Matt Rhule Opens up on Naive Nebraska Moment That Left Him Dumbfounded: “What Trophy?”

Everyone is hyped about Nebraska’s 2025 season. Week 1 began fine with a 17-20 win over the Bearcats. With a relatively easier schedule, Matt Rhule’s team has been predicted to be a wildcard for the playoffs. But all that wouldn’t have happened if the team hadn’t progressed in 2024. The ‘progression’ here doesn’t imply a 10-win season like Indiana. For Nebraska fans, it was simpler than that. Just get six wins and play a bowl game. In that pursuit, there was one particular moment that even left a naive Matt Rhule dumbfounded. 

Let’s head back to the famous face-off between Rhule’s boys and Luke Fickell’s Wisconsin Badgers. The head coach changed his OC. Dana Holgorsen is in the building, and they just need one win to be eligible for a bowl game to end a wait of eight years. In his latest interview, the head coach remembered that time. He shared, “We beat Wisconsin. Be Bowl eligible. Now, first time in 12 years. Like, cause they said, ‘Hey, go get the trophy.’ I said, ‘What trophy?’”

Before they beat the Badgers 44-25 to clinch their first bowl game since the Mike Riley era, Rhule’s confidence had hit rock bottom. They were coming off a four-game losing streak. As they bounced back, what struck more was the head coach’s naivety. But the series between the Badgers and Huskers had more in store than bowl eligibility for both programs. A trophy. 

Rhule continued, “I didn’t even know there was a trophy. Cause we had never had it in our building. And you look at it, it just goes Wisconsin, Wisconsin, Wisconsin. So, you know, guys ran over, they grabbed it.” The Huskers finished with 473 total yards, the most they’ve had since their season opener against UTEP. Sophomore running back Dante Dowdell also fulfilled his role, handling the ball 10 times for 41 yards. And here it was, the Freedom Trophy awaiting Rhule’s program.

The trophy tradition has been going on since 2014. The reason behind Rhule’s lack of knowledge about the trophy? Wisconsin leads the series 13–5. But their luck favored them during the 2024 season, their first win against the Badgers in over a decade. But what’s the narrative that’s looming for them in 2025?

Matt Rhule’s 2025 plate is filled with woes 

On the Crain & Company show, host Blaine Craine came up with a wake-up call for Rhule and co. “One crazy thing I’ve learned about Nebraska is [that] since 2018, Nebraska has [had] 34 one-score losses. That’s nine more than any other team,” said the analyst. In that stretch, under Rhule, the Cornhuskers have racked up 10 one-score losses and hold a 3-10 record in those tight contests. Last season, there were five times that Rhule’s boys lost by just one touchdown or less.

So, for the 2025 season, they got rid of this problematic ritual. While we are yet to find out whether Rhule is capable enough to whitewash their image, they have been hit by two more crises. The Cornhuskers might have been ready to celebrate their season opener victory, but it looks like they have to wait now. Here came some bad news for the Nebraska fam, as their veteran WR Janiran Bonner will be sidelined for the rest of the season due to a torn ACL. That’s not it.

Along with this, Rhule’s quarterback, Raiola, will land in deep soup as their tight end, Mac Markway, will miss the 2025 season due to an ACL injury, his second consecutive season-ending injury. Just when Nebraska fans might have thought that’s enough of woes for the first lap of their 2025 run, here comes some more. 

On the Bear Beats podcast, analyst Geoff Schwartz tried to put the blinders off the Nebraska fans’ eyes. To him, Dylan Raiola still has a long way to go in winning Matt Rhule’s trust. “It looked to me like they didn’t trust him [Raiola] as much as I thought they would into year two as we see him doing his best,” stated Schwartz. With so much on their plate, can last year’s surprise win over Wisconsin fuel them with enough fire to face 2025’s uncertainties?