lot more lessons to learn from this game. It’s painful, but they have to learn.”

Nebraska now prepares to host the Maryland Terrapins this Saturday with an 11:00 a.m. kickoff on the streaming service Peacock.

Find a photo gallery of Nebraska’s defeat below.

Nebraska football comes up short against Michigan State

The Huskers traveled to East Lansing, Michigan for a chance to punch their ticket to a bowl game for the first time since 2016.

The Huskers traveled to East Lansing, Michigan, for a chance to punch their ticket to a bowl game for the first time since 2016. This ended up being easier said than done. Nebraska hit the roadblock that was Michigan State. The Huskers battled the Spartans and saw numerous opportunities to win. The options fell by the wayside, resulting in a 20-17 loss for Nebraska.

The Huskers’ offense saw most of these opportunities but struggled to take advantage of them. Their biggest came in the fourth quarter. After scoring a touchdown to cut the deficit to three, Nebraska got the ball back with over two minutes left. The Huskers fumbled, resulting in a Michigan State takeaway. Nebraska got the ball one more time with under a minute left but once again failed to take advantage.

Heinrich Haarberg went 12-of-28 for 129 yards and two interceptions, his worst outing as Nebraska’s starting quarterback this season. Haarberg also rushed for 37 yards off 14 carries and a touchdown. However, they also fumbled twice, one resulting in a turnover and the other on the team’s final drive.

Freshman Emmett Johnson led the charge for the Huskers in rushing, going for 57 yards and a touchdown off 13 carries. This all culminated in just 17 points, an ongoing flaw that finally caught up with Nebraska’s defense. The Blackshirts held the Spartans to just 63 yards rushing but surrendered 232 yards passing and two touchdowns.

The Huskers fall to 5-4 and will face three difficult opponents for its remaining regular-season outings. They will travel back home to host Maryland next Saturday. Kickoff is set for 11 a.m. and can be viewed on Peacock.

Rhule on Michigan State ‘this is a good football team’

The Nebraska Cornhuskers travel to East Lansing on Saturday to take on the Michigan State Spartans.

The Nebraska Cornhuskers travel to East Lansing on Saturday to take on the Michigan State Spartans. The Spartans are currently 2-6 (0-5) on the season and have been playing under an interim coach after Mel Tucker was fired after two games.

Rhule told the assembled media on Thursday that he thinks the Spartans are a quality team that has been placed in some difficult situations this year.

“They played the number eight team in the country, they played the number two team in the country and I think they were told three days ahead of time you probably have to change all your signals before the game. So, I can’t count that against them. They were beating Iowa in the fourth quarter, they were beating Rutgers in the fourth quarter and it was a three-point game in the fourth quarter against Minnesota.”

Nebraska enters the game, having gone undefeated in the month of October with a chance to become bowl-eligible on Saturday. Rhule believes that there are similarities between the Spartans and Cornhuskers.

This is kind of who we are, it was a four-point game in the fourth quarter, it was a seven-point game in the fourth quarter for us in some games. They fight, they battle, they have excellent players. (Nate) Carter is as good of a back as we’ll see all year long. The personnel on defense is outstanding, number eight is dynamic on defensive tackle that we’ll see in the league. They have really good players, really good coaches, they’re playing for each other and I have a lot of respect for them.”

Nebraska and Michigan State will kickoff from Spartan Stadium at 11:00 a.m. The game can be viewed on FS1.

Find a photo gallery of Nebraska’s first eight games of the season below.