Now might be a good time for Nebraska coach Matt Rhule to pack his bags, even if he continually insists he’s not going anywhere.
The Cornhuskers (5-3, 2-3 Big Ten) blew another fourth-quarter lead last week and lost to Washington, inciting fans to flood Nebraska’s home field with trash and Rhule said his 13-year-old daughter had a male fan scream in her face “F-U and F your dad” in the postgame aftermath of the latest loss.
“We’re going to keep fighting until the day they tell me to leave,” Rhule said. “I’m not leaving. I’m not quitting.”
Nebraska can restore some faith on the home front with a win at Illinois on Friday night in Champaign. The Illini (5-3, 3-2) escaped Maryland on a 26-yard field goal by Ethan Moczulski last week as time expired in a 20-17 victory.
In some ways, the trajectories of the Big Ten foes has been similar this season.
“The way this team’s persevered, nothing’s really come easy,” Illinois coach Bret Bielema said.
Nebraska offensive coordinator Dana Holgorsen has been a target of the rabid fan base for leaning too heavily on the passing game. Washington sat in coverage for most of the game last week, unconcerned the Huskers might pound the ball early or late. Anthony Colandrea’s third interception of the game was returned for a touchdown to wrap up the Washington win.
Nebraska, however, is No. 3 in the Big Ten with 186.6 rushing yards per game. Jamal Rule is 11th in the conference with an average of 66.1 yards per game this season, one slot behind Fighting Illini running back Aidan Laughery at 70.0 yards per game.
“Dana Holgorsen is one of the best offensive minds of our generation,” Rhule said, comparing the current status of the program to a boat rocking on rough waters.
“Just steady in the boat, man. Steady in the boat,” Rhule said. “Don’t take a rocking boat and a rocking sea and rock it even more, man. You can’t control what’s outside the boat. Your focus should be on being steady in the boat, going back to work this week and understanding this game against Illinois, if we play well, we’ll come down to the end and you have to make one more play than the other team.”
Illinois won at Nebraska in overtime in 2024 and lost at home on a Friday night in 2023, a game Bielema said afterward was the most frustrating of his career at the time.
Home has been a happy place for the most part under Bielema. Illinois is 15-4 at home the past three seasons and carries a three-game Big Ten winning streak after victories over Michigan State, Oregon and the Terrapins. It was the Illinois defense that stemmed the tide last week, allowing three points and 99 yards of offense over the final 26:10 of the win at Maryland.
Nebraska is fifth in the Big Ten allowing 15.6 per game, but Illinois is the team with a recent history of coming through in the clutch. The overtime win at Michigan State, home victory against Oregon and late heroics at Maryland came by a total of 15 points.
Laughery posted 100-yard games against Ohio State (113) and Oregon (123) and Javari Barnett helped power Illinois’ ground game last week with a 64-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter.