3 big-picture takeaways for Nebraska football after Michigan loss

Nebraska football needed a win on Saturday. It felt like it was time to end the 27-game losing streak to ranked teams. Matt Rhule needed a defining moment — a win that shows this program is truly back.

It’s year three. It’s time. At least it was supposed to be.

Instead, Rhule’s team fell short. He’s 4-11 in one-score games at Nebraska. His career record against ranked teams is 2-23. Meanwhile, Curt Cignetti is leading Indiana to the most points scored in a win over an AP top-10 team, ever by a Big Ten team.

The difference between the two programs is stark. That same difference was felt on Saturday in Lincoln Memorial Stadium when Nebraska football lost 30-27 to 21st-ranked Michigan in a game that wasn’t that close, in which the Wolverines didn’t even have their head coach, and it showed.

Bud Crawford did the tunnel walk. The crowd was electric, and even the 1995 national title team was honored. All the emotional components were there — but emotions and crowd noise don’t help with run fits.

Looking back at a day that was supposed to be progress, but was just more of the same, here are three big-picture takeaways from another tough loss for the Huskers.

Nebraska is still a disaster in the trenches

Close only counts in horseshoes. It doesn’t matter in football, especially when you allow 286 yards on the ground. The Huskers could have won the game if they had one more possession, but that doesn’t change the fact that Michigan was by far the superior team.

The scoreboard doesn’t reflect the butt whooping Nebraska was handed on Saturday. The Huskers were out-rushed by 243 yards. Michigan had seven sacks, 10 tackles for loss, and more than 30 pressures. Nebraska, on the other hand, had one sack, which makes six in four games.

Rhule said in his first press conference that Nebraska would “protect and affect the quarterback.” 

Here we are in year three, and that still isn’t happening. Elijah Pritchett and Rocco Spindler are busts. That money should have been spent on a running back, because it didn’t improve the offensive line at all.

Nebraska doesn’t have a single defensive lineman in the rotation who is more than 300 pounds. D-line recruiting hasn’t been great either. The 2025 class was solid, but there isn’t a single D-line commitment in 2026. That’s alarming.

It’s not how you build a championship-caliber football team, and based on what we saw Saturday, Nebraska isn’t close to competing for championships or a playoff spot — not in the Big Ten.

Cincinnati pushed around Nebraska’s D-line. In two games against Power-4 teams, Nebraska football has one sack and is allowing nearly 244 yards per game on the ground.

That is a disaster. So is allowing your quarterback to get sacked seven times. The Huskers are just lucky the refs decided not to call holding, because the offensive line was literally holding on for dear life.

Dylan Raiola is that dude

Raiola could have been better on Saturday. He’s not very good against pressure. The former five-star quarterback also hasn’t been very good in the red zone.

Nebraska had four possessions inside the 30 that ended in six points. There was a similar issue against Cincinnati. It was a constant last season, too.

Part of the problem is that Nebraska football can’t run the ball near the goal line. The offensive line is too soft. The field tightens up, and for all the things he does well, Raiola and this team struggle to finish drives.

Still, he completed 30 of 41 passes for 308 yards. He also had three touchdown passes compared to the one interception. Even after getting battered all day, he led two fourth-quarter scoring drives.

The defense couldn’t get off the field. Nebraska’s offensive line didn’t meet expectations, and special teams had some blunders, too.

Dylan Raiola played like a first-round pick, though. That’s one encouraging takeaway.

Nebraska needs to upgrade at running back

The Huskers have dynamic talents at quarterback and wide receiver. They need one at running back. I love Emmett Johnson, but he’s just a guy. He’s one of the hardest workers on the team and plays his ass off.

Yet, he was a three-star for a reason. The same goes for Mekhi Nelson and Kwinten Ives. They are good players, but there isn’t anything special about them.

On the other side of the field, we saw what special looks like. Justice Haynes got a crease and had the speed to take it the distance. It’s hard to see Johnson scoring that 75-yard touchdown. His career long is 42 yards, and it was against UTEP.

Haynes has four runs this season longer than 55 yards, including 75-yard touchdowns against Nebraska and Oklahoma. The offensive line wasn’t great, but Johnson averaged 3.4 yards per attempt. Nelson had a nice run or two, but again, there is no home-run ability.

Jordan Marshall, Michigan’s No. 2 running back, is clearly better than Nebraska’s No. 1. That’s a problem. One of many that Matt Rhule needs to fix.

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