RJ Young
FOX Sports National College Football Analyst
Michael Cohen
College Football and College Basketball Writer
Matt Rhule has been here before. In Year 3 at Temple, he turned a middling 6–6 program into a 10-win team that made national noise. Three years into his tenure at Baylor, he took a one-win team to the Big 12 Championship Game.
Now, in 2025, Rhule is once again in that same pivotal season with Nebraska — and the fan base is hoping for another leap.
Head coach Matt Rhule of the Nebraska Cornhuskers watches action against the Houston Christian Huskies. (Photo by Steven Branscombe/Getty Images)
So far, the signs have been promising, but to prove Rhule’s third-year magic is working in Lincoln, Nebraska needs a statement win against Michigan.
Is this the game that proves Nebraska has turned the corner under his leadership, or does Michigan’s talent still keep them a tier above?
RJ Young: If this isn’t Nebraska’s magic year, Husker fans will demand a refund on the Matt Rhule experience. This is why he was hired. This is why Husker fans are sitting up for the first time in over a decade with an expectation to beat the sport’s best. This is why Nebraska has our attention.
On the field, the question becomes: can Nebraska stop Michigan from running all up and down the Husker sideline? It’s not just that Michigan was dominant on the ground last week with 381 rushing yards against Central Michigan — it’s that Nebraska’s defense already surrendered 202 rushing yards to the only Power 4 team it has faced so far, and Cincinnati doesn’t run the ball nearly as well as the Wolverines.
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Sherrone Moore, like his predecessor Jim Harbaugh, has made punishing teams at the line-of-scrimmage the team’s identity. What’s different about this year is the presence of a quarterback who also might be their best rusher.
Bryce Underwood is the first Wolverine QB to rush for 100 yards or more in a game since 2013 (Devin Gardner, 121 yards, 43-40 loss to Penn State). He’s just as good at throwing the ball. What he lacks now is an exceptional pass-catcher. If Nebraska insists on loading the box to stop the run, Underwood’s best pass-catcher will have to emerge or the game could end as it did against Oklahoma, the last time the Wolverines played on the road. And that’s a trend they need to stop, having won just one of their last five away games.
Michael Cohen: A good place to start when comparing the talent levels of any two teams is the 247Sports Team Talent Composite, an all-encompassing metric that draws on the recruiting rankings attached to every player within a given program to offer a holistic view of the entire roster.
Boosted by a 2025 recruiting class that finished sixth in the national rankings, the Wolverines sit 11th in the Team Talent Composite thanks to four five-star recruits — including true freshman quarterback Bryce Underwood — and 49 four-star recruits for an average prospect score of 90.99, third-best in the Big Ten behind Ohio State (92.39) and Oregon (91.07).
The Cornhuskers, meanwhile, are 20th overall thanks to two five-star recruits — including sophomore quarterback Dylan Raiola — and 33 four-star recruits for an average prospect score of 88.75, good enough for sixth in the Big Ten. It’s a fairly large disparity that’s worth noting ahead of a matchup in which Michigan, whose head coach, Sherrone Moore, will serve the second of a self-imposed two-game suspension, is a slight betting favorite on the road.
As RJ astutely noted, Nebraska’s potential vulnerabilities against the run could wind up being a driving storyline in Saturday’s game, especially after Underwood exploded for 114 rushing yards and two touchdowns on just nine carries against Central Michigan last week after only carrying five times for minus-6 yards in his first two appearances combined. Underwood and starting tailback Justice Haynes, a highly coveted transfer from Alabama with a string of three consecutive 100-yard games, could form a lethal one-two punch. And while Michigan enters the weekend ranked 15th nationally in rushing at 242.7 yards per game, it’s worth noting a large percentage of that production has come on the kinds of chunk plays this offense sorely lacked in 2024.
Dylan Raiola #15 of the Nebraska Cornhuskers celebrates during the second half against the Cincinnati Bearcats. (Photo by Aaron M. Sprecher/Getty Images)
The Wolverines are tied for first nationally in rushing plays of 50-plus yards with three in the opening three games, surpassing their total of two from all of last season. They also have seven runs of at least 20 yards, which is tied for 13th nationally. Nebraska can’t afford to let Michigan break field-tilting runs this weekend.
Another piece of the puzzle worth noting is how crisply Raiola has begun the season, his second as the Cornhuskers’ starter, with an average of 276.3 passing yards per game, eight touchdowns and no interceptions. He’s flashed considerable growth in poise and decision-making while making excellent use of transfer wide receivers Dane Key (13 catches, 190 yards, 3 TD) and Nyziah Hunter (11 catches, 163 yards, 1 TD). But Raiola has still never beaten a ranked opponent during his two seasons at Nebraska, dropping games against then-No. 24 Illinois, then-No. 16 Indiana and then-No. 4 Ohio State. His output when facing those opponents included more interceptions (five) than touchdowns (three). He might not be ready for the big-time moment as Nebraska looks to snap a 27-game losing streak against ranked teams.
RJ Young is a national college football writer and analyst for FOX Sports. Follow him at @RJ_Young.
Michael Cohen covers college football and basketball for FOX Sports with an emphasis on the Big Ten. Follow him at @Michael_Cohen13.
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