Matt Rhule had a message for Nebraska Cornhuskers fans in his postgame news conference Saturday night, after the Washington Huskies won 17-10 at Memorial Stadium in Nebraska’s annual Blackout Game. The loss marked the third straight game in which Nebraska held a lead in the fourth quarter and walked off beaten. The skid has turned […] The post Nebraska HC Matt Rhule sends message to Huskers fans after third straight loss appeared first on Gridiron Heroics.
Matt Rhule had a message for Nebraska Cornhuskers fans in his postgame news conference Saturday night, after the Washington Huskies won 17-10 at Memorial Stadium in Nebraska’s annual Blackout Game. The loss marked the third straight game in which Nebraska held a lead in the fourth quarter and walked off beaten.
The skid has turned a 5-0 start into a 5-3 record, with the three losses coming by a combined 13 points. The No. 7 Indiana Hoosiers erased a 17-6 fourth-quarter deficit to win 20-17 on Oct. 10, the Oregon Ducks followed with a 17-14 win a week later, and Washington finished the set on Halloween night.
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“I certainly understand how frustrated everyone is that this has happened three games in a row. But all I can do is show up tomorrow and get back to work for Illinois,” Rhule said.
Oct 11, 2025; College Park, Maryland, USA; Nebraska Cornhuskers head coach Matt Rhule walks on the field during the game against the Maryland Terrapins at SECU Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Tommy Gilligan-Imagn Images
Washington finished with a season-low 267 yards and punted on eight of its nine possessions, and Nebraska carried a 7-3 lead into the fourth quarter. Kyle Cunanan then missed a 36-yard field goal that would have made it 10-3.
Washington backup quarterback Demond Williams Jr., who entered early in the fourth quarter, kept the winning drive alive with a 24-yard completion to Chris Lawson on fourth-and-18. Lawson caught the go-ahead touchdown two plays later with 1:30 left. Anthony Colandrea’s third interception of the night was returned 48 yards for a touchdown by Alex McLaughlin on the next possession, and John Hohl’s 42-yard field goal with 31 seconds left only trimmed the margin.
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“Three turnovers and a missed field goal are not a recipe to win,” Rhule said.
Oct 11, 2025; College Park, Maryland, USA; Nebraska Cornhuskers head coach Matt Rhule on the field before the game against the Maryland Terrapins at SECU Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Tommy Gilligan-Imagn Images
Rhule identified the same issue at his Monday news conference on Oct. 19, two days after the Oregon loss.
“We won’t win the games we want to win until we win the fourth quarter,” Rhule said.
Nebraska had an open week before Washington and still lost the fourth quarter 14-3 to an offense that had punted on nearly every possession until then. Rhule’s message Saturday paired an acknowledgment of the frustration with a promise of work, and the fourth-quarter problem he described after Oregon has now cost Nebraska a third straight game it led late.
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Nebraska plays at the Illinois Fighting Illini on Friday at 8 p.m. ET on Fox.
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The post Nebraska HC Matt Rhule sends message to Huskers fans after third straight loss appeared first on Gridiron Heroics.