The Morning After: The Nebraska Football Offseason Starts Now and Plenty of Hard Decisions to be Made

I think if you would have told me that Emmett Johnson runs for 217 yards and averaged 7.5 yards per carry that Nebraska beats Iowa comfortably. Instead it was the exact opposite as Nebraska wastes an all-time performance and gets embarrassed 40-16 against their rival in Iowa.

This is a huge off-season for Nebraska and Matt Rhule. I know there is a bowl game to prepare for, but the work starts now. There are going to be a lot of hard decisions to make for the head coach. Luckily, I believe Matt Rhule is willing to make those hard decisions.

I would not say that for prior coaches at Nebraska. We saw it last season in that he demoted or replaced real close coaching friends because that is what he thought was best for the program.

With that said, the hard and correct decision might be keeping some of these assistants that the fans and some in the media would like to see be given their walking papers. The top two in the sites of the fans right now have to be Defensive Coordinator John Butler and Offensive Line coach Donovan Raiola.

If those are the correct decisions, then what is going to move the program forward? Rhule might be planning on the youth of today to continue to grow and their experience would benefit them next season. The hard part though is that if you take a look at the schedule next season that a seven win season might be quite the achievement.

Big Ten Conference games Indiana, Ohio State, Washington, Iowa, Oregon, Illinois, Rutgers, Michigan State and Maryland. Assuming they start with three wins in the non-conference slate – how many conference wins do you see?

I feel “comfortable” saying three wins. But unless there is dramatic improvement in rush defense and the ability to finish offensive drives in the redzone with touchdowns I don’t think we should expect much over six wins in 2026.

That is a tough pill to swallow.

But now Nebraska and Matt Rhule have this off-season to make those jumps. The off-seasons starts now.

The Morning After

Steven Sipple: Rhule is right when he says Nebraska’s latest loss to Iowa “unacceptable”So, here it was again: Nebraska football fans — what was left of them in Memorial Stadium — listening to the dreaded “Let’s go, Hawks” chant during the final minutes of a gloomy Friday game in Lincoln.

This stuff felt ridiculous for Husker fans a long time ago, and it somehow just continues.

Instant Takes: Iowa 40, Nebraska 16After a 5-1 record to start the season, Nebraska football (7-5, 4-5) went 2-4 to end the 2025 season. The Huskers had a poor showing on Black Friday and Senior Day and were crushed by rival Iowa 40-16.

The Hawkeyes (8-4, 6-3) have defeated the Huskers to hoist 10 of the last 11 Heroes game trophies. Nebraska suffered its worst loss to Iowa since a 56-14 beatdown at Memorial Stadium on Nov. 24, 2017.

What we learned from Nebraska’s loss to IowaNebraska’s season once again ended on a low note, as the Huskers fell to Iowa 40-16 in its annual Black Friday rivalry at Memorial Stadium.

Here are five of our biggest takeaways from the defeat and what it means for NU going forward…

Iowa’s offensive burst buries Nebraska during rivalry week — and more takeawaysLINCOLN, Neb. — The Iowa offense found life against a suspect Nebraska defense in a Black Friday rout at Memorial Stadium. The Hawkeyes scored 23 consecutive points and held the Huskers scoreless in the second half for a 40-16 win.

The victory was Iowa’s seventh in succession at Nebraska’s home stadium and the 10th for Kirk Ferentz’s team in the past 11 meetings in this Big Ten rivalry game.