Nebraska football hit a breaking point after dealing with three consecutive losses this season. They headed to the season with a heart filled with optimism. But as we are nearing the end of the season, their constant offensive errors took a massive toll. But they are still hoping for bowl eligibility, which has remained an unfulfilled hope since 2016. They are just one win away over its last three games (USC, Wisconsin, and Iowa) from that path, as the sixth-win threshold needs to be met.

Matt Rhule had to be precise and evaluative at this point when one game can alter 8-years history for the Huskers. The veteran coach took note of that and brought a massive change in the offensive coaching crew. Dana Holgorsen will be the new man to replace Marcus Satterfield to turn to with the sloppy running game complaints for the remainder of the season. Satterfield will continue to coach Nebraska tight ends.

“This is not about next year. This is about right now. It’s unique, but it’s probably what’s needed. It’s the right thing,” Rhule said of the move to make Holgorsen the playcaller. The Cornhuskers are coming off a bye week preceded by a three-game losing streak against Indiana, Ohio State, and UCLA, in which they were outscored 104-44.

In Nebraska’s six conference games, the Cornhuskers rank 11th in the Big Ten in offense, 13th in rushing offense, and ninth in passing offense. Nebraska also ranks 98th in offense SP+. But the question is: will it make things any better for the Huskers?

The Huskers have no option but to break their bowl game drought, picking up a win against USC regardless of what changes they have brought into the program. Reflecting on the urgency, Nebraska insider Mitch Sherman noted, ”what’s the alternative if they don’t make it? It just means that they’re going to go into the offseason in a world of hurt in just about every way you can imagine, from a roster building standpoint, from a momentum standpoint, from what the beginning of next season looks like. They must find a way to get to a to a sixth win.”

He said Matt Rhule knows it the best and it can clearly be seen from his recent reshuffling actions. Their ugly momentum on the offensive side of the ball was brutally exposed in the last game against UCLA. Rhule didn’t make any excuse for that, dubbing it a ‘tremendous missed opportunity’.

But as he took the mini steps in the recruitment front to battle back, Sherman added, ”We’ve heard it from Rhule in no uncertain terms. We’ve seen it from him in the moves that he made last week to bring in consultants and we heard it from Troy Dannen in an interview that he did with Husker online with Steven Sipple and Sean Callahan, essentially saying yes, this is how important it is that Nebraska gets six wins this season.”

Marcus Satterfield took all the heat for the Huskers’ downturn in the season. The team struggled to run the football coming in at 104th in the country with a 3.61 average. The personnel changes have led to predictability. When sophomore tight end Luke Lindenmeyer is in, it’s a run. When sophomore receiver Jaylen Lloyd is in, expect a pass. This has led to a drop in production for freshman quarterback Dylan Raiola. Rhule is struggling to find out the main problem within the offense.

Nebraska is averaging 18.3 points per game in Big Ten play. The recurring weaknesses of perimeter blocking, effectiveness on the ground and receiver’s separation have shown no improvement throughout the season.

“If you score 18 points per game, you’re going to be under fire, it just is what it is. Me as the head coach, [Satterfield] as the OC, everywhere. I think that it’s really important that our players take accountability as well. We don’t call any plays that they can’t execute. It’s kind of a slippery slope. When they jump up and make the great catch it’s like ‘Great job Isaiah [Neyor],’ but when they don’t make the catch it’s ‘Come on Sat,’ so I just want all of us in the program to all take accountability together,” Rhule said.

That flash of accountability was there, as Raiola had defended Satterfield. “As players we have to go out there and execute it. I know coach (Satterfield) is getting a lot of heat right now for his plays he’s calling. I think that’s unfair to him. He can’t go out there and make plays,” Raiola had said. Hopefully this approach helps their rime with Holgorsen, who will be at the center of all the attention.

Will Dana Holgorsen crack it up for the Huskers against USC?

Holgorsen might look like a great long-term benefit for the team. Especially for Dylan Raiola, an NFL-fit, who has recently been facing a slack in the performance and finally got benched with a back injury, can find his ultimate push to improve his pass efficiency raid in the new coach’s air-raid tendencies.

Raiola, ESPN’s No. 11 recruit and the top pocket passer in the 2024 recruiting class has thrown for 1,921 yards but has eight interceptions and only 10 touchdowns in nine games. In the past four games, Raiola has thrown for only one touchdown and six interceptions.

That said, all of this is not going to be overnight. No doubt that Holgorsen has impressive records under his belt. Holgorsen is a disciple of Mike Leach in the air raid system. His teams at Houston and West Virginia scored 33.5 points per game over 13 seasons. Rhule described him as a “great offensive mind.” But he needs time to bring those into effect in a new environment. But the Huskers needed a quick solution to beat the USC odds.

The most gentle term to address Rhule’s offensive crew would be ‘inconsistent.’ They had a bye week to reflect on where things went wrong. But then the Trojans are also coming off an idle week. They will also look to climb a steep hill, standing one game away from the bowl game, the same as their opponent. So, the momentum might not be very different for both teams.

But then the Trojans are talented more than their stats say. Lincoln Riley knows how to push for a terrific offensive statement game in a time of need. Now, it’s on three things. Whether or not Matt Rhule breaks on his offensive slump, the Huskers’ defense can stop the devastating Trojans’ QBs and Holgorsen can make a few tweaks to turn a narrow loss into a win: all positive answers for the questions and you are good to go. Clear and simple.

What’s your take on Nebraska continuing their upset streaks as a new coaching recruit doesn’t look promising for instant success? Let us know in the comments