Matt Rhule made it clear he’s not walking away from Nebraska, even after a rough loss to Washington and an incident that crossed a line with his family.
After the Huskers fell 17-10 on Saturday, Rhule said a fan approached his 13-year-old daughter and hurled profanity at her because of her father’s job.
“A guy walked up to my 13-year-old daughter and was like, 'F-U and F your dad.' I'm not going to keep coaching if it means my kids grow up screwed up,” Rhule said, according to The Athletic’s Mitch Sherman.
The loss added another painful chapter to Nebraska’s slide. The Huskers started the season 5-0, but they’ve now dropped three straight in Big Ten play, with defeats to No.
7 Indiana, Oregon and Washington. In each of those games, Nebraska had a fourth-quarter lead and still came away empty-handed.
That’s the kind of stretch that can wear on a program fast, and the frustration is clearly building. Even so, Rhule pushed back hard against any notion that he might step away.
“I’m not leaving. I’m not quitting. I’m fighting for those people,” Rhule said about his players.
Nebraska’s next chance to stop the skid comes Friday against Illinois. The schedule doesn’t get much kinder after that, with Rutgers, Ohio State and Iowa still ahead in the final month of the season. For a team that once looked like it was turning a corner in the Big Ten, bowl eligibility is no longer a given.
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Virginia Tech has a chance to build on the Clemson win and keep pushing upward in the league race, but the path only gets tougher from here. SMU also has plenty on the line as it tries to steady itself in the standings and keep pace with the conference front-runners, with both teams staring at upcoming games against ranked opponents. For a pair of teams trying to turn strong starts into something bigger, this meeting feels like a hinge point rather than just another November game. [Read more 🡒]