Nebraska’s Matt Rhule vs. Big Ten? Below .500 Record

Huskers’ season hangs in balance with five Big Ten games remaining

Nebraska coach Matt Rhule hugs Minnesota coach P.J. Fleck after Huskers lost, 24-6, on Friday night. | Matt Krohn-Imagn Images

Nebraska and coach Matt Rhule have five Big Ten games remaining this season, five games that could make or break their season.

It’s a 5-2 season that became more frayed and fragile after Minnesota stole their lunch money last Friday night, 24-6.

Now, the Huskers face the bulk of their Big Ten schedule, starting with Northwestern on Saturday (11 a.m. CT) at Memorial Stadium. It’s a journey even the most seasoned Nebraska follower probably can’t predict.

Given Rhule’s spotty road record of 3-8 in the Big Ten, it’s probably a plus that the Huskers only have two road games remaining, along with three home games.

Rhule’s record

Overall, Rhule’s record at Nebraska is 17-15, with season records of 5-7 (2023), 7-6 (2024) and this year’s 5-2 mark.

Rhule has a losing Big Ten record. Under Rhule, the Huskers are 8-14 in the B1G  — 3-6 in both 2023 and 2024, and 2-2 this season. At Memorial Stadium under Rhule, the Huskers are 5-6 in Big Ten games.

Husker weaknesses were exposed in their road loss at Minnesota. So was their offense, which saw quarterback Dylan Raiola sacked nine times. Nebraska’s run defense again proved vulnerable. Maybe more alarming: Nebraska was not the most physical team on the field last Friday.

Nebraska quarterback Dylan Raiola is tackled by Minnesota's Matt Kingsbury in Big Ten game last Friday night. | Matt Krohn-Imagn Images

Conference games are everything and that’s where coaches should be judged — how their team performs in conference games. Non-conference games shouldn’t be a measuring stick. Non-conference games tend to be, frankly, not that challenging for many Power 4 teams and they usually are home games for the powerful.

There is an occasional demanding game, such as the Huskers playing Cincinnati this season at neutral-site Kansas City. Also, Texas opened its season at Ohio State and lost, 14-7 — and probably still hasn’t recovered. But only 10 of 136 FBS schools did not play an FCS school in 2025.

Nebraska receiver Dane Key scores touchdown against Cincinnati in 20-17 Husker win in the season opener. | Frank Bowen IV/The Enquirer / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Conference games are a different story. The playing field, so to speak, is relatively even. Home and away games are equally distributed over a two-year period. This year, Nebraska has five home Big Ten games, and four road conference games. In 2024, the Huskers had four home B1G games and five road B1G games.

It balances out.

Big Ten issues

Rhule’s Big Ten record has yet to balance out. Here is Rhule’s year-by-year conference record, with the opponent’s ranking at the time of the meeting in parentheses, and the opponent's final record also in parentheses.

2023
5-7 overall, 3-6 in Big Ten

The Huskers only defeated one conference team that finished with a winning record  — Northwestern, which finished 8-5. Nebraska was 2-3 at Memorial Stadium, and 1-3 on the road in the conference.

* At Minnesota: L, 13-10 (6-7)
* (2) Michigan: L, 45-7 (15-0)
* At Illinois: W, 20-7 (5-7)
* Northwestern: W, 17-9 (8-5)
* Purdue: W, 31-14 (4-8)
* At Michigan State: L, 20-17 (4-8)
* Maryland: L, 13-10 (8-5)
* At Wisconsin: L, 24-17 (7-6)
* (20) Iowa: L, 13-10 (10-4)

2024
7-6 overall, 3-6 in Big Ten

Again, the Huskers only defeated one conference team that finished with a winning record  —— Rutgers, which finished 7-6. Nebraska was 2-2 at Memorial Stadium, and 1-4 on the road.

* (24) Illinois: L, 31-24 (10-3)
* At Purdue: W, 28-10 (1-11)
* Rutgers: W, 14-7 (7-6)
* (16) At Indiana: L, 56-7 (11-2)
* (4) At Ohio State: L, 21-17 (14-2)
* UCLA: L, 27-20 (5-7)
* At USC: L, 28-20 (7-6)
* Wisconsin: W, 44-25 (5-7)
* At Iowa, L, 13-10

2025
5-2 overall, 2-2 in Big Ten

Nebraska is 1-1 at Memorial Stadium, and 1-1 on the road.

* (21) Michigan: L, 30-27 (5-2)
* Michigan State: W, 38-27 (3-4)
* At Maryland: W, 34-31 (4-3)
* At Minnesota: L, 24-6 (5-2)

Remaining 2025 schedule

* Oct. 25: Northwestern
* Nov. 1: USC
* Nov. 8: At UCLA
* Nov. 22: At Penn State
* Nov. 28: Iowa

Rhule has faced six Big Ten teams that were ranked at the time of the meeting. He is 0-6, with four of the games at home. Currently there are no ranked teams on the Huskers’ remaining schedule. USC just missed making the AP Top 25 this week, and is at 26.

How Nebraska bounces back after the Minnesota loss could help the Huskers’ psyche and self-esteem. How the Huskers play in their five remaining conference games could determine their season.

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