Nebraska Used 'Outside Noise' to Fuel Win Over Northwestern

Nebraska was turned into a punching bag after its embarrassing 24-6 loss to Minnesota, but they didn't shy away from the criticism – they embraced it.

Instead of acting like they didn't hear the overwhelming criticism from their loss to Minnesota, the Huskers acknowledged it and turned it into their 6th win of the season. | Dylan Widger-Imagn Images

When players and coaches say they don’t pay attention to the “outside noise” week in and week out, you want to believe them – you really do.

You want to believe that things are so in-house with your favorite team that nothing gets in and nothing gets out, but it’s 2025 – they hear the “noise.”

Last week, it hit a fever pitch for a Nebraska football team that got embarrassed in Minneapolis in a 24-6 loss to Minnesota. By now, most fans know they gave up nine sacks of quarterback Dylan Raiola and were outmuscled at nearly every position on the field. Minnesota won the game, and there was no debate from the Huskers after the fact.

Minnesota put out the playbook on how to beat Nebraska, and the Huskers took it to heart the next week in practice. | Matt Krohn-Imagn Images

Headline after headline came out, including for yours truly, about how Nebraska was soft, outcoached and simply not prepared for Minnesota. The facts of that game are still as true today as they were last week, but instead of hiding from them and acting like they don’t hear them because their locker room is sealed off from outside scrutiny, most of the Huskers who spoke to the media last week actually agreed with the assessment.

Both coach Matt Rhule and Raiola said they were “pissed” after that performance. The question was whether their anger and the team’s embarrassment would be enough to right all of the wrongs before the team took on another physical squad in Northwestern.

“We heard all the negative talk, all the naysayers and stuff like that,” Nebraska linebacker Javin Wright said. “We banded together as a team, and we know who we are. We were built for a real good fight till the end to the fourth quarter. We know who we are. When that time came during halftime, we knew what was going to happen. We’re just really confident in ourselves and who we are and body blows that we give out.”

Instead of blocking out all the "outside noise" after the Minnesota loss, the Huskers welcomed it and used it as fuel against Northwestern. | Nebraska Athletics

Those remarks from Wright came after Nebraska’s 28-21 win this past Saturday over the Wildcats. They resonate just a bit more than usual, considering the team found itself in an identical situation, which is hard to do in college football.

Two weeks ago, Nebraska trailed 7-6 at the half against Minnesota, and the Huskers never scored again. Against Northwestern, the halftime score was again 7-6, but this time it was in favor of NU and how the team came out of the halftime locker room was completely different.

“Last week we were a little bit like ‘dang, it’s a close game,’ but this week it was like, ‘It’s a close game, and we’re excited,’” Nebraska defensive back Ceyair Wright said. “We were super happy to go take the field in the second half and just keep playing.”

Kenneth Williams peeks back during his 95-yard kickoff return to start the second half against Northwestern. | Kenny Larabee, KLIN

Nebraska shot out of a cannon…literally. The opening kickoff of the second half was taken back 95 yards for a touchdown by rising star Kenneth Williams. It was not only a jolt in the arm that put NU up 14-6, but the Huskers rode that momentum into a defensive stop and another scoring drive to take command of the game 21-6.

“I think we just came in with a different type of energy, and we knew that you don’t get do-overs,” Raiola said. “It was written to either make our season or break our season, and our guys just accepted the challenge and went right after it.”

Regrettably, the command didn’t last long as Northwestern stormed all the way back to tie it at 21. The teams then traded interceptions in a wild series of events before Raiola and company took more than six minutes off the clock in what ended up being a game-winning drive to a touchdown to seal the 28-21 Husker win.

Despite trailing 21-6, Northwestern stormed all the way back to tie the game at 21 before Nebraska put together a game-winning drive in the fourth quarter. | Dylan Widger-Imagn Images

“I thought our guys showed tremendous resolve,” Rhule said after the win. “Anytime you’re up, you have that third quarter that you had, then you let them back in the game. That could have been ‘uh oh, here we go again.’ You think about the last two years I’ve been here, it would have been like that. Credit to our crowd, I thought our crowd was juiced up, and then the offense went right down there.”

After wins like that, you hear phrases like “that was a culture win” or “this is a win that turns the tide” for a Nebraska team that’s been stuck in low tide for quite some time. Make no mistake about it – this Nebraska football team still made a lot of mistakes in that game and tackling remained more than suspect at pivotal moments of the game (they’re still diving at ankles despite preaching they won’t all last week).

There are several things this coaching staff will have to work on if they hope to have Nebraska in a position to upset No. 23 USC Saturday night in Lincoln, but a bounce-back win against a gritty Northwestern team is nothing to scoff at.

Nebraska's bounce-back win against Northwestern showed a lot of resolve as they now get ready for another nationally-ranked team. | Dylan Widger-Imagn Images

In Minneapolis, Nebraska didn’t look like they belonged on the same field with Minnesota. Against Northwestern, it was more about whether NU could stay on the roller coaster.

“We had a tough loss last week,” Ceyair Wright said. “Everybody was disappointed about it. Some people might have turned their backs on us, but in moments like that, it’s just about making sure the team stays together, and that was what I wanted to really focus on.”

“We’re still working,” Rhule echoed. “We’re a work in progress. We’re trying to get better and better. I love the group, I love the team. This is one of the most favorite teams I’ve ever coached.”

Nebraska coach Matt Rhule admits his team is still a "work in progress" despite its 6-2 start to the season. | Kenny Larabee, KLIN

Nebraska is now bowl eligible before Halloween for the first time since 2016, which ironically is the last time the Huskers beat a nationally-ranked team. Yeah…that streak is still alive, but it’s about the last “bad taste” streak that’s out there from a quarter century of Nebraska football that most Husker fans would like to have behind them.

There are still a lot, and I mean a lot of questions surrounding Rhule’s future in Lincoln. Let’s just say Penn State hasn’t exactly named its next head coach, and Rhule hasn’t exactly squashed rumors of his interest in returning to his alma mater at season’s end. The national media certainly thinks he will.

So, if this is Rhule’s last season leading the Huskers, it’s almost fitting that the players are praising what he’s done for the program in the three short years he’s been at the helm.

The future for Matt Rhule in Lincoln is very unknown with his alma mater looking for its next coach, but NU players haven't stopped praising the work he's done since taking over the Huskers. | Kenny Larabee, KLIN

“Coach Rhule has built this program for the past three years and has taught us how to win,” Javin Wright said. “There’s stuff that needs to happen for us to win, and I think he manufactured all of that. Our older guys know what to do, how to do it in a certain standard, how to do the process.”

“For coach Rhule to get the right people and the right people around us to do what we’re doing is extremely hard, and people just bought in to what we do and what we believe, and we’ve got to keep doing it,” Raiola said. “The results will take care of itself.”

Rhule, in his own right, is continuing to say the right things even amidst his most successful season to this point at Nebraska.

“That progress wasn’t done by me,” Rhule said. “It was done by these guys. It’s done by the guys who’ve been here for all three years. It’s done by the guys who aren’t here anymore.”

Nebraska's 28-21 win over Northwestern is just another example of how Matt Rhule has completed a culture shift. | Dylan Widger-Imagn Images

If Penn State has anything to say about it, Rhule might not be here anymore after the 2025 season. However, if he does leave for his alma mater, his impact will likely be staying put. Nebraska, for the first time in nearly a decade, is winning one-score games. They’re overcoming mistakes instead of letting them multiply.

Is this team a national title contender? No. But is it the first Husker team in quite some time that the fan base can be proud of not only on the field, but off it? That’s a resounding yes.

“The standard for this whole Nebraska football program has risen so much since I’ve been here,” Javin Wright said. “Everyone (was) like the world was about to collapse when we’re still 5-2. Everyone has a certain level of expectation for this program now that we’re in it just because we have such expectations for us and a higher standard for how we play.”

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