Matt Rhule assesses Nebraska's first quarter effort vs. Ohio State, trailing 7-0

Matt Rhule was pleased with his team’s effort as Nebraska trailed No. 4 Ohio State after the first quarter.

Other than a Will Howard touchdown pass, Nebraska’s defense held strong against a high powered attack. However, the offense couldn’t quite muster enough for points in the first 15 minutes.

Still, the Huskers were firmly in the game as Rhule told FOX’s Jenny Taft.

“Well, great job by the defense at the very beginning,” Rhule said on the broadcast. “You know, offense ia settling in there. They’ve done a good job on their bye week. You know, they’re showing man, playing zone. Dylan’a done a nice job running the football. You know, got the big play overturned, so gave up the big play. But that’s kind of how this game is going to go.

“We told our guys like, let’s go in, let’s weather the storm early. Let’s hang in there. Some of our young guys made a couple mistakes, settle them down, and got three quarters left to go play.”

At the time of this writing, Dylan Raiola was four of eight passing for 25 yards but had six carries for 42 yards.

Nebraska and Rhule came into this game off a blowout at the hands of Indiana, 56-7.

“I thought they had our number today,” Rhule said in his postgame presser. “That’s the part that really infuriates me as the head coach. People are gonna point at this person, point at that person. Everything should be pointed right at me.

“I usually can see things coming, and I’ll tell you right now, I did not see this coming. Credit to them. I don’t want to take anything away from them. They’re an excellent football team. But yeah, I did not see this coming.”

The loss dropped the Cornhuskers to 5-2 (2-2 Big Ten) on the season. A conference title is likely off the table at this point in the season, but this still has a chance to be one of the program’s better years in recent memory. Nebraska has not made a bowl game since 2016 but is just one win away from punching its ticket.