It's Year Three for Rhule and Nebraska

Husker head coach Matt Rhule will soon begin his third season at Nebraska. Last year, the Huskers finished 7-6 - their best year since 2016. Husker fans are thinking this might be a breakout year for the Cornhuskers.

Why?

Because in Rhule's two prior college head coaching stints, year three proved to be breakout years. At Temple, the Owls went from 6-6 in 2014 to 10-4. Then at Baylor, the Bears went from 7-6 in 2018 to 11-3 in Y3. Both were a plus four wins.

Will this be the year NU jumps to double-digit wins?

Of course, no one knows. Let's look at how other Husker head football coaches performed in their third years.

1) What's the record for largest jump in wins in Year Three?

Answer: Four

2) Who was the coach?

Answer: There is a two-way tie. Lawrence McCerney "Biff" Jones (1937-1941) was a plus 4. In 1938 his Husker team went 3-5-1. In '39, NU finished 7-1-1.

Dana X. Bible (1929-1936) also was a plus 4. His '30 team went 4-3-2. In Y3, his Husker team finished at 8-2-0.

3) What's the record for biggest drop in wins in Y3?

Answer: Five

4) Who was the coach?

Answer: Mike Riley. In 2016, the Huskers were 9-4 while a year later, they went 4-8. Riley was fired at the end of the season.

5) How did other Husker head coaches fare?

A: Bob Devaney (1962-1972) and Tom Osborne (1973-1997) were both minus one in their third year. Frank Solich (1998-2003) went minus 2. Bill Callahan (2004-2007) finished Y-3 with a plus 1. Bo Pelini (2008-2014) was even in Y-3 (10-4).

Finally, Scott Frost (2018-2022) was a minus 2.

There you have it. If Matt Rhule goes a plus 4 this fall, he will tie the all-time Husker football record.

But Husker fans want more. They are hoping he breaks it.

Who's on First?

While doing the research on this column, I found out who was the player to score the first TD in Husker football history. It seems like a worthwhile topic for Husker football fans.

The answer is Albert Troyer, who was a fullback. He scored the TD in a 10-0 win over Omaha YMCA on Nov. 27, 1890. The game (one of only two games that season for NU) was played in Omaha. Nebraska finished the season undefeated (2-0) and unscored upon. In 1891, Troyer graduated from NU with a degree in agriculture. He later moved to Alabama where he developed a new variety of oranges that later became very popular in California.

To continue his interest in agriculture, he moved to Russia in 1934. He later renounced his U.S. citizenship and became a Russian citizen. He is believed to have died years later in a Soviet Gulag.

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