College football will see some coaches with their bare minimum raised quite significantly from last year. One of them is Nebraska’s Matt Rhule, who looks poised to take the Huskers to a great finish this year. Even the playoffs are on the board for them this year. He’s got units that look primed to bring in success, which gives Rhule less to fault in this year. And that means, anything less than this expectation would raise a lot of questions for Matt Rhule.
This is Rhule’s third year in Nebraska. And fans who’ve tracked his career graph would know that this is the time where he strikes the match. He’s taken Nebraska to better finishes consistently these past two years. This is why, this season, the clarion call for him is to publish 10 wins. He has a star quarterback in Dylan Raiola, and the odds look to swing in Rhule’s favor this year. “I am ready to predict and back with my own money that Nebraska will be better than 6-6 this year,” Josh Pate claimed.
A major reason why 10 wins is the ask is Nebraska’s schedule. “You got a schedule that lines up dog (11:27) It’s not just that you got seven home games. It’s that you only go on the road really four times and only one of those games is against a ranked opponent,” RJ Young said in a July 7 video of Adapt & Respond. The Huskers will play Maryland, Minnesota, and UCLA away from Lincoln. The major opponent they’re slated to face on the road is Penn State. That may not be a game that has good odds for Rhule. James Franklin is bringing a team that looks guaranteed to secure a playoff spot, and even a shot at the National Championship. But still, Nebraska looks in good shape to go big.
The other big game Young points out is Michigan. Unlike Penn State, Nebraska will host Michigan at Lincoln. Dylan Raiola will probably face off against Michigan’s biggest asset, Bryce Underwood. Sherrone Moore has also made a lot of promising changes this year. And, there’s also Michigan’s record of having a 4-game winning streak against Nebraska. It will be the first conference game for the Huskers, which will set the tone for Nebraska’s 2025 campaign. “You’re not playing anybody that we expect to make the playoff outside of the two teams that I named: Michigan and Penn State,” Young noted, summing up.
“Outside of that, everybody else is coming to you. You dodge Ohio State, you dodge Oregon. You know, there’s no USC on the menu… We’re talking about just one team on the entire schedule that made the playoff last year, and that’d be Penn State. If you don’t win 10 games with this schedule, I just don’t see you winning 10 games next year. But again, all of the signs we have point to: you do,” Young added. Nebraska’s schedule is ranked the 3rd easiest by CBS Sports. And, Matt Rhule comes with a roster that looks much more refined than last year, headlined by a better-looking Dylan Raiola. However, he also has to steer clear of a few problems to allow Matt Rhule and Nebraska this level of success.
Dylan Raiola is once again Matt Rhule’s game-changer this season
Raiola was Nebraska’s trump card when they entered the 2024 season. The program became synonymous with the QB, which shows the impact of the hype around him. However, he failed to live up to those expectations, becoming inconsistent in parts of the season. He connected for 67.1% of his passes, and analyst David Pollack noted his tendency to make negative plays as a major flaw to keep in check. In the Indiana game, Dylan Raiola threw 3 interceptions. However, he has one major help in the staff to help overcome his problems: new OC Dana Holgorsen.
Holgorsen took charge of things on November 5 last year, which makes his record so far at Nebraska 2-2. Pollack, like many other analysts, is hopeful that Holgorsen’s rapport with Dylan Raiola will bring success for Matt Rhule’s crucial year 3. He said in a June 24 episode of See Ball Get Ball, “Another year with him now because he came in last year through the system. Dana has always been very simplistic… . He’s not going to go trick you. He’s going to master a few things and do them really, really well.” Holgorsen’s dynamic with Raiola is a major factor affecting Nebraska’s 2025 campaign. And by the looks of it, some great results might be coming forward in Lincoln.
“He [Raiola] and Dana, I think are going to make a dynamic duo,” Matt Rhule noted of the two big elements of his 2025 campaign. With all of these factors in play, the Nebraska HC is getting his best shot at taking Nebraska to a major record this season.
The post Matt Rhule Has No Excuses as Nebraska’s Playoff Fate Hinges on 2 B1G Games, Warns FOX CFB Analyst appeared first on EssentiallySports.