Nebraska rolled Akron on Saturday, running away from the Zips in a 68-0 shutout, the first for the Cornhuskers since the 2009 Holiday Bowl. The Husker offense, nine days after a solid, if unexplosive, debut against Cincinnati, was particularly great. Removing the drive that finished the first half – one play, a kneel down – as well as the final drive of the game – five plays, 23 yards, game over – the offense gained 691 of a possible 710 available yards.

That’s 97.3%.

I’ve been watching Nebraska football since 1996, and if they’ve done something like that in close to three decades of football, I don’t recall seeing it. Even in the 77-14 win over Iowa State in 1997 or the 73-7 domination of Idaho State in 2012, the offense stalled and had to punt. Twice in each game, in fact.

Nebraska didn’t punt it a single time against Akron. Instead, their drives ended at the Akron one-yard line (twice), as well as the 17. Those three drives all happened in the first 16 minutes of the entire game, and with a 12-0 lead in the early part of the second quarter, I wondered to myself if we were watching the beginning of a sloppy, unexciting win.

Three Nebraska drives later, they were up 33-0, on their way towards halftime. They scored touchdowns on their first five drives of the second half, with starters and backups putting a definitive stamp on the most dominating home win by the Cornhuskers since 1982.

And it came 10 months after Matt Rhule made his boldest move as Nebraska’s head coach.

Not only did he bring Dana Holgorsen onto the staff with three games left in the 2024 regular season, but he also demoted Marcus Satterfield in the process. With Holgorsen as the coordinator, the Husker offense would explode for 44 against Wisconsin in the long-awaited sixth win of the season. And while Nebraska scored just 20, 10, and 20 in the other three games, all eyes were on 2025. “Imagine what he’ll be able to do with an entire offseason to learn the names of his players!” we all said. “Imagine what he’ll be able to do with an entire offseason to plan an offense around Dylan Raiola!”

We’re no longer imagining it; we’re seeing it unfold right in front of our eyes. The offense just had its best day in over a decade. Raiola had his best night as a Husker, going 24-of-31 (77.4%) for 364 yards (11.7 yards per attempt) and four touchdowns. Ditto for Emmett Johnson on the ground, rushing for 140 yards on 14 carries, scoring two touchdowns on the ground and catching another. The 728 total yards were the eighth-most ever by a Nebraska offense.

Matt Rhule’s late-season gamble is paying off, and if – and this is a big if – Nebraska is to take a big step forward, we’ll look back on that 2024 decision as the reason why.  

If you’re a fan of college football, there’s a good chance you’ve seen the “Sickos Committee” Twitter account. It’s the one that finds fun inside the sport at all levels; the FCS rivalry you’ve never heard of getting gassed up one week, before weird mascot gifs get run the next. It includes the celebration of oddities on offense, defense, and special teams.

It’s inside this world that Iowa football lives.

The current iteration of the Iowa football program was seemingly built inside a lab specifically for the Sickos Committee. Take the Drive to 325, for example. It took over the internet two years ago, as the Iowa offense was the focus of a particular type of college football fan throughout much of the season. Would Brian Ferentz and the Iowa offense get to 325 points? If he couldn’t, he wouldn’t return as offensive coordinator in 2024. Follow along with graphics, videos, and highlights of each and every Iowa game! It was this way every single week. The Iowa football program was becoming a meme of its own creation.

In the end, the program announced on Oct. 30 of that year that Brian Ferentz wouldn’t return the following season. His offense was putting up 19.5 points per game, which wouldn’t even equal 325 points if the Hawkeyes played in the Big Ten Championship Game, College Football Playoff semifinal, and national championship game.

And yet, the 2023 Iowa Hawkeyes went 10-4. It was head coach Kirk Ferentz’s second 10-win season in three years and his third since 2019. In fact, since 2019, Iowa has gone 53-24. That’s a win percentage of 68.8.

And, of course, it’s come with an offense that’s been one of the worst in the entire country.

I found myself thinking about both Nebraska and Iowa a lot on Saturday. Their games bookended the day. Long before Nebraska put up its most points in 13 years, Iowa lost its annual rivalry matchup vs. Iowa State in typical Iowa fashion.

The Hawkeyes scored 13 points in the three-point loss to the Cyclones. They picked up 16 total first downs. They gained just 214 yards. And in his second game as Iowa starting quarterback, former FCS star Mark Gronowski put up a listless 83 yards* on 13-of-24 passing. His 3.5 yards per attempt would be terrible for a running back. To do so through the air was downright putrid.

*A stat has been going around that’s hard to believe, but is true; TJ Lateef, going 6-of-7 for 128 yards in mop-up duty vs. Akron, now has more yards through the air than Gronowski does – 127 – through two games.

It was embarrassing.

Which is what Iowa football has become.

Embarrassing.

Save me with all the wins they have over the last handful of seasons. And certainly, save me with their record against Nebraska* since 2015. I know what they’ve done. I did a damn podcast series that, in part, was built around the terrible losses Nebraska has had against Iowa! There’s no doubt that all of that is very much on the table again on Black Friday, not only because of the history between the two programs, but also because even after the horrific offensive showing by the Hawkeyes, Iowa State needed a 54-yard field goal to win Saturday.

*9-1, with the only loss coming in 2022 the day before news broke that Matt Rhule was the next Nebraska head coach.

This is who Iowa is, for all the wrong reasons. How many times have you heard, “This is exactly the type of game Iowa wants to play in,” like it’s some badge of honor that they average 3.4 yards per play and almost win a football game? The only reason Iowa football’s downfalls aren’t taken seriously is because their existence is taking place in the “sickos” era of CFB; they’re viewed as a cute story.

But Iowa football isn’t a cute story. They’re constantly wasting an incredible defense, with Bill Connelly’s SP+ rankings placing the Iowa defense at 1st in 2019, 1st in 2020, 3rd in 2021, 1st in 2022, 3rd in 2023, and 5th in 2024. The 2025 unit currently sits at 15th in the country.

They play great special teams.

They play great defense.

Their offense is a punchline.

They win football games.

Congrats, Iowa, you win games in spite of yourself. If your head coach took the offensive phase of football as seriously as he takes defense and special teams, you’d be an annual playoff participant. Not just a plucky underdog, but a Big Ten team to be reckoned with.

Logan Roy put it best on Succession; “You are not serious people.”

Both Nebraska and Iowa still have nine games left in the regular season before they meet the day after Thanksgiving in Lincoln. Iowa’s offense won’t look that bad* every week. They’ll pick up wins in games that unfold similarly to Saturday’s loss vs. Iowa State. “This is exactly the type of game Iowa wants to play in,” will probably get said. And that sentiment won’t be wrong.

*At least, I don’t think it will. No guarantees!

Meanwhile, Nebraska’s offense will come back down to earth, perhaps as soon as this weekend against Houston Christian or the next against Michigan. But when Nebraska’s offense performs well this year, don’t forget what Rhule was willing to do – what the Nebraska program is willing to do – to scratch and claw their way back to respectability, if not outright relevance.

Nebraska football had no desire to win football games in spite of themselves. The 2024 offensive performances against Purdue, Rutgers, and UCLA were not good enough. Hell, the inability to finish against Ohio State in 2024 or even against Cincinnati in Kansas City wasn’t good enough. You could hear it in Holgorsen’s words last week.

Nebraska football won’t settle.

I won’t make any promises that Nebraska won’t lose in embarrassing fashion, but if you’re going to be embarrassing as a program, it might as well be because you try and fail, rather than the alternative.

Iowa football continues to lean into the alternative.

Agree or disagree, if you have a comment for Josh, send him an email: joshpeterson.huskermax@gmail.com.

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NASHVILLE—Nebraska proved that a full house was enough to overcome Kentucky’s pair on Sunday afternoon. 

The top-ranked Huskers made several lineup changes after dropping the first two sets and rallied for a reverse sweep against No. 7 Kentucky Sunday afternoon in front of a Husker-friendly crowd at Bridgestone Arena. 

Junior outside hitter Harper Murray powered the Huskers with a career-high 23 kills and a .340 hitting percentage. 

Olivia Mauch subbed in at libero at the beginning of the third set and settled NU’s passing woes. The sophomore from Bennington finished with 14 digs and recorded an ace that secured the match point. 

Andi Jackson and Rebekah Allick each tallied 10 kills. Allick added 8 blocks, while Jackson had four. Taylor Landfair had seven kills. 

Brooklyn DeLeye finished with 23 kills to pace, while Eva Hudson had 19 kills. However, both struggled with efficiency, finishing with hitting percentages below .200—162 and .185, respectively, as they both took more than 60 swings. 

Nebraska (4-0) started quickly and used a pair of 3-0 bursts to go up 13-8, but the Wildcats took a timeout and began to fight back. UK tied the set at 16-all before using three straight points to take its first lead at 20-18. The Huskers tied it up 23-23, but Kentucky closed it out on its second set point. 

Kentucky won seven out of eight points to go up 10-7 in the second set. The Huskers were sparked after a set from Allick to Taylor Landfair and went back in front 12-11. NU was up 19-18 when the Wildcats scored six straight points. Eva Hudson hammered two kills, and Ava Sarafa recorded an ace to give UK set point, which Hudson delivered with another kill after a side out. 

Nebraska changed its lineup for the third set with Mauch switching to libero and Virginia Adriano coming in at opposite. After jumping out to a 5-3 lead, the Wildcats rallied and went up 10-9. However, Allick recorded back-to-back blocks to put NU in front again. The Huskers pulled away with a 4-0 run to set up set point, which Allick put away on a slide. Murray terminated on five of her six attacks in the set. 

In the fourth set, the Huskers started quickly and led by as much as 11-6 before Kentucky began chipping away. The Wildcats got as close as one point, 13-12, but NU won five of the next six points for an 18-13 advantage. Kentucky rallied and tied it up at 19-all. NU took a two-point lead on a DeLeye hitting error. After the teams exchanged service errors, Jackson ended the set with a kill on a slide attack. 

NU took charge in the fifth set by jumping out to a 6-2 lead, but the Wildcats responded with three points in a row. UK looked to be close to 7-6, but after a challenge reversal, the Huskers led 8-5 as the teams changed sides. Nebraska took control with a 4-0 run late before Mauch ended the match with an ace. 

Nebraska will finally play a regular-season match at John Cook Arena this next weekend. The Huskers host Wright State on Friday before taking on California on Sunday.

Nebraska Volleyball 2025 Schedule

Home matches are bolded. All times central.

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How concerned should we be with Nebraska’s defense, and in particular, the defensive line? That’s the question much of the Nebraska fan base and media contingent have been diving into since Nebraska’s 20-17 win over Cincinnati.

On this week’s Saturday Morning Coffee Show, Josh Peterson and Matt McMaster discussed it all. Matt found some reasons to be optimistic. Is it something that could be replicable in future games?

Below is a lightly edited transcript of their conversation.

Josh: What is the level of concern with what we saw from the defensive line on Thursday against Cincinnati? Allowing those yards, and Matt, most of those yards came in the second half. So on one hand, you’re like, “wow, they had a really good first half,” on the other hand, did they wear down? What did you see with Nebraska’s defensive line and Sorsby being able to escape for that 29-yarder amongst [96] rushing yards that he had on Thursday night?

Matt: So, I want to give myself some credit because I was looking at Mike’l [Severe] like – and I love Mike’l – what are you talking about? And they have an incredible quarterback and two really good running backs. They are going to run this ball. This analogy I used to begin the show, with the fishing in a mixed bag, is really just about the defensive line. 

The combo of [Williams] Nwaneri, [Cam] Lenhardt, [Keona] Davis, and [Dasan] McCollough; best pass rush, best run fits. I honestly think their best packages are no Jacks with Lenhardt, Nwaneri on the edges.

Josh: If you would have told me a month ago that Nwaneri would have the solid plays that he did, I would have said, “What the hell happened?” By the time it happened, I kind of was expecting him to have somewhat of an impact, but he made some plays that I did not see coming a month ago.

Matt: I thought he was the best player in the defense.

Josh: Really? The whole defense?

Matt: Here’s why I say that: the rest of the d-line was so lacking that his impact on the d-line meant so much. So sure, you could throw to me, man, Ceyair Wright was, and I’m to be like, I agree with you. He’s awesome. He’s great.

Josh: They were afraid of throwing it that way.

Matt: They’re afraid of throwing him. But at the same time, if you remove Nwaneri and then you remove Wright, I think that your replacement for Wright is way closer to what your replacement for Nwaneri would be. That’s kind of how I’m looking at that.

Now, I think the best package Nwaneri and Lenhardt; no Jacks. Seriously. But they can’t do that with how that defense is created.  And you might as well just go to a 4-3, which they will never go to a 4-3 if they were to do that. So they’re not going to do that. The drop off, though, from Davis and Nwaneri and Lenhardt and McCullough to then what would be [Jordan] Ochoa, Jaylen George, [Riley Van Poppel], and I guess it would be [Willis] McGahee, right?

Josh: He got smoked on that reverse.

Matt: He didn’t know what to do.

Josh: That was brutal.

Matt: So, the drop-off is so massive. It’s those four. I never want to see Jaylen George and Riley Van Poppel together in the interior of the defensive line. It was together. It was brutal. It was a bad package. I’m forgetting [Elijah] Jeudy. Jeudy had a weird game. Jeudy, I thought, was good. Jeudy, I thought, was bad. He was weird. But RVP and George… I can’t! I can’t do it. I can’t do it.

Jaylen George, when they marched down the field, Cincinnati did after Nebraska scored, so it was 20-10; when they marched down the field, Sorsby getting up the middle that entire time was because the offensive guard was like, “Alright, Jaylen, you want to go to the left and absolutely open up the middle with no spy. Be my guest. Go ahead and do it.” And he did it every time. And Sorsby goes,” Oh, okay!” And just runs up. It was terrible. He wasn’t able to engage.

I thought that Riley Van Poppel and Jaylen George only ever went to where the offensive line wanted them to go. I never thought they went anywhere that they wanted to. It was almost as if they were like, “Oh my God, I’m recreating the line of scrimmage.” And Cincinnati was like, “We want you to go here because the play is here” and you’re completely disengaged from it.

So I think the only option you have is you might have to just mix up of who’s with who. That’s what I think. I think you might have to put RVP with Lenhardt, and you might have to put George with Nwaneri. You cannot play those top four like 60 snaps a game; you can’t do it. Like you still need everybody else to rotate on that d-line. I don’t know what they do, but the second unit of that d-line was, it was not good.

Josh: Let me ask you this, Matt: how much, how much of what happened was them and “them” being Nebraska’s defensive line versus how much of it was a running quarterback? You think it’s more than the quarterback?

Matt: It didn’t happen when the other four dudes were out there.

Josh: So you think it’s definitely more Nebraska personnel-based than anything?

Matt: A million percent.

Josh: I wonder what that means for things moving forward.

Matt: I’ll have to go because I haven’t rewatched the game; I’m pretty sure it was the second time Cincinnati ended up punting. I think Davis gets a tackle for loss. And then the next play, it was a third down and they ended up getting a quick little completion. And then they had to punt the ball; that whole drive, it was those four out there. It was Nwaneri, Lenhardt, McCullough, and Davis. And it was awesome. And it was great.

They got pressure up the middle. They got pressure at the edges. Sorsby was running around. I think that was like one of Nwaneri’s best pressures, because he had three of them. I think you know the play I’m about. Nwaneri comes off the edge, and he rolls. Buford comes in and tackles [him]; that whole drive was those four guys! Those four. And then you put the other four out there, and then Cincinnati looks like a different offense. So it’s, it’s totally personnel to me. Totally.

What does it look like, Josh? I don’t know.

Watch the entire episode below!

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