Nebraska’s season keeps circling back to the same brutal question: what if the Huskers had finished just one of those games?
That’s the sting hanging over Lincoln after another fourth-quarter lead slipped away, this time in a Blackout loss to Washington on Saturday night. Nebraska is now 5-3 overall and 2-3 in the Big Ten, and its faint College Football Playoff hopes are gone. More than that, the Huskers are left staring at a season that feels like a pile of missed chances.
The frustrating part is how close this all has been. Nebraska was supposed to be staring down a brutal stretch against national powers Indiana, Oregon and Ohio State, with all three ranked in the AP Preseason Top 25 Poll’s top six.
Instead, the Huskers led both Indiana and Oregon in the fourth quarter before losing those games. Now they’ve dropped three straight games and, just as painfully, three straight fourth-quarter leads.
Indiana doesn’t look like the dominant national champion it was billed as before the season. Oregon has been vulnerable too, sitting at 5-3 while quarterback Dante Moore has been out since an injury on Sept.
- Ohio State, meanwhile, stumbled at USC on Saturday night, losing 30-18 without injured starting quarterback Julian Sayin.
Nebraska had a path here. It just never finished the job.
That’s why Saturday night’s loss to Washington feels so heavy. The Huskers needed one play, one stop, one moment to seize control. Instead, the same theme showed up again.
Make a play. Make a stand.
Make a statement. And that just didn't happen.
Nebraska’s next shot comes Friday night at Illinois, with kickoff set for 7 o’clock CT on FOX. The Illini are 5-3 overall and 3-2 in the Big Ten after surviving Maryland, 20-17, with a fourth-quarter rally. Maryland, now 3-5 and 0-5 in the conference, was playing its first game under interim coach Aazaar Abdul-Rahim after Mike Locksley was fired.
Illinois got starting quarterback Katin Houser back unexpectedly after a broken hand, and he went 18-of-32 for 223 yards and a touchdown. The Illini have now won three straight.
Around the league, Rutgers gave Michigan a fight before falling late, 28-21. The Scarlet Knights are 2-6 and 1-4, and they’ve already shown they can hang around with teams like USC and Michigan. Rutgers heads to Wisconsin next, while Michigan, now 5-3 and 2-3, hosts Michigan State.
USC delivered the weekend’s biggest statement, knocking off second-ranked Ohio State, 30-18. The Trojans are 7-2 and 4-2, and the win was a needed one for Lincoln Riley amid the week’s job-security chatter.
Buckeyes backup quarterback Luke Fahey, a true freshman, finished 21-of-38 for 260 yards and a touchdown. Ohio State now turns to Oregon.
Iowa may be finding its footing again after blasting Wisconsin, 30-0. The Hawkeyes are 6-2 and 3-2 after bouncing back from a 13-10 loss at Minnesota.
Wisconsin has dropped two of its last three and is 5-3, 3-2. Iowa goes to Northwestern next, while Wisconsin hosts Rutgers.
Michigan State was the only Big Ten team on a bye last week, and the Spartans are still searching for something to salvage their season. They’re 2-6 and 0-5 heading into a rivalry trip to Michigan.
Minnesota nearly pulled off a wild one against Indiana, only to lose in overtime, 23-16. The Hoosiers improved to 8-1 and 5-1 with their second straight overtime win, after beating Michigan in OT the week before.
The Gophers are 5-3 and 3-2 after Luke Drzewiecki drilled a career-long 60-yard field goal with 19 seconds left, only for Indiana’s Paddy McAteer to answer with a 60-yarder of his own on the final play. The Athletic called it the “best kicker duel in football history.”
Indiana is off this week, and Minnesota hosts UCLA.
Dylan Raiola helped Oregon rally past Northwestern, 34-26, with a fourth-quarter push. Raiola completed 22-of-31 passes for 336 yards and three touchdowns for the Ducks, who are 5-3 and 3-2.
Northwestern fell to 6-2 and 3-2. Oregon visits Ohio State on Saturday.
UCLA kept rolling with its eighth straight win, shutting out Nevada 27-0. The Bruins are 8-0 and 5-0 and head to Minnesota next. Nevada is 3-5.
Penn State snapped a four-game losing streak by beating Purdue, 31-17. The Nittany Lions are 4-4 and 1-4, while Purdue is 3-5 and 2-3. Penn State travels to Washington, and Purdue hosts Maryland.
For Nebraska, though, the weekend’s biggest result was the one that got away again.
In Other News...
Former Nebraska Assistants Just Added To Matt Rhule Pressure
Florida States decision to fire defensive coordinator Tony White and safeties coach Evan Cooper after the loss to Clemson added another layer to a rough stretch for a pair of former Nebraska assistants. Both were in their second year with the Seminoles, and their exit comes amid a disappointing start that has already turned up the heat around the program.
For Nebraska fans, the timing is hard to ignore. The Cornhuskers are in the middle of a three-game losing streak, and the frustration has started to spill over toward Matt Rhule and Dana Holgorsen, making every coaching development elsewhere feel a little more personal. When former staffers are getting swept into changes at a major program, it only sharpens the scrutiny back in Lincoln. [Read more 🡒]
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Rhule made clear he is not backing away from the job, saying he has no intention of quitting and remains committed to his players. Nebraska now moves into a stretch that includes Illinois, Rutgers, Ohio State and Iowa, with the coachs response to the off-field incident only adding to the attention around what comes next. [Read more 🡒]
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Volleyball has given the Huskers the cleanest storyline of all, staying perfect with recent wins over Michigan and Michigan State and keeping the standard as high as ever. Put together, the three programs offer Nebraska a rare reset point, with each one carrying a different kind of pressure and possibility into the stretch ahead. The next few weeks should reveal whether the football team can turn strong defensive stretches into something more, and whether the other two sports can keep their early-season footing as expectations rise. [Read more 🡒]