Matt Rhule still the favorite for Penn State; Ugly Nebraska football stats

If you thought that the Nebraska football loss to Minnesota last week would cause some of the Matt Rhule to Penn State talk to tie down, you were wrong.

According to Tyler Donohue of Penn State’s 247 Sports website, the Nittany Lions are still strongly considering Matt Rhule for the job. Here’s what he wrote about Rhule’s candidacy:

“We gained some Monday feedback following Nebraska’s 18-point loss at Minnesota. Lions247 was told there is sustained support from “multiple” Board of Trustees members to hire Matt Rhule. They want him back in State College as the next Nittany Lions leader. That certainly doesn’t speak for the entire BOT, or on behalf of Kraft (whose personal relationship with Rhule has been well-documented on this site), but it shows that some won’t be dissuaded by public pressure on a game-to-game basis.”

Saturday against Northwestern (5-2) is a huge game. If Rhule doesn’t win that game, there are plenty of Nebraska fans who will be looking to kick him to the curb.

Penn State might do it for them. Either way, it’s going to be an interesting 5-6 weeks, and it’s looking more and more like the Huskers might be looking for a new head coach after the season.

Some ugly Nebraska football stats

What made the loss to Minnesota so disheartening was that it showed how little things have changed in the trenches for Nebraska. Matt Rhule was supposed to fix that. He said the Huskers were going to run, as well as protect and affect the quarterback.

However, in his third season as the head coach, Nebraska struggles to do all of those things. Emmett Johnson is leading the Big Ten in rushing yards.

However, the Huskers are 13th in the Big Ten in rushing yards and 14th in rushing yards in Big Ten games. Nebraska is ranked 14th in the Big Ten in rushing yards allowed.

None of those numbers is good. Yet, the sack numbers are even worse.

Nebraska football is tied for 16th in the Big Ten in sacks (11), and of course, the Huskers lead the Big Ten in sacks allowed (26), while ranking 131st overall. Only two teams in the FBS have allowed more sacks.

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