Matt Rhule apologizes for Indiana loss, emphatically backs players

As the offseason progressed and the 2024 schedule went under the microscope, a path to a 7-0 start became clear for Nebraska, not Indiana. But the No. 16 Hoosiers left Memorial Stadium Saturday afternoon with that record after thumping the visiting Cornhuskers, 56-7.

Indiana picked off three passes, recovered two forced fumbles and turned Nebraska over on downs five times. Offensively, the Hoosiers had their way, first with starting quarterback Kurtis Rourke and then with backup Tayven Jackson. Run-pass-option plays gashed the Huskers, who especially had no answer for running back Justice Ellison early as he piled up 105 rushing yards and two rushing touchdowns on just nine carries.

Nebraska head coach Matt Rhule opened his postgame press conference by apologizing for the blowout defeat.

“Obviously very, very disappointed,” Rhule said before launching into the meat of an opening statement that neared the two-minute range. “I would be remiss if I did not give a ton of credit to [Indiana] Coach [Curt] Cignetti and what he’s done, the way that they play offense, defense and special teams — just a lot, a lot of credit. And on our end, as I just told the guys in there, this happened on my watch. I’ll be honest with you guys, I didn’t see this coming. I thought we were going to play great. And they exploited a lot of things on us.

“We had some opportunities. … But, at the end of day, just, couldn’t really tackle the back today, couldn’t stop the run. And they made a lot of big plays in the vertical passing game. Just was bad football by us. I’m not embarrassed of our players, but I’m embarrassed of the job that I did to get our team ready. I have to do a better job next week, and the weeks after.”

Rhule said he didn’t sense any quit from his players. He acknowledged that he could have probably kept the score down by punting more than he did — the Huskers were 0-of-5 on fourth down — but he felt it was important for his team to keep attacking, even when the matchup got way out of hand in the second half.

Unfortunately for Nebraska, it just couldn’t do much right in all three phases of the game.

“Very, very, very disappointing,” Rhule said. “I appreciate all the fans that came here.I appreciate everyone who supports us. This was certainly, certainly, certainly not good enough by any stretch. And, for that, I’m sorry.”

Rhule is in his second year leading a Nebraska program that’s searching for its first bowl game appearance since 2016. The Huskers — ranked as high as No. 22 in the AP Poll last month — are one win away from ending that drought. But their seven-touchdown defeat against Indiana dropped them to 5-2 on the year with No. 4 Ohio State, UCLA, USC, Wisconsin and Iowa still on the schedule.

Rhule reiterated later in his postgame presser: “Whether you lose in overtime or you lose by the score we lost by today, it’s just a loss. It’s a bad loss. And, again, I apologize for that loss. I apologize to the people who spent their time and money to come watch that.

“But, again, I’m not embarrassed of our guys. I’m proud of our guys. I know the work that they put in. I know the sacrifices they make — they’ll do it again this week.”