Matt Rhule’s Nebraska Cornhuskers have gone full throttle at the beginning of the season. They sealed a win over Cincinnati 17-20. Then came the talk of the town, Rhule and Co.’s blowout 68-0 win against Akron. And here they made history again. Nebraska tallied 728 yards on offense. Rhule’s defense throttled the Zips. And here it was. Rhule and Co. experienced their first shutout win since 2009, when they knocked off Arizona 33-0. Definitely, the players deserve their credit. But someone deserves a bit more for holding the team together and serving them the motivational juice. That’s none other than their beloved head coach, Rhule.

It was an extremely proud moment for the Nebraska head coach. After all, the Cornhuskers, for the second week in a row, held the passing game to under 70 yards, allowing just 62 on the night. Dylan Raiola was just perfect, coming up with 24 of 31 passes and a career-high 364 yards and four touchdowns. However, the team would have lacked the drive had they not been stirred up by Rhule. As the head coach’s fiery speech worked as the best medicine, his staff and players are impressed by it.

On September 9, the Cornhuskers insider for The Athletic, Mitch Sherman, tweeted, “Nebraska OC Dana Holgorsen said he believed that Matt Rhule’s message of urgency at halftime Saturday led to a level of focus that he’d never seen from second- and third-team players in the 68-0 win against Akron.” Even with a 33-point lead at the break, Rhule wasn’t cutting Nebraska any slack. What appeared as a strange stage of panic, the head coach had to address it. The team’s lack of awareness did not sit well with him, and he wanted to light a fire under them.

“I freaking lost it in the locker room,” Rhule told the media after the game. “I was pi–ed that we let them drive the ball down right before the half, almost making a field goal. Where’s the killer instinct?”

The Huskers’ head coach ripped into his team after Akron strung together a late drive before halftime, only for the Zips’ 46-yard field goal try to rebound off the left upright. That’s what left Rhule frustrated. He yelled in the locker room, witnessing his boys miss a chance to make a statement and bury Akron. 

Holgorsen was really impressed by how the head coach’s frustration led to the biggest impact on the backups, the second and third teams, whose action began after Nebraska tacked on two more touchdowns in the third quarter. “I’ve never seen that, and I think that message at that halftime got the attention of not only the starters to go out to keep it right, but for everybody else to go out there,” shared Rhule’s staffer.

He continued, “That’s how you end up with a score like that is when your red team and your white team go out there and execute at a high level.” And this halftime speech just boosted Rhule’s respect among his players.

Matt Rhule is setting the standard high for Nebraska as Dylan Raiola weighs in to share his take

The episode of Rhule taking the players’ class was “leaked” by former Husker linebacker Will Compton over social media. And for the ones claiming that the head coach “got after” his players does not seem to be true. The speech goes Rhule saying, “They don’t fear you, they don’t respect you enough. If they drop back to throw it and that quarterback isn’t on the ground, I want new guys in (the game) rushing. I want them [to] hit. I want them to never say our name again. If my standards are too high, then leave.”

Fair enough for a head coach who is trying his best to pick up Nebraska from the abyss. He expected that Akron would kneel out the half with less than a minute remaining and go into halftime to reset. However, he felt that his boys did not throttle the Zips enough for them to give up. And Raiola is grateful that Rhule held the reins tightly at the right time. 

“Thats our leader and [the] guy that we trust and love… He just challenged us. We answered the call,” said the quarterback. Rhule’s impact is felt not by his present team, but by a proud alum, too. For instance, on the Bussin’ With The Boys podcast, 5x Pro Bowler and former Nebraska defensive tackle, Ndamukong Suh, shed the spotlight on Rhule’s impact in Lincoln.“I think they’ve got the right structure,” he said. “It’s going to be recruiting, of course, which NIL is absolutely crazy as we all know now. So it’ll be interesting, man.” 

Nebraska made an investment of $165 million to revamp the Hawks Championship Center. The facility is 315,000 square feet and features state-of-the-art amenities that include everything a football team would need or want. Looks like Coach Rhule’s “rebranding” act is paying off, as his players are leaving no stones unturned to cook a successful season, a taste they have forgotten by now.