Collapse to Clutch: Nebraska’s Culture Shift Shows in 5-1 Start

When Matt Rhule was hired to be Nebraska’s next football coach, he talked early and often about building a culture. With grace, he acknowledged that Nebraska was lacking that under his predecessor Scott Frost.

Now, in year three under Rhule, it’s safe to say that culture has been built and is still taking on more additions.

For the third time in Nebraska’s 5-1 start to 2025, the Huskers won a game that was within just one score entering the fourth quarter. They were up three on Cincinnati before matching touchdowns in the 4th quarter to beat the Bearcats. Two weeks ago, they were tied with Michigan State before beating them by 11 in the final frame. Then, against Maryland, the team trailed by seven before adding 10 unanswered fourth-quarter points to seal the comeback win.

Nebraska's narrow win over Cincinnati in the Battle Sports Kansas City Classic was the first of three games where the Huskers have shown they're not the "same old Nebraska." | Dylan Widger-Imagn Images

While winning down the stretch is a new feeling for the Huskers and their fan base, it’s starting to get more and more familiar thanks to the culture that’s been instilled in the program by their head coach.

“There was a time where we were talking about bowl droughts and never winning a close game,” Rhule said. “Well, we’re figuring a lot of that stuff out, so I wanted them to enjoy that moment, that reaction with their families, with their friends, with their fans.”

Unsurprisingly, Nebraska fans traveled in droves to watch the Huskers in College Park, MD, this past weekend, and they were treated to a very up-and-down game. Nebraska shot out to an early 10-0 lead before giving it all back quickly behind three Dylan Raiola interceptions.

Nebraska running back Emmett Johnson single-handedly kept NU's hopes alive against Maryland, ending with 176 yards rushing in the win. | Tommy Gilligan-Imagn Images

Then came the comeback. Nebraska’s defense bowed late, keeping Maryland off the scoreboard in the fourth quarter so the offense could climb back into it. Instead of saying “here we go again,” the Huskers have the fan base asking if they can see it again.

“We prepare for these moments,” Nebraska sophomore linebacker Vincent Shavers said. “I feel like we worked our butts off all offseason, so I feel like we prepared. We’ve been through this before, so we just stepped together as a team. Everybody kept uplifting each other. Even though things weren’t going well, we just kept hugging each other, kept talking to each other. We practiced this.”

The adage “practice makes perfect” fits pretty well as Nebraska kicks off a short week of practice before a Friday game at Minnesota, but what Nebraska did sent a not-so-subtle message to the rest of the opponents on NU’s schedule. This isn’t the “same old Nebraska” they’ve been used to in recent years.

NU's Emmett Johnson couldn't be stopped Saturday, as he helped neutralize Maryland's strong pass rush. | Tommy Gilligan-Imagn Images

Husker running back Emmett Johnson was a big reason why Nebraska was still in it at the end against Maryland. The star tailback ran for 176 yards in the win, and he knew his role was going to be a big one against the Terps regardless of the outcome. The fact it was a one-score win was just icing on the cake for Johnson, who is tired of hearing the rhetoric that Nebraska can’t finish.

“They say we can’t win close games,” Johnson said. “We were trying to send a message from the first play of the game. Just body blows, running the ball downhill, and we knew that they couldn’t hang with us for four quarters up front. Everybody was extremely confident on that last drive. We knew we just got to take it one play at a time, and that’s what we did. We went down there and scored.”

Raiola’s game-winning touchdown pass to Dane Key with 1:08 remaining helped him exorcise some demons in a game where he threw three interceptions, with one of them being returned for a Maryland touchdown.

Statistically, Raiola was less-than-pleased with his performance against Maryland after throwing three interceptions, but h — Statistically, Dylan Raiola was less-than-pleased with his performance against Maryland after throwing three interceptions, but he led the team down the field for a game-winning drive when it mattered most. | Tommy Gilligan-Imagn Images

The three picks would have been more than enough to bury previous Nebraska teams, but for some reason, this team is proving time and time again that they really are different.

“These are all the questions you guys have asked me about,” Rhule said. “‘Hey, how are we going to get over this thing? And I said we’re going to inoculate them by doing it all the time.’ We’re going to teach it at a high level, and I thought we did it pretty well there. We scored 10 points in the final seven, six minutes, right? That’s what winning teams do.”

“(Saturday truly felt like one team, and I think that’s something that’s really hard to build, something we’ve been coming together towards for a really, really long time,” Nebraska senior offensive lineman Henry Lutovsky added. “At times last year, we didn’t have that, but (Saturday) it showed through.”

Nebraska's loss to Michigan left them with a long list of things to correct, but the coaching staff and players agree -- that — Nebraska's loss to Michigan left them with a long list of things to correct, but the coaching staff and players agree - that list is getting shorter and shorter. | Dylan Widger-Imagn Images

Ever since Nebraska’s loss to Michigan, Lutovsky and the rest of Nebraska’s offensive line have taken the criticism of them to heart. They heard all week leading into the Maryland game that the Terps had some of the best edge rushers in the country, let alone the Big Ten Conference.

However, on Saturday, NU only gave up one sack of Raiola in the win. It’s an indicator that another main teaching of Rhule’s is hitting home with his team.

“It’s just about playing the next game, playing the next play,” Rhule said. “As corny as that sounds, I sit there the whole game, I can just tell you my nerves inside, guys are going 100 miles a minute, and I just say play the next play. I’m preaching that. I believe it.”

Minnesota outlasted Purdue 27-20 on October 11, setting up a slightly brighter stage for their Friday night match-up with #25 Nebraska. | Matt Krohn-Imagn Images

The short memory and learning from mistakes is paying off in spades for NU as they now turn their attention to a Minnesota team that is fresh off its own win this past weekend. The Golden Gophers knocked off Purdue 27-20 to improve to 4-2 on the year, so they certainly won’t be a walk through the park for the Huskers.

Not to mention, Nebraska’s not exactly seen a lot of success against Minnesota in recent years. The Gophers are 8-2 against the Big Red in their last 10 meetings, and Nebraska's last win was in 2018 – it’s been a minute.

Nebraska hasn't beaten Minnesota in football since 2018, and the Golden Gophers are 8-2 against NU in their last 10 meetings. | Matt Krohn-Imagn Images

However, Rhule and his players know this team is certainly not those teams, and it’s likely Minnesota has taken note of that as well. Maryland is just the latest team who can help spread the word.

“It was a relentless game, and I’m really glad that we went through this game as well, because I know that we’re really battle-tested as a team and as a program,” Nebraska running back Emmett Johnson said. “Going through those relentless games is what we need.”

As for the fan base, I think they’d be more than okay with a couple of easy wins mixed in from time to time, but Nebraska will have the chance to do what it couldn’t do last season, which is become bowl-eligible in October.

Nebraska was 5-1 in 2024 before a loss to Illinois sent the Huskers on a 4-game losing streak, putting their bowl eligibility in doubt for yet another season. | Dylan Widger-Imagn Images

The Huskers shot out to a 5-1 record in 2024, before watching their season unravel from there. As many Nebraska fans would like to forget, NU lost four straight games at this juncture of the season last year. It took a team that was thinking a bowl game was a shoe-in and turned it into a very big question mark of if they’d miss out on the postseason…again.

Fortunately, a November 23 win over Wisconsin gave Nebraska its sixth win and a fan base the opportunity to watch their team go beat Boston College in the Pinstripe Bowl. However, if we’re using the theme of learning from their mistakes, Nebraska might not be as willing to drop the next four contests this season.

The Huskers have opened up as 6.5-point favorites on Friday night. Oh…and did we mention that Nebraska will be entering the game nationally ranked at No. 25? The excitement is building in Lincoln despite the angst surrounding Rhule being a candidate for the Penn State head coaching vacancy. It’s very likely Rhule is asked all about that during his weekly press conference, but right now, he’s still focused on building his culture in Lincoln.

Nebraska's win over Maryland has its fan base once again believing that "this year" will be different and the Huskers will turn the corner. | Tommy Gilligan-Imagn Images

This past Saturday’s come-from-behind win over Maryland is just the last step in that progression.

“In terms of momentum, I think it just continues to breed confidence,” Rhule said. “The biggest thing I felt was no one panicked on the sideline, but they weren’t panicked last week. Cincinnati game – that’s three close wins. It comes down to the end, and our guys are very, very comfortable in that fourth quarter. We’re just getting better, and we’re just making plays.”

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