PRESSURE: Three Games That Will Define Matt Rhule’s Fate in Nebraska
LINCOLN, NE — The air is thick in Memorial Stadium. Not with humidity, but with expectation. For Matt Rhule, the man tasked with restoring Nebraska’s fallen empire, time is no longer a luxury — it’s a ticking clock. Three games. That’s what insiders say athletic director Trev Alberts has quietly whispered behind closed doors. Three games to prove Rhule belongs. Three games to decide whether he gets a new contract… or a sack letter delivered with the cold finality of a Sunday morning headline.
GAME ONE: AT WISCONSIN — THE GAUNTLET BEGINS
Under the cold gray skies of Madison, Rhule faces his first test. It’s not just about the win; it’s about identity. The Cornhuskers have been soft in the trenches for years. Rhule promised to fix that. “We’re going to punch back,” he told reporters. But words don’t block blitzes. In the first quarter, Nebraska’s O-line gets manhandled. Down 17-3, fans back home start grumbling. But then, in the second half, something clicks — a strip-sack by sophomore DE Tyrone Nash turns the tide. Nebraska rallies, stuns the Badgers 27-24. Rhule jogs off the field, stone-faced. He knows one win isn’t salvation. It’s just survival.
GAME TWO: VS IOWA — THE BLACK FRIDAY BLOODSPORT
Back in Lincoln, Memorial Stadium is a pressure cooker. It’s Black Friday, and every seat is filled with red — blood red, heart red, pressure red. Iowa comes in ranked, smug, the Hawkeye defense daring Rhule to throw. And he does. Sophomore QB Dylan Brockman throws three picks in the first half. Booing begins. Social media explodes. “#FireRhule” trends before halftime.
In the locker room, Rhule is silent for 30 seconds. Then he slams his headset against the whiteboard. “You want out of this hell? Fight!” he roars.
The second half is a street brawl. The defense holds Iowa to a single field goal. With four minutes left, Brockman scrambles on 4th and 8, dives, gets the first down by inches. Two plays later, RB Jaylen Ford scores on a 15-yard burst. Nebraska wins 21-20. The crowd erupts. Rhule clenches his fists, jaw tight. That win felt like ripping a steel door off its hinges.
GAME THREE: AT MICHIGAN — THE JUDGMENT
Ann Arbor. The Big House. Snow falling in sheets. Nebraska is a two-touchdown underdog. But this isn’t about odds. It’s about proving Nebraska can punch with the elite.
From the first snap, it’s war. Rhule’s defense throws blitzes like haymakers. Michigan’s Heisman-caliber QB is rattled. By halftime, it’s 14-14. In the fourth quarter, down 24-21, Rhule makes the call — fake punt from his own 40. It works. Ford takes it 35 yards.
With 19 seconds left, Nebraska’s kicker lines up a 42-yard field goal. Silence. Snap. Hold. Kick.
Good.
24-24. Overtime.
But Michigan scores first. Nebraska can’t answer. Final: 31-24.
Defeat. But not disaster.
AFTERMATH: SACK OR SALVATION?
The next morning, Rhule finds a letter on his desk. His hands shake.
It’s not a firing.
It’s an extension. Two years. Vote of confidence.
Alberts wrote just one sentence:
“You gave us our fight back.”
Matt Rhule breathes out. The war is far from over. But for now, he lives to coach another day.
