Matt Rhule’s Great Week Ends With Nebraska’s Heartbreaking Loss to USC

On what had to be one of the great weeks in Matt Rhule’s life, the Nebraska coach suffered what had to be one of the most bitter losses of his coaching career.

Rhule was rewarded with a two-year contract extension, made official Thursday. The new deal put an end to all of the Penn State speculation and set up Rhule and his family in Lincoln, a place the Huskers coach said he loved.

Saturday night, he brought his Huskers into the cauldron and frenzy of a Blackout atmosphere inside a tricked-out Memorial Stadium needing a victory to keep the Huskers’ College Football Playoff hopes alive.

His Huskers, fueled by a raucous crowd, led at halftime, 14-6. They went toe-to-toe with a ranked USC team that had its eyes on the CFP, too.

“I thought the crowd was amazing, the energy was amazing, the atmosphere was electric. I thought it was special,” Rhule said in a postgame news conference.

In the end, what hurt the Huskers at times throughout the season hurt them on Saturday night. USC, the No. 1-ranked passing team in America, pounded the Huskers on the ground. USC, ranked 23rd in the AP Top 25, gained 202 yards on 38 carries. The Trojans gained vital yards, game-changing yards, and clock-squeezing yards.

“Anytime you give up 200 yards rushing we’re not going to be happy,” Rhule said.

USC 21, Nebraska 17.

For a coach and a program needing a signature win, they were left with a good effort but not good enough.

Huskers control USC’s passing game

Nebraska mostly shut down the vaunted Trojans’ passing attack — save for a back-breaking, 43-yard flea flicker in the fourth quarter. USC quarterback Jayden Maiava completed 9-of-23 passes for 135 yards.

Maiava gained 62 yards on 11 carries and a touchdown on the ground.

Even when it appeared that everyone in the stadium knew the Trojans were going to run, they did run and the Huskers simply couldn’t stop them. Nebraska came into the game ranked a mediocre 88th in the nation against the run, allowing 156.5 yards per game.

And the Huskers’ promising dream of a redemptive season ended on a freak play when running back Emmett Johnson, a warrior all night and all season, stumbled in the backfield and fell to the turf, an agonizing yard or so short of a first down that would have kept the Huskers alive.

Nebraska running back Emmett Johnson gains yards against USC defense. Johnson finished with 165 yards. | Dylan Widger-Imagn Images

“I just had bad footwork on that play,” freshman quarterback TJ Lafeef said in a postgame news conference about the play where Johnson appeared to trip. “I’ll fix that.”

For that to happen to Johnson, who gained 165 gritty yards on 29 carries, was cruel beyond words. More cruelty for Nebraska? Starting quarterback Dylan Raiola, who was playing well, suffered a lower-leg injury in the third quarter.

Before the injury, Raiola was 10-of-15 for 91 yards and a touchdown. He looked like a quarterback under control and in command.

So did the Huskers.

Welcome back, Huskers?

Nebraska had a chance to reintroduce itself to a college football world it once dominated. With a win, the nation would have to pay its due respect to the Huskers. With a win, Nebraska’s CFP flicker still burned. With a win, the Huskers probably climbed back into the AP Top 25.

Before a national television audience, the Huskers and Trojans put on a show. Two legendary programs, slugging it out not only for the victory on this memorable night but for the chance to keep their CFP hopes alive.

And for most of the game, Nebraska seemed on track to grab the victory. The Huskers led, 17-14, in the fourth quarter before USC grabbed its first (and only) lead of the game.

The loss continued a Nebraska streak no one associated with the Huskers program wants. Nebraska hasn’t defeated a ranked team since 2016 when the Huskers beat No. 22 Oregon. Nebraska, incredibly, has lost 29 consecutive games to ranked opponents.

For Rhule and the Huskers, three games remain. His week of triumph was over. Blackout was over. What could have been Nebraska’s most significant game in a long time was over.

Can you imagine Rhule’s emotions? From the happiness and heights of a contract extension that carries into 2032 to this, a defeat that will linger long and deep.

“We lost the game,” Rhule said quietly at his postgame news conference. “We’ll have to get better.”

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