Dave Feit: Nothing Has Changed for Nebraska

By all means, be mad, be sad, disappointed, depressed, or whatever you want to be about this loss. I know I am.

In the wake of the game, my primary emotion was disappointment:

Disappointment that Nebraska's offensive line could not get a consistent push.
Disappointment that the offense is little more than waiting for Anthony Colandrea to do something cool.
Disappointment that the kickoff return unit refuses to take free yards.
Disappointment in pretty much everything to do with the punt and punt return units.
Disappointment that Nebraska knew the formula for beating Dylan Raiola - having witnessed it firsthand nine times in 22 games - and refused to implement it.

I try to look at the big picture and not overreact to one game, one moment, one mistake. I know that as little as two weeks ago nobody expected Nebraska to win either one of these games. And yet, the Huskers only trailed for a combined 7:41 out of the last 120 minutes. They trailed for all of 28 seconds on Saturday.

And they did it despite playing one of the most uncomplementary games of football you'll ever see. Nebraska's defense was - on the whole - outstanding. By all means, feel free to apply a Dante Moore-sized asterisk on Oregon's offense and/or Dan Lanning's game plan, but the Blackshirts did more than enough to carry the team to victory. Coming into this game, Rhule was 17-4 when the Huskers allowed 17 points or less.

But the offense struggled mightily. On paper (and in the opinion of Oregon's backup quarterback) the Ducks have more talent than Nebraska, especially on defense. The Huskers had no answers for the speed, power, and skill of the Duck defense. For much of the game, it looked like Oregon was playing with 12 or 13 defenders. Dana Holgorsen couldn't find any answers. Or if he did, the offense didn't have the talent or precision to execute it.

The Huskers possessed the ball for 2:15 in the fourth quarter. Say what you will about the defense's inability to get off the field in the fourth, but there's not much they can do when the offense gives them a break of 1:47 after a 17-play drive.

The special teams did Nebraska no favors either. Husker returners fielded five kicks. They lost yardage on three and gained no yards on a fourth. It may be by design, but Nebraska's punt operation rarely flips the field.

Prior to the fourth quarter, Oregon entered the red zone three times. Two of those were due to Husker gifts: an interception thrown at the 14 and a low snap that was downed by the punter at the 18. Somehow, the Blackshirts only allowed three points on those two drives.

Colandrea with ball — Quarterback Anthony Colandrea runs for a first down during the first half. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

After the Maryland game, I asked if this season is a repeat of 2016: The paper tiger that folds when they face real competition. Maybe. Maybe not. I'm not ready to call it yet.

Unfortunately, all we can do now is sit through the muck and the misery of the next two weeks. We're going to get our fill of doubt, dismay, and hot take proclamations that the Rhule detractors were sitting on during the first five games of the season. That's what happens when you let a victory slip through your fingers.

I'm not interested in trying to frame Nebraska's 17-14 loss to Oregon as a referendum game. I'm not interested in manufactured narratives of "It's great that Nebraska played Indiana close, but none of that matters if they lose at Oregon." That's such a ridiculous line of thinking. A last second loss to a 2025 CFP semifinalist negates the perceived gains demonstrated in a close loss to the defending national champions? Get out of here with that nonsense. Nebraska hasn't sniffed nine wins in a decade and two months ago, 80% of the fans predicted this as a loss.

The truth is that nothing has changed for Nebraska

I'm phrasing it that way on purpose. Think of it as a choose your own narrative adventure. The doubters will say that Nebraska is the same team they've been since 2015 (or earlier) that keeps finding new and inventive ways to lose painful games. Those not prone to overreaction will note that a team widely picked to go 7-5 is, shockingly, on track to go 7-5.

Nebraska is still a good team. They're still capable of having more success than anybody expected at the beginning of this season. This loss does not change that.

The majority of Nebraska's remaining schedule is not going to be as tough defensively as the Oregon squad that was expected to be a national championship contender. The Huskers can beat any of the remaining teams on their schedule. The Huskers can lose to any of the remaining teams on their schedule. That is the reality of college football in 2026.

I would hope that was the primary takeaway from a wild Saturday where five of the top seven teams in the country lost.

Things I believe

Dan Lanning stole a page out of the Kirk Ferentz playbook.

The Oregon game started out as the ultimate Big Ten West sickos tribute game. Thirteen of the first 15 drives - including all eight drives in the first quarter - ended with a punt.

The Ducks - who started third string quarterback Brock Thomas - seemed content to run straight into the teeth of Nebraska's defense, throw some half-hearted wide receiver screens, and punt it back to the Huskers.

The game plan from Oregon head coach Dan Lanning looked very familiar to what Nebraska sees most years on Black Friday: play ultra conservative on offense. Punt. Play field position. Frustrate the Huskers with defense and special teams.

Lie in wait for Nebraska to make a mistake. And then… POUNCE, rip their hearts out.

But unlike many of those painful Iowa losses, the Huskers never really made that one critical mistake. Instead, Nebraska was stymied by a combination of Oregon's defense and their own offensive ineptitude.

For the majority of the game, NU was completely incapable of stringing together consecutive plays gaining positive yardage. On eight of Nebraska's 14 drives (including the one play drive that ended in an interception), the Huskers failed to gain yardage on back-to-back plays. Tip your hat to the front four of the Ducks. Blame offensive coordinator Dana Holgorsen, the offensive line, the backs, or anything else.

The result is the same.

With a functional offense, Nebraska wins this game by two or three touchdowns. Heck, with the 2009 offense, Nebraska probably wins by 10 points.

The cliché is that the book is out on how to beat Nebraska. But after many years (and multiple head coaches), that book is already in paperback. Until the Huskers figure out how to take advantage of an opponent conceding their offense, we're likely to continue ending up in this same spot.

Timeout management bit Matt Rhule on the ass. Again.

For the second straight week, Nebraska started their final possession trailing by three points. For the second straight week, Nebraska got the ball deep in their own territory (at the 11 against Indiana, at the 25 vs Oregon). This meant for the second straight week Nebraska needed at least 45 yards to get into field goal range (if not more). For the second straight week, Nebraska only had a handful of seconds to make it happen: 11 versus the Hoosiers, 28 against the Ducks.

For the second straight week, Nebraska moved the ball, but ultimately ran out of time. The Indiana game ended on an ugly lateral play (including an illegal forward pass). The Oregon game ended when Nyziah Hunter was tackled inbounds.

For the second straight week, Nebraska's final drive was made harder than it needed to be because the Huskers were out of timeouts. Timeouts that were not spent in an effort to stop the clock and preserve time, but timeouts that were spent on defense to either slow momentum or try to scheme up a stop on a critical down.

Look: I'm not suggesting that Nebraska wins - or ties - the Indiana or Oregon game if the offense had a timeout or two in their pocket. That type of success is reliant upon Colandrea getting enough time to find open receivers. It likely means that Nebraska would have to make a field goal longer than 40 yards. Both of those things have been a challenge.

But I'd sure like to see what could happen.

There are a lot of fans upset with Rhule for a lot of reasons. Getting burned late because he lights his timeouts on fire is probably my biggest gripe.

All in all, the 10 p.m. kickoff wasn't horrible.

The Oregon game's 10:05 p.m. kickoff tied the 1972 UCLA game for Nebraska's latest kickoff in the continental United States.* A 1970 game at Southern Cal kicked at 10:00.

*The 1992 Tokyo Bowl vs Kansas started at 10 p.m. Central (1 p.m. Tokyo time). The Huskers have played at Hawaii four times, including one game in 1971 where the kickoff time is listed as "11:59 p.m." Central.

As near as I can tell (data on game length and/or end time is scarce before 2010), that is the latest into the A.M. (Central Time) that Nebraska has ever played. The game ended at 1:45 a.m. Nebraska time, about 24 minutes later than the 2014 game at Fresno State. That game kicked at 9:40 Central.

Setting aside the result, Nebraska's first 10 p.m. game in over 30 years wasn't as bad as I thought it would be.

The daytime hours were like a practice run for the upcoming idle week: I got some stuff done around the house, watched some football, enjoyed a Husker volleyball win, took the missus out for dinner and drinks, and was home in time for kickoff.

But the results do matter. Matt Rhule refused to make the time shift an excuse for his team's performance. I will note that Nebraska lost the 1972 UCLA game (snapping a 31-game unbeaten streak) and tied the 1970 USC game (the lone blemish in NU's first two championship seasons). They lost again Saturday night / Sunday morning.

I have been told that Nebraska will have a late start like this once every three years. Personally, I think it will be more frequent than that. There are only so many Big Ten teams, and I have a hard time seeing the TV execs putting Michigan or Ohio State on at 11 p.m. Eastern time.

Things I don't know

How much longer can Nebraska go with Anthony Colandrea being the primary (only?) running threat?

Back in August, I wrote: "My most optimistic offensive opinion is that if Colandrea can A) stay healthy B) avoid turnovers, and C) not have to be the team's leading rusher Nebraska's offense should be more consistently productive than last year."

Through seven games, A and B have held true. As for C, well…

In conference play, NU's running back trio of Jamal Rule, Mekhi Nelson, and Mozee have a total of 279 yards on 79 carries (3.5 yards per carry). In those same four games, Anthony Colandrea has 50 carries for 259 yards (5.2 YPC).

Colandrea's numbers are not sack adjusted, which means he would have more total yards on fewer carries if the sacks were stripped out.

I understand that Rule is less than 100%. I'm on record being skeptical about Mozee as a between the tackles back. Nelson gets himself into trouble when he tries to bounce runs to the outside. Nebraska's line may not be as good as we thought it was in September. And I definitely believe that Indiana and Oregon have excellent defenses with multiple NFL draft picks.

But if Nebraska needed to pick up four yards on the ground, I don't know how or why you wouldn't want the ball in Colandrea's hands. As this team gets ready for the November grind (starting with a game on Halloween), I don't believe that is a recipe for sustained success.

Why didn't Nebraska put more pressure on Raiola?

If you've ever watched Dylan Raiola play quarterback, you know the secret to beating him: play tight coverage, speed him up with pressure, and chase down the son of an offensive lineman. In his two seasons at Nebraska, Raiola was sacked over 50 times, rushing for -153 yards at NU. He threw 17 interceptions in 22 games. If you can make him uncomfortable in the pocket - or collapse it altogether - the odds of defensive success go way up.

This theory played out a week ago in the UCLA game. The Bruins got after the quarterback, and Raiola played one of the worst games of his career. After watching Raiola struggle against UCLA, I was confident of two things: a) he would not start, and b) if he did play, Nebraska would bring pressure. Heat him up and make him beat you.

Raiola celebrating — Dylan Raiola faced little pressure when passing against his former team. | USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect

Instead, when Raiola entered at the start of the fourth quarter, the Blackshirts were passive. On back-to-back drives of 17 and 20(!) plays, Raiola ran a "death by a million paper cuts" offense to relative perfection. Other than his two carries, I'm not sure the defense laid a hand on him.

Defensive coordinator Rob Aurich seemed more concerned about getting beat by the run, and it was obvious the defense was getting gassed by the end of the first drive. As well as the run defense played when Thomas was in the game, it seemed to fall apart with the former Husker behind center.

The first sign of danger occurred when Raiola picked up a third-and-five on the ground. After that, Nebraska seemed to play on their heels instead of doing what they had done for the first three quarters: being the aggressors.

Has a player ever gone from beloved to bemoaned faster than Archie Wilson?

Fourteen months ago, Mitch Sherman of The Athletic asked freshman punter Archie Wilson a simple question about being away from his native Australia for the first time. Wilson's homesickness got the better of him and he broke down at the podium. The moment went viral and Nebraska fans fell in love with the Aussie punter who - believe it or not - could punt with both feet! We all learned the term "ambipedal" and expected four years of booming Aussie awesomeness.

Fast forward to the 2026 season.

Wilson is still popular with the fan base at large. When the starting lineups were announced before the Indiana game, only Colandrea received a bigger ovation than Nebraska's sophomore punter. It has been that way all season long.

But Wilson is also the subject of frustration from many fans. His punts - regardless of which foot he kicks them with* - have underwhelmed many fans. Against Oregon, Wilson had consecutive punts of 34 and 33 yards. On one, he was moving to his right but kicked with his left foot. Stand up and try that. See if it feels natural to you.

*I would love to see the stats on Wilson's punts with his right foot versus his left. I'm sure NU has this data, but short of going through game film, I couldn't easily find it.

During the game, I saw several tweets expressing their frustration - if not outrage - with Wilson… and that was before he accidentally took a knee trying to field a low snap. Oregon scored a field goal on the ensuing drive.

For what it's worth, Wilson averaged 43.3 yards on nine punts on Saturday, placing three inside the 20, with a long of 60. After the Oregon game, Nebraska is ranked 23rd in the nation in net punting (42.19 yards) ahead of Top 25 teams Florida, Notre Dame, Iowa, and Miami.

Huskerigami Update

A “Huskerigami” is a final score combination (win or lose) that has never happened in the 130+ year history of Nebraska football.

Final score: 17-14

Is that a Huskerigami? No. It has happened nine times before. The first time was a win at Oklahoma in 1960. Bill "Thunder" Thornton scored two touchdowns in the second half as Nebraska came back from a 14-0 deficit. The most recent was a 2011 win at Penn State, a few days after Joe Paterno was fired for his actions (or lack thereof) in the Jerry Sandusky scandal.

5 Things I loved

Caleb Benning. With safeties Jamir Conn and Rex Guthrie (and their 15 career starts at NU) out with injuries, Benning was thrust into the spotlight. He responded with the game of his young career. A dozen tackles, 2.5 tackles for loss, a pass breakup that the Oregon receiver will be feeling for a week, and a forced fumble in the red zone.
Dwayne McDougle III. McDougle continues to be a big play machine in the defensive secondary. He got NU out of a jam with an interception on a deflected pass, had another pick waved off by a penalty, and recorded 13 tackles.
Anthony Colandrea. Once again, Nebraska's quarterback tried to carry the entire offense on his back. He gained 73 yards on the ground (but gave back 35 on three sacks) and ran with fearless abandon. There's an interception he'd like to have back, but he largely did a good job staying alive in a collapsing pocket and trying to find open receivers.
Owen Chambliss. The quarterback of the defense had another strong game with a game-high 15 tackles, including two for loss. When the defensive line can keep him clean, he's a disruptive force.
Cameron Lenhardt. I'll be honest: there have been moments in this season where I've forgotten that Cam Lenhardt is still on the team. Maybe it was the lateness of the night, but after the first of his five tackles my mind went to a different player who wore No. 2 (Caleb Tannor). Regardless of my senility, Lenhardt played one of his best games in a long time with 1.5 TFL and a quarterback hurry.

Honorable mention: Vincent Shavers Jr., Kwazi Gilmer, Victor Evans III, Jahshear Whittington, Luke Lindenmeyer, Anthony Jones Jr., Isaiah Mozee, Mason Goldman, Nebraska volleyball, everyone who stayed up for that game, and caffeine.

5 Areas for improvement

Dana Holgorsen. Nebraska had a total of 82 yards on 24 plays in the second half. Three of NU's six second-half drives ended with negative yardage. If you want a reason for the loss, this is it.
Offensive line. I will give Oregon's defense a ton of credit. Aside from Ohio State, Oregon likely has the best front four Nebraska will face this season. But the offensive line has to be better. The line accounted for three of NU's six penalties (and 25 of 55 yards) which is absolutely killing drives.
Special teams. Archie Wilson fielded a bad snap with his knee on the turf. Two of Wilson's punts traveled less than 34 yards, not including a 47-yarder that bounced into the end zone. Jacory Barney Jr. lost nine yards on two punt returns. Nyziah Hunter cost the offense 17 yards of field position by not fair catching a kickoff. And I doubt I was the only one dreading a last-second field goal attempt.
Officiating. I don't think Kwazi Gilmer had a foot (or any other body part) down in the end zone on his touchdown. I have no idea how Whittington can get called for a blindside hit when the "victim" sees him coming and braces for impact. Both teams appeared to run a play after the play clock hit zero. And there were two fairly obvious missed calls (illegal formation and a hold) on Oregon's touchdown. Just another stellar week in the Big Ten!
Tim Brando. Over the years, I have enjoyed many a late-night sickos game with Timmy B on the call. But there's a difference between a random Pac-12 after dark or Mountain West game and one that I actually care about. Saturday with Brando was a tough hang, especially when he said "I don't think that ball was catchable" after it hit an Oregon player in the helmet. Still better than Gus Johnson, though.

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