What Matt Rhule and Huskers Need is Big, Signature Win

So, Nebraska did what it had to do in the season opener. So did Matt Rhule. The Huskers did what was expected — they defeated underdog Cincinnati, 20-17, in a closer-than-expected game that wasn’t decided until the final Cincinnati offensive play.

When you are Matt Rhule, in his third season with the Huskers, the victory was a good first step for 2025 … and a necessary one. A defeat would have been devastating in the immediate, smoldering aftermath.

Devastating, also, in terms of Rhule continuing to build the program in his vision, with his goals. Among his goals: Getting to the College Football Playoff. Another goal: Returning Nebraska to its glory days. Losing the opener to Cincinnati wouldn't have helped.

A Nebraska defeat would have been unacceptable, especially after an offseason of optimism.

When you are once-mighty Nebraska any victory is a good first step. A defeat would have been disastrous to the collective egos of Husker Nation, who have been waiting nearly a decade for the right coach, putting together the right roster, and the right coaching staff.

And waiting nearly a decade for the right results.

What Rhule needs

But what Matt Rhule needs, maybe personally, but certainly for his program is what most coaches need — a signature victory. A victory so big — and maybe even shocking — that ESPN takes notice, the national media takes notice and the Huskers are part of the Big Ten and national conversation again.

Signature victories aren’t available every week. Rhule is hamstrung by the schedule. Look at 2025. What potential signature victories are out there? One, for sure, at Penn State. Two, maybe, in Michigan. Maybe another in USC.

Big wins come against big opponents.

Nebraska's best win in 2024 might have been against Colorado and coach Deion Sanders. | Ron Chenoy-Imagn Images

Rhule doesn’t have a signature win in his first two seasons in Lincoln. There were no major wins in 2023. Last year, the Huskers defeated Deion Sanders and Colorado, 28-10, in Week 2. That probably was Rhule’s best win in his Nebraska tenure. He nearly had one at Ohio State, but the Huskers fell just short.

Can’t lose as favorites

With 12 games in a regular season, there is little margin for error and no room for losses to underdogs. For Matt Rhule and the Huskers, they simply can’t lose games against underdogs or perceived inferior opponents. Not if they want the program’s momentum to continue.

By the time Nebraska plays Minnesota and USC, those teams could be ranked. Iowa, too. Those games would take on added value beyond being conference games. There could be College Football Playoff implications in those games.

Victories against these teams — and Michigan — would establish Nebraska as a team that requires opponents to take serious notice.

Defeating Michigan on Sept. 20 at Memorial Stadium would be a sit-up-and-take-notice victory. As of now, the Wolverines are only a 3½-point favorite. But should Michigan arrive in Lincoln ranked in the top 10 with a 3-0 record behind talented freshman quarterback Bryce Underwood — which would mean the Wolverines won at Oklahoma in Week Two — that game against a 3-0 Nebraska team would be enormous.

Quarterback Bryce Underwood and Michigan could represent a great opportunity for a signature win for Nebraska on Sept. 20. | Junfu Han / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Michigan was ranked 14th in the Associated Press preseason poll and probably will rise this week. If the Wolverines still are ranked on Sept. 20, a Nebraska win over Michigan would be historic.

Nebraska hasn’t defeated a ranked opponent since Sept. 17, 2016. On a sunny, 79-degree afternoon in Lincoln, the Huskers defeated 16th-ranked Oregon, 35-32. The win gave the Huskers a 3-0 record. They won their first seven games that season and finished 9-4.

Plenty about Oregon has changed since 2016. Plenty about Nebraska has changed since 2016, too.

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