Nebraska’s weekend packed just about everything into one stretch: a head-scratching football loss, a coaching change, another volleyball crown within reach, and wins piling up across the rest of the department.
The football piece came first, and it was the kind of result that leaves a program staring at the numbers and still wondering how it ended badly. Nebraska outgained Illinois by more than 50 yards, outrushed the Illini by more than 50 yards and didn’t turn the ball over. Since 2014, Big Ten teams that have done that have gone 259-3.
And yet Nebraska still lost by double digits.
The swing moments were hard to miss. Illinois hit a fake field goal that turned into a touchdown, Nebraska missed a chip-shot field goal, and later the Huskers lined up in an empty formation on fourth-and-1. That was one of two times Nebraska turned the ball over on downs inside Illinois territory.
The fallout came Saturday with Dana Holgorsen’s firing, only days after Matt Rhule had praised him as a great offensive mind. Holgorsen is a good coach, but it simply never clicked at Nebraska, and the move arrived one week too late.
Even with the loss, Nebraska remains in a strange statistical company. The Huskers have outgained every opponent this season, joining Georgia, Notre Dame and UCLA as the only teams in college football to do that. The difference, of course, is that those three are all ranked in the top five, while Nebraska still isn’t bowl-eligible.
There’s still a chance to get that sixth win this Saturday at Rutgers. Nebraska is an early 13.5-point favorite for the 11:30 a.m.
CST matchup on Big Ten Network. The Huskers are 7-2 against the spread this season, though they’ve missed in their last two after covering their first seven.
Elsewhere, Nebraska volleyball kept rolling on the West Coast. After sweeping ranked Oregon and Washington, the Huskers clinched a share of the Big Ten championship for the fourth straight year. They still have three matches left, and one more win would lock up a third consecutive outright Big Ten title and the No. 1 seed in the Big Ten tournament.
Both basketball teams also came through. Fred Hoiberg’s squad picked up an impressive neutral-court win over Providence, a team sitting in the top 60 of the KenPom rankings. Nebraska didn’t shoot it especially well from 3-point range, but the defense carried the day, with Pryce Sandfort knocking down four triples.
The women followed with a blowout of their own, crushing Western Illinois 98-35 to move to 2-0. Britt Prince scored 19 points and crossed 1,000 for her career. Amiah Hargrove added 17 points and a game-high eight rebounds in 22 minutes, and freshman Ashlyn Koupal posted a career-high 16 points along with four rebounds, three assists and three steals.
Nebraska wrestling opened with a statement too, handling 20th-ranked Wyoming 28-9 in the season’s first dual. The Huskers now turn to a major test Friday, Nov. 13, when they travel to No.
2 Oklahoma State for a top-three showdown at 7 p.m. CT on ESPNU.
No. 3 Nebraska 28, No. 20 Wyoming 9
125: No. 4 Vincent Robinson dec. Isaiah Harrison, 8-2 (NEB 3, WYO 0)
133: No. 16 Luke Willochell dec.
No. 7 Jacob Van Dee, 5-4 (NEB 3, WYO 3)
141: Lincoln Sledzianowski major dec. Derek Barrows, 11-2 (NEB 7, WYO 3)
149: No. 5 Anthony Echemendia major dec. Austin Collins, 17-4 (NEB 11, WYO 3)
157: No. 3 Antrell Taylor major dec. Antonio Avila, 17-4 (NEB 15, WYO 3)
165: Meyer Shapiro tech. fall Manuel Rojas, 19-3 (NEB 20, WYO 3)
174: No. 2 Christopher Minto dec.
No. 32 Riley Davis, 10-4 (NEB 23, WYO 3)
184: No. 6 Eddie Neitenbach dec. Ethan DeLeon, 13-8 (NEB 23, WYO 6)
197: No. 4 Joey Novak dec.
No. 5 Camden McDanel, 4-1 (NEB 23, WYO 9)
HWT: No. 14 Cade Ziola tech. fall Winston McBride, 19-4 (NEB 28, WYO 9)
In Other News...
Nebraska's 2027 Schedule Just Got A New Problem To Solve
The College Football Playoff is about to change again, and Nebraskas 2027 schedule is already feeling the ripple effects. Beginning that season, the field expands to 24 teams, with automatic bids going to the champions of the ACC, Big 12, Big Ten, SEC and the highest-ranked Group of Six champion, but the bigger immediate issue for the Cornhuskers may be the new scheduling requirement attached to it.
Power Four programs and Notre Dame will be required to play 10 opponents from that level each year, which means Nebraskas current 2027 slate needs a rethink. The Huskers have non-Power Four games on the books, so one of those matchups may have to be swapped out for a Power Four opponent to get into compliance, adding another layer of planning to a schedule that is still two seasons away from being final. [Read more 🡒]
Matt Rhule Suddenly Faces A Bigger Nebraska Problem Than One Loss
Nebraskas 24-13 loss to Illinois did more than knock the Cornhuskers off track. It extended a slide that has now reached four straight defeats after the 5-0 start, turning what once looked like a promising season into a much more complicated test of staying power for Matt Rhule and his staff.
Rhule responded by firing offensive coordinator Dana Holgorsen, a move that underscores how quickly the pressure has shifted from one bad afternoon to bigger questions about the direction of the program. The losing streak has put the coaching staff under the microscope and left Nebraska searching for answers not just on the field, but in the structure and leadership guiding the team forward. [Read more 🡒]
Rutgers Suddenly Holds A Frustrating Role In Nebraskas Season
Nebraskas path to bowl eligibility has become uncomfortably narrow, and Rutgers now sits at the center of it. At 5-4, the Cornhuskers need one more win to get over the line, and with the rest of the schedule looking less forgiving, the matchup with Rutgers has taken on outsized importance. It is the kind of spot that can turn a late-season game into a season-defining one, especially after Nebraskas recent slide.
The pressure only sharpened after the Cornhuskers fired offensive coordinator Dana Holgorsen following four straight losses, a move that underscored how quickly things had gone sideways. Around the Big Ten, coaching changes and results have been piling up elsewhere too, including Michigans decision to fire offensive coordinator Jason Beck, but for Nebraska the focus is much simpler: find one win, and do it soon. Rutgers is suddenly the most frustrating obstacle standing in the way. [Read more 🡒]