By Rock Westfall
Matt Rhule is an experienced and previously successful college football head coach who has pulled off major rebuilds at Temple and Baylor. He is now the HC of a program in Nebraska, where football matters more than anything.
DeShaun Foster is a rookie head coach at UCLA, a program that cares so little about football that its previous head coach, Chip Kelly, resigned to become an assistant coach at Ohio State.
UCLA visited Nebraska to play a Cornhusker team favored by 7.5 points to beat the Bruins and clinch a bowl berth. UCLA brought such national rankings as 125th in total offense, 60th in passing, 134th in rushing, and 127th in scoring. Defensively, they ranked 70th overall, 119th against the pass, 13th against the rush, and 99th for points allowed.
Nebraska and its fans were licking their chops. So, too, were a heavy majority of gamblers.
Yet, on Saturday, UCLA beat Nebraska 27-20. UCLA jumped out to a 27-7 third-quarter lead before hanging on after the Huskers finally woke up to rally, albeit too late.
Foster and his staff completely schooled Rhule and his assistants. Nebraska’s offense, coordinated by Marcus Satterfield, rarely had any flow or showed an identifiable strength.
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Additionally, Defensive Coordinator Tony White was caught flatfooted and out-schemed by UCLA offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy, who has suffered from a drop in his credibility since leaving the protective cover of Andy Reid and Patrick Mahomes with the Kansas City Chiefs.
Tony White’s Blackshirts recovered some in the second half, but not before being lit up for repeated third-down failures. UCLA humiliatingly outgained Nebraska 358-322.
As the bye week begins, Rhule must either reassign offensive coordinator Marcus Satterfield to another role or fire him.
Marcus Satterfield is indefensible.
And Matt Rhule is emerging as an enabler to the potential destruction of his Nebraska program and the career of quarterback Dylan Raiola.
https://twitter.com/JaysonRamsey9/status/1852866785420173343
An Offensive Offense & Destruction of a 5-Star Quarterback
UCLA senior quarterback Ethan Garbers was outstanding in UCLA’s win on Saturday. Garbers has had a rough season but clicked against the touted Blackshirt defense, passing for 17 of 25, 219 yards, two TDs, and no interceptions while adding a 57-yard run. He entered the game with a 6 to 9 TD/INT ratio but departed Lincoln a hero.
In comparison, Nebraska’s much more heralded five-star true freshman QB Dylan Raiola was knocked out of the game late in the fourth quarter to end a dismal day. Raiola was 14 of 27 for 177 yards with a 1 of 1 TD/INT ratio. To begin the third quarter, Raiola was picked off by Kain Medrano for a 38-yard pick-six. And that was the difference in the final score.
Worse than the numbers were the frequent looks of befuddlement by Raiola. He appeared to be what he is: a freshman going through on-the-job training with a questionable supporting cast and an unimaginative coordinator with no logic in his play calling.
It is difficult enough for a freshman quarterback to succeed in the Big Ten. But when he lacks a coherent offensive blueprint built around the reality of the roster, it is hopeless and damaging.
Dylan Raiola is rapidly regressing in a dangerous way that could damage, if not destroy, his career. He is beginning to misfire when opportunities present themselves, making worse decisions as the season progresses, and his lack of confidence and hesitancy is showing.
Nebraska supposedly lacks dynamic playmaking receivers, yet during the game, especially in a desperate fourth-quarter rally, they did manage to break open for larger gains and opportunities. What gives?
Meanwhile, the offensive line, touted as a preseason asset, has been revealed as overrated and inconsistent at sustaining a serious rushing attack. Yet there were spurts on Saturday when the ground game showed signs of life, only to be abandoned by Satterfield. Why?
Two weeks ago, Satterfield admitted that he had not emphasized the run game enough or fully understood its importance in the Big Ten. Yet he repeated his admitted ignorance on Saturday. It’s obvious that he doesn’t get it and never will. This can’t go on.
Even if the ground game is not dominant, it must be used more frequently to keep defenses honest and set up play-action passes. Also, with more running comes the eventual wearing down of enemy defenses. Nebraska must show a commitment that it has yet to display.
In the loss to Illinois, the Fighting Illini cracked Nebraska’s offensive code. Every opponent since then has used the Illinois game plan. There is now a book on Nebraska’s offense and Raiola. Marcus Satterfield is yet to counter with adjustments to those schemes. Utter incompetence.
https://twitter.com/BigRedfootball7/status/1852820308115534196
The Buddy System – Rhule Must Realize His Bigger Loyalty
Marcus Satterfield was NOT a hot commodity when Rhule was hired at Nebraska. At that time, Satterfield was the offensive coordinator at South Carolina, where nobody was looking to poach him. But Satterfield was with Rhule at Temple, Baylor, and the Carolina Panthers. There is a strong connection between the two.
When Scott Frost began to drown as head coach of Nebraska, he was ripped for surrounding himself with his Central Florida staff. The situation was derided as the “Buddy System,”
Husker fans are pointing out that Matt Rhule is doing the same thing as Frost with Satterfield. While Rhule is known as a demanding taskmaster, he is also known for being loyal, perhaps to a fault.
But Matt Rhule is becoming a co-signer to failure with Satterfield. Currently, Husker Nation sees Satterfield as the problem. But the longer this goes on, the more that Rhule will shoulder the blame, as he should.
Matt Rhule’s ultimate loyalty must be to players like Raiola, who gambled their careers on his program. Additionally, Rhule must have enough respect for the Big Red fans, college football’s best and most loyal. They deserve better.
Marcus Satterfield trumps none of that.
Matt Rhule and Marcus Satterfield are failing Dylan Raiola and Husker Nation.
Enough is enough.
https://twitter.com/ClaytonJCollier/status/1852866886452510867
The Perilous Road Ahead
On Saturday, Nebraska arrived with an obvious entitlement that they did not deserve. They had the look of a team that believed all it had to do was show up and take an easy win. They were not mentally ready, focused, or prepared. And it showed. UCLA arrived ready and wanted it more. Considering the stakes that was disgraceful.
The vaunted Rhule Culture was embarrassing. The flop triggered justifiable questions about the true merits of Rhule’s program and his preaching of hard work and commitment.
Following the game, Rhule lamented that UCLA had two weeks to prepare for Nebraska, implying that it was an advantage. Yet when Nebraska was coming off a bye week at Indiana, it was blasted 56-7. Rhule’s self-own is quite a revelation.
Nebraska enters a much-needed bye week before its final three games, one of which must be won to earn a bowl bid. The Big Red will face USC on the road, followed by a home game against Wisconsin and a road game against Iowa. Nebraska could realistically lose all three games and miss the opportunity to clinch a bowl berth.
Last year, Nebraska lost its final four games to blow what seemed like a certain bowl berth. This year, a five-and-out scenario would be an utter catastrophe.
Rhule has the opportunity to reshuffle the deck with a new play-caller. Glenn Thomas, co-offensive coordinator, and quarterbacks coach would be a workable and practical answer and could do no worse than Satterfield.
For the final three games, a new set of ideas, a commitment to the running game and a focus on finding an identifiable philosophy and strength must be developed.
Slowly but surely, Matt Rhule is about to be on the clock.
He better produce a bowl game. Failure is not an option.
https://twitter.com/ClaytonJCollier/status/1852851065592615064
