Nebraska left Autzen Stadium with a 17-14 loss to Oregon, but Matt Rhule made it clear after the game that he wasn’t interested in piling on junior quarterback Dylan Raiola.
Raiola, who came off the bench in the fourth quarter, helped Oregon seal the win with a pass to tight end Jamari Johnson in the endzone. Still, Rhule spoke warmly about his former quarterback when asked about the ending.
"Anybody that's played for me, I'm always gonna root for," Rhule said post game. "You know, I want the kids to all have success.
So obviously, you know, good for him to fight back from what he went through last week. At the same time, came at our expense in the end.
So I'm just going to focus on our team."
Rhule added that he didn’t think it was "respectful" to Nebraska or Oregon to go further into individual performances after a loss like that.
The Cornhuskers came out of the night with 242 total offensive yards, the same overall total as Oregon, but they couldn’t finish enough drives to take control. Rhule pointed to fatigue in the run game as a major reason the game tilted late.
"I think a lot of the - you know, I won't take anything away from them. I think a lot of it was fatigue.
You know, I think just the we were on the field too much all night, you know, and something they did a nice job of - they just kind of constantly stayed on schedule. But it was really a lot of the run game, you know, was second and six, it was third and 2/4, and one," Rhule said
He also said Nebraska needed one more big play and noted that Victor [Evans III] “came up really big twice.” On the final snap, Rhule said Oregon got pressure off the right edge against Nebraska’s left tackle and was “probably was four or five inches away, from knocking the ball out of Raiola's hands," Rhule added.
Rhule was also asked whether the late kickoff had anything to do with how Nebraska looked as the game wore on, and he pushed back on that idea. He said he “would never” use the timing as an excuse for the second-half issues.
Even with both offenses struggling, the defenses kept the game tight throughout. After back-to-back losses, Rhule said the night fit into the challenge Nebraska expected when it scheduled teams like this.
"Yeah, I'm not. You know, I don't think we're the type of team that's going to not stay with it.
You know, Indiana is as good team as there is in the country. This is as talented a team as there is in the country.
Going into the year, they said we were playing these two teams. I mean, you know, I thought they were two really good teams, and so having a game like this, you see how far you've come," Rhule said.
In Other News...
Washington Gets A Clear Opening As Nebraska Brings Real Concerns
Nebraskas latest loss was another frustrating one in a season that keeps slipping at the edges, with the Cornhuskers falling 17-14 to Oregon after letting a fourth-quarter lead get away for the second straight game. The timing only adds to the concern, because the issues have started to look familiar: special teams havent been steady, the rushing attack has faded in recent weeks, and the injury list has made it harder to patch things together.
A bye week now gives Nebraska a little breathing room before Washington comes to Lincoln, but it also leaves a clear set of problems to sort through. The Huskies will see a team that has been competitive late into games and still found a way to lose them, which makes the next stretch feel especially important for a group trying to stop the slide and reset before the home matchup arrives. [Read more 🡒]
Nebraskas Defense Did Enough But One Problem Still Cost Them
Nebraska had every chance to turn a solid defensive effort into one of its biggest wins of the season, but the offense never quite matched what the defense gave it. The Cornhuskers led entering the fourth quarter and kept Oregon within reach for most of the afternoon, yet the Ducks were able to survive a tight, physical game and leave with a 17-14 victory.
The issue for Nebraska was up front, where the offensive line struggled to consistently hold up and let the game slip away despite the way the defense kept battling. Oregon got late help from Dylan Raiola, who came off the bench and sparked the comeback, leaving Nebraska to wonder how different things might have looked with even a little more protection and consistency on offense. [Read more 🡒]
Nebraska Let A Familiar Name Rip Away A Late Lead
For much of the afternoon, Nebraska looked like it had done enough to protect a late lead against Oregon before a familiar name changed the shape of the game. Dylan Raiola came off the bench in the fourth quarter and quickly settled in, finding Jamari Johnson on a 4-yard touchdown pass with 28 seconds left to put the Ducks ahead in a 17-14 comeback win.
The loss left Nebraska having to absorb another close finish, and coach Matt Rhule addressed the performance afterward with the kind of frustration that comes from watching a game slip away at the end. Oregons rally was built on Raiola stepping in for Brock Thomas and giving the Ducks a final surge when the margin was gone, a reminder of how little room there is for error in a one-score game. [Read more 🡒]