GRADE MATT RHULE YEAR 2 REGULAR SEASON

[Red Finger]

B-

Did anyone honestly think we were going to go any higher that 6-6/7-5 with this roster?

Plenty to pick apart but the bowl game gets us a lot of practices/momentum.

I had us at 7 or 8 wins. They pissed away games they shouldn't have, roster or not. I'm giving them a C for now...which isn't good enough.

I do think though the roster will be pretty decent next year. I'd expect Dylan to take a pretty big jump...might be the top preseason QB in the league depending on portal transfers. That should be worth some wins in itself...SHOULD. If they don't surround him with some explosive play makers next year I'll be pretty vocal about it. Going over the course of the year, feels obvious to we aren't making plays and need to start doing so. I feel strongly, they need to go get a Alpha WR in the portal.

 

[Huskersballz]

C-

Really should be a D but I’m being generous only because he made the move to get Holgs.

Got to remember 3 of our wins were against UTEP, UNI and Purdue who have a combined record of 6-28 and we never really put any of those teams completely away.

Rhule doesn’t have the killer instinct to win in the B1G IMO.

 

[PonyBoy]

D-

Schedule set up perfectly for a 9-win season and we underperformed.

Should've never lost 3 of the 4; Illinois, UCLA, USC, Ioa. And a case could be made we should've won all 4 with a competent head coach.

Heck, go 8-4 & the mood is much different. Matt Rhule is all talk thru 2 seasons.

 

[That SOB Van Owen]

I think hiring Dana changed what would have been a D to a C+/B-

That’s fair but he should have done it during the offseason when he had the chance.

 

[That SOB Van Owen]

I voted for C-. The holgo change was good, but he had the chance to hire him and ditch satt in the offseason. Just had to give him full control. Better late than never, but that four game losing streak… woof.

 

[Cash68847]

Gonna be honest I can't fathom anything above C+
6-6 with this roster is an embarrassment, and to @Seaofred92 point it's 1.5 games under preseason win total. Merely reaching your preseason win total should get you a C+ or so, since that's "average". Keep in mind it's actually possible to go over a preseason win total, and half the teams out there each year do. It's beyond me how we can lose a full game and a half more than expected but be graded a full letter grade above "average"

I put D because we still kill ourselves. This roster was capable of winning 8-9 games. 7 should have been the minimum.

 

[Deckard_26354]

D-

The absolute smallest baby step forward.

The only silver lining is that Rhule is forced to face the failure that is his creation: OC sucked, STC sucked, position coaches that sucked, talent evaluation that sucked, and game management issues that sucked. Sneak a 8 win season into 2024 and we wouldn’t see/have seen real improvement/change.

 

[herbsinator]

The outcome this season obviously wasn’t what any of us wanted, but I think you’re crazy if you can’t see the progress. Nebraska OL and DL were pretty much dominant against Cockeye. When was the last time you can say that? Rhule has created an environment that has allowed for development on the lines and that is really hard to come by.

The sad fact is that since Bo was fired we’ve been a bottom 5 P4 team. This team showed glimpses of finally being able to turn it around. I get that people are pissed off with how the Cockeye game turned out, but there were incremental improvements this year (and we are a better team now than when we started the year).

Hopefully we can keep Dana on board and with the bowl practices, spring and fall camps, I think you’ll see a significant improvement at WR (without even taking into account any potential transfers)—there has even been a noticeable improvement since Dana got here. The defense obviously remains a question mark, so we’ll have to see how things play out with the new coordinator.

 

[DrinkItIn]

Isn’t any progress, no matter how small, good progress because it moves you closer to your goal? Even small steps build momentum, create opportunities for growth, and keep motivation alive. Progress, no matter the scale, sets the foundation for bigger achievements.

With that in mind, if failing is any grade lower than C-, it’s hard for me to justify giving this team a grade lower than that when there are clear signs of improvement. Progress deserves acknowledgment, even if there’s still work to be done.

However, it seems like instant gratification drives much of today's perspective, so it’s understandable why some might give this season a failing grade. The desire for immediate results often overshadows the value of steady progress, leading to harsher judgments when success doesn’t come quickly.

Getting to a bowl game for the first time in 8 years deserves at least a C grade, IMO.

 

[Havoc34]

Was a C- before the Cockeye game.
Now I’m going D. Just not good enough on any level.

 

[herbsinator]

Was a C- before the Cockeye game.
Now I’m going D. Just not good enough on any level.

What parts of the team were not “good enough” against Cockeye? You had a defense that balled their asses off and an OL that completely controlled the LOS. ST was completely deficient. But you takeaway one dropped pass and one play by the top RB in the B1G and everyone in this thread is giving As and Bs.

 

[Huskers633]

D.

Not making a bowl game would've been an F. I say D because we should not have lost to Illinois, UCLA, and Cockeye. You could probably say we shouldn't have lost to USC either. And we had Ohio St beat and gave it away.

On top of that it feels like every game that goes by I like Rhule less and less.

 

[Cash68847]

What parts of the team were not “good enough” against Cockeye? You had a defense that balled their asses off and an OL that completely controlled the LOS. ST was completely deficient. But you takeaway one dropped pass and one play by the top RB in the B1G and everyone in this thread is giving As and Bs.

Husker fans love the words if we coulda woulda shoulda. Rhule hasn’t change it yet and it’s his fault for the shitty special teams at the end of the day. It was a mess last year and he never fixed it.

 

[TMLslice]

B

Going into the season, I had zero expectations for our W-L record. That's not why he was hired. He was hired to rebuild a POS program run into the ground by predecessors. Three years, minimum; probably more. That's why his contract is structured the way it is.

Six wins with that line-up, especially on offense, is a win. The fact there were more games there for the taking is a win.

Very disappointed in some of his hires but his choice to make. Love that he made the change at OC; will be real disappointed if he doesn't make a change at ST and maybe WR and RB. But again, his choice.

Quality of athletes on the team is much improved. Work ethic is strong. Recruiting is strong.

Year 3 is when my expectations start. And like many who are already there, they will be high.

But can't forget where we started - this program was a mess.

 

[herbsinator]

Husker fans love the words if we coulda woulda shoulda. Rhule hasn’t change it yet and it’s his fault for the shitty special teams at the end of the day. It was a mess last year and he never fixed it.

Non-responsive. Name the specific units that were actually “not good enough”. Says absolutely was not good enough. Which other units didn’t play good enough to win in a game that was always going to be a 50-50 tossup?

 

[Cash68847]

Non-responsive. Name the specific units that were actually “not good enough”. Says absolutely was not good enough. Which other units didn’t play good enough to win in a game that was always going to be a 50-50 tossup?

My point is nothing really changed much this year outside the one win. We had enough talent to win 8-9 games but we still kill ourselves. If Holgerson stays I have some hope with the offense. The defense I don’t know what to expect going into next year if White leaves and I have no faith in Rhule fixing special teams at this point.

 

[Mavsker]

B

Going into the season, I had zero expectations for our W-L record. That's not why he was hired. He was hired to rebuild a POS program run into the ground by predecessors. Three years, minimum; probably more. That's why his contract is structured the way it is.

Six wins with that line-up, especially on offense, is a win. The fact there were more games there for the taking is a win.

Very disappointed in some of his hires but his choice to make. Love that he made the change at OC; will be real disappointed if he doesn't make a change at ST and maybe WR and RB. But again, his choice.

Quality of athletes on the team is much improved. Work ethic is strong. Recruiting is strong.

Year 3 is when my expectations start. And like many who are already there, they will be high.

But can't forget where we started - this program was a mess.

You voted A- but posted B
Both of these are insane but pick one lol

 

[herbsinator]

My point is nothing really changed much this year outside the one win. We still kill ourselves. We had enough talent to win 8-9 games but we still kill ourselves. If Holgerson stays I have some hope with the offense. The defense I don’t know what to expect going into next year if White leaves and I have no faith in Rhule fixing special teams at this point.

This isn’t true. We were better at QB, RB, OL, DL and LB this year. WR and TE were not as good as we had hoped, but a lot of that is on Satt (in any case, hard to say we were actually worse than last year). Banks for example has played better since Holgs got here. Secondary took a step back, but hard to put Tommi’s struggles on the staff. Giff is really the only true head scratcher. STs was a mess and maybe worse than last year admittedly.

 

[djw004]

I don’t give a shit about a final record in comparison to HOW you got there

For a team to come out so strong, starting 5-1, and pump the “chasing 3” and doing all the little things well only to be mental midgets in the last 6 games to go 1-5 is pathetic

This season was a D. Fuck the bowl game except for the fact we get practices so we don’t suck as much. Only thing that pisses me off is that 1/2 of the boys that will go through those practices shouldn’t be here next year

 

[Baron Winnebago]

I went with a D.

It's still basically the same program that he inherited from Coach Scrote. Killer mental mistakes, sloppy play in special teams, shitting their pants in every close game.

Hiring Dana was progress-ish but it mostly just undid self inflicted wounds. They still basically gave away two phases of the game for most of the season and shockingly they ended up a narrow +1 win over Scrote's high water mark even with the schedule was set up pretty favorably and then got more favorable as the year went on with Wisconsin, USC, and Cockeye all being shittier than expected.

Not super optimistic about next season but I guess we will see as we get further away from that wet fart season ending