Football is decided on the field between the white lines. It’s about the Jimmys and the Joes, as the saying goes. If a close game tips one way or the other, it is typically because a clutch play or a horrible mistake is made by a player.
Coaches get the players ready Monday through Friday, then players take it from there.
But coaches do have their say on Saturdays (and other days, too). Even a head coach that doesn’t call plays for the offense or defense has many choices to make in the choose-your-own-adventure challenge that is a college football game.
Late Thursday night in Kansas City, Matt Rhule made many decisions in Nebraska’s 20-17 win over Cincinnati. The Huskers’ head coach should feel really good about five of them in particular, because they shaped NU’s one-score victory. And if you have forgotten, this program has found those hard to come by lately.
I am highlighting these five moves and backing them up with information Rhule would have considered. Maybe you disagree. But for a guy who gets all the blame if things go wrong, let’s acknowledge him when things go right.
DECISION #1 – try the long FG
On the final play of the 1st quarter, Dylan Raiola’s pass for Nyziah Hunter on 3rd & 9 fell incomplete. It would be 4th down from the Cincy 33 after the teams switched sides of the field. Rhule had the end of quarter break to contemplate his options. Go for it and make it? Best possible outcome, but not necessarily a high percentage conversion chance. Kick the field goal? 52 yards is a long way, plus you’d set up Cincinnati with better field position.
At this point, Nebraska is on their second possession, having punted on their first. The Bearcats went punt, then made FG, so a kick through the uprights would mean NU matched them.
Then there are the implications for his team. The offense wasn’t good enough on the possession, specifically on the series when they went 1-yard run, incomplete pass, incomplete pass. With 4th & 9 from the 33 and not favorable kicking conditions, then he probably has to go for it. But now they know they need to be better.
We talked a lot about special teams this offseason. The kicker battle was won by Charlotte transfer Kyle Cunanan. The holder is now backup punter Kamdyn Koch. New Hampshire transfer Kevin Gallic is perhaps the most important acquisition of all at long snapper, a position that cost NU dearly in 2024. What’s a 52-yarder going to do for Cunanan’s confidence. Even a miss would have conveyed Rhule’s trust in the kicking trio, and in that scenario Rhule probably would only have sent him out again for a shorter attempt.
The kicking unit went out there to start the 2nd quarter, and Cunanan’s kick just slid inside the right upright. He had plenty of leg to spare. The snap and hold were solid, too. The special teams vibes were high for both the team and the 76,000 fans at Arrowhead. Tie game.
DECISION #2 – take the short FG
With 6:40 remaining in the half, Nebraska was about to run the 13th play of their third drive. It was 1st & goal from inside the 1-yard line after tight end Luke Lindenmeyer was tackled mere inches away from a touchdown. Every one of the previous 12 plays had generated a positive gain, five passes and seven runs. They were about to finish off a beautiful 84-yard march.
Then, a critical mistake. Elijah Pritchett, the Alabama transfer and one of four different left tackles NU rolled out on Thursday, moved early. False start. Move it back to the 5 ½-yard line. Three more plays yielded just one yard, bringing up 4th & goal from the 4. (Rhule doesn’t call the offensive plays so I’ll pass on offering judgement of that series.)
Speaking of vibes, they were way down in the blink of an eye. From long drive and in control to knocked back on their heels dazed. Again, decision time for Rhule.
Obviously, the best-case scenario would be touchdown. Go for it and come up short, at least Cincy is backed way up. Maybe you get it right back with great field position. Or maybe they get a first down or two and nullify your advantage. Plus, the field goal is basically an extra point from in that close, left hash notwithstanding.
Rhule took the points. Nebraska took their medicine after the false start penalty. Cunanan’s second field goal gave Nebraska a 6-3 lead, one they would never relinquish. It would not be the only 4th-down-from-inside-the-4 call for Rhule to make, either…
DECISION #3 – quick defensive timeout
Australian freshman punter Archie Wilson pinned Cincinnati inside their own 10-yard line after the two-minute warning. With the half winding down, senior Husker linebacker Javin Wright snuffed out a swing pass to force 3rd & 5 from the Bearcat 14-yard line. With the tackle in bounds, the clock would continue to tick, potentially under a minute.
That is, until Rhule took swift action.
Rhule jumped off the sideline and called timeout. It was a now-or-never call to make. Either spend the timeout immediately to preserve clock or let the time run down and allow the opponent to choose their own level of aggression.
Watching this live, I hoped Rhule would call the timeout. It demonstrates a “go and take it” mentality instead of letting the game happen to you, and it forces the Bearcats to pick up a new set of downs or risk sending Nebraska a chance at points before halftime. The other objective this accomplishes is that it instills belief in the Blackshirts that their head coach knows they’ll get a stop. That belief also applies to the offense that they’ll go down and score if given those precious extra seconds to work with.
The downside is that Cincy gets the first down and you’ve essentially handed them an extra timeout. However, with only a minute to go and having done so little offensively, it seemed far-fetched to expect a scoring drive.
What happened next was a keeper from QB Brendan Sorsby and a horrible spot, giving Cincinnati a first down. Then, the definition of a “ball don’t lie” fumble that the Big 12 refs tried to rule incomplete. Rhule rightly stayed on the refs to make sure they reviewed it, and the call was overturned. Raiola took over and three plays later tossed a touchdown to Cal transfer wideout Nyziah Hunter for a 13-3 halftime lead.
He’s been criticized before for poor clock management – this was good clock management!
DECISION #4 – go for it
As Nebraska drove down the field trying to improve upon their 13-10 lead, Janiran Bonner fumbled the football. Fortunately, it trickled out of bounds at the 2-yard line. Unfortunately, Bonner appeared to suffer a serious injury to his right knee on the play. Also, the sideline judge initially spotted the ball at the 2, but eventually it was moved back to the original line of scrimmage at the 5. Rhule called timeout with 11:21 remaining in the 4th quarter to settle everything down.
Facing 3rd & 4 from the 5-yard line, in the 4th quarter, clinging to a 3-point lead, Rhule and offensive coordinator Dana Holgorsen could strategize about not one, but potentially their next two plays. Based on what they did next, it was obvious to me that the decision was made to go for the touchdown no matter what.
3rd down was one of running back Emmett Johnson’s 25 carries, a 2-yard gain to the 3-yard line. Since they knew they were going on 4th down anyway they called the run play on 3rd down. Now, in my mind, 4th down would almost certainly be in Raiola’s hands.
Good choice.
Raiola hit Dane Key on an RPO slant route in the middle of the end zone. Nobody was near him. 20-10 Huskers.
The most important lesson I’ve learned in playing College Football 26 is that you should never purposely decide to extend a one-score lead to a one-score lead in the 4th quarter. A 16-10 lead would have been in just as much peril as the 13-10 lead they’d still have if they failed to score. Rhule understands this. His conviction to keep the offense on the field led to what turned out to be the game-winning touchdown.
DECISION #5 – spying Sorsby
Before their last-gasp drive, Cincinnati churned out 122 rushing yards in the second half alone. Sorsby had been killing Nebraska after halftime with designed keepers and scrambles, rushing for 19 yards on their first touchdown drive, then another 37 yards on the ground on their second. Both TDs were Sorsby carries.
NU punted the ball back to the Bearcats with 2:10 to go. After Sorsby gained eight yards on the first play of Cincy’s last chance drive, Rhule and defensive coordinator John Butler made a significant schematic change. After the two-minute timeout, Dasan McCollough lined up behind NU’s DL (instead of on the edge) and mirrored Sorsby for a couple beats, watched the other side of the line walled off that half of the pocket, then attacked. He was a spy, meant to watch where Sorsby would go and cut off the scrambles.
By forcing Cincinnati’s offense to do the thing they weren’t very good at, it also sent them toward the strength of Nebraska’s defense – the secondary. Sorsby would complete four passes on the drive but finished the night with only 69 passing yards. His 25th throw would be his last.
Helped in part by McCollough limiting Sorsby to just 11 more rushing yards on the drive, the Bearcats still had work to do to either reach the end zone to take the lead or get into field goal range to tie it up. After Malcolm Hartzog was flagged for defensive holding, the Blackshirts were defending a 1st & 10 from the 33-yard line.
Then, the clincher. With McCollough continuing to spy Sorsby, and Cincinnati understanding that they couldn’t rely on their most effective play against NU’s defense, Sorsby fired a deep pass toward the Nebraska end zone. Hartzog was there and redeemed himself with a game-sealing interception. Ballgame.
By going to the spy, Nebraska sacrificed a bit of coverage and a bit of pass rush, but also funneled Cincy into their defensive strength in the secondary. The strategy shift did the job in crunch time.
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Three months from now, the regular season will be complete, and the story of the 2025 Huskers will largely be told. If Matt Rhule continues to succeed with his decision-making, it will go a long way towards a successful season.
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