Matt Rhule believes Nebraska has 'every right' to expect success in 2024

Nebraska Football has been waiting almost a decade for a return to bowl game alone if not more. Now, with 2024, that stretch could come to an end for the Cornhuskers.

Matt Rhule spoke about the expectations for his second season, which historically go well for him, in Lincoln during an interview on ‘The Next Round’. He said that his program has more than enough reason to believe that a great year is ahead of them.

“Well, you know what, I think the realization is that, like, you know what, we have every right to expect ourselves to have that kind of a season, you know,” stated Rhule.

However, Rhule and Nebraska can’t just rely on their respective pasts.

For example, to have the season they want, the Cornhuskers have to find a way to win the close games. They’ve lost 19 games by touchdown’s margin or less over the last four seasons. Nine of those have been by a margin of a field goal or less. Those come from out of 29 total defeats in the 2020s. Just turning those in their favor would make a major difference in their final records.

The ‘Huskers have what they need to be the team they want and used to be. It’s just about earning it now by getting the wins that they haven’t in recent years.

“At the same time, you know, we have to remain humble and realize, like, the past, you know, the greatness of the past doesn’t have anything on this year. So we have to make a step from last year, you know,” Rhule said. “We can’t be another 5-7 team. We can’t be a team that, you know, turns the ball over in key moments and loses games late. So, if I was a fan, I would just want to see us solve that problem.”

“You know, we’re recruiting pretty well, we have amazing, amazing facilities, we have a great fanbase, we have a good coaching staff. We have all the things you need to be successful but we’ve been bitten for a couple years now previous to me even getting here by, like, just losing games late,” said Rhule. “If we can fix that, if that goes away, we win the games that, you know, come down the stretch? I’d feel really good about where we are.”

Rhule is there to rebuild Nebraska but that doesn’t mean that it has to take years and years. The sooner, the better in this case with him looking to have that kind of season this fall.

“On my end, I didn’t come here for any other reason other than to try to restore Nebraska to its glory,” said Rhule. “I’m not trying to wait so hopefully we can do that this year.”