Game Day Guide: Nebraska vs. Northwestern
Nebraska’s back home after a shocker in Minneapolis, and the assignment is clear: respond.
Nebraska’s back home after a shocker in Minneapolis, and the assignment is clear: respond.
Northwestern rolls in having won four straight against the Huskers and leaning hard on a defense that squeezes points and possession. The Huskers have spent a week chewing on nine sacks, stalled red-zone trips and an 0-for-the-third-quarter trend that needs reversing. It’s an 11 a.m. kick, a Military & Veterans Salute in Memorial Stadium and a prove-it Saturday for a team that still controls how this season is remembered.
Nebraska vs. Northwestern
When: Saturday, Oct. 25 | 11 a.m. CT
Where: Memorial Stadium, Lincoln
TV: FS1 (Connor Onion, Mark Helfrich)
Radio: Huskers Radio Network (Kyle Crooks, Damon Benning, Jessica Coody)
Streaming audio: Huskers.com / Official Huskers App
Records: Nebraska 5-2 (2-2 B1G); Northwestern 5-2 (3-1 B1G)
Series: Nebraska leads 10-7 (6-3 in Lincoln)
Last meeting: Nebraska 17-9 (2023)
Setting the scene
This one comes at a crossroads. Nebraska opened 5-1 for the second straight year, jumped into the polls, then face-planted under the Friday night lights at Minnesota. The Huskers trailed by one at the half and never landed a counterpunch, swallowed by pass-protection issues that turned drives into detours. Now it’s back to the place where, more often than not, this program has collected itself.
Northwestern is the reminder that nothing’s easy in October. The Wildcats started 1-2 and have since stacked wins over UCLA, ULM, Penn State and Purdue — the last a 19–0 shutout. They’re deliberate with the ball and stingy without it, content to let the game constrict one possession at a time.
Nebraska’s last three meetings with Northwestern in Lincoln? Ten points allowed in 2019, seven in 2021, nine in 2023. That profile—low scoring, razor-margin —has often defined this series in the Big Ten.
Rhule on the moment
On fixing the sack problem and the offensive rhythm:
“Everybody is doing their job at a high level. The sacks in the previous games have thrown us out of rhythm. It’s you versus him. You have to block the guy in front of you. You also have to get the play call. It’s just inefficient to play good teams.”
On scheme versus execution:
“We have rules for everything. It’s going to come down to our players making plays. I think that’s the greatest gift you can give as a coach. When things go wrong, it’s your job to say, ‘Hey, that’s on us.’… Players win games and they have to go make blocks and they have to do things at a really high level against a really high level Northwestern team.”
And on what the crowd should expect after Minnesota:
“We will show up.”
Storylines to remember
A response game from the first snap and out of halftime
Nebraska’s been outscored 52–7 in third quarters against power-conference teams. Pair that with an 11 a.m. kickoff and an opponent that leads the Big Ten in time of possession, and the emphasis is obvious: start on schedule, then be the team that owns the first 10 minutes after the break.
This is less about speeches and more about first-down efficiency, cleaner communication at the line and taking the “free” plays before Northwestern’s structure forces a punt.
Protection must stabilize by any means necessary
The math from league play is stark: seven sacks versus Michigan, five versus Michigan State, one at Maryland and nine at Minnesota. Some of that is protection. Some of it is backs missing a check or hearing the wrong call. Some is quarterback Dylan Raiola holding for explosive play options instead of taking the underneath throw.
The fix won’t be one lever. It’s tempo, formations that help tackles, answers versus pressure and a quarterback willing to live for second-and-5. Northwestern hasn’t piled up sacks but the Wildcats don’t need to if they win every “drive-starter” and squeeze the red zone.
Lean into your playmakers (on script and in the red zone)
Nebraska’s skill upgrades were built for weeks like this. Jacory Barney Jr. has been the first read on designs that never got off the ground. Dane Key’s had quiet stretches. Emmett Johnson too often disappears when pass pro becomes the fire drill.
Against a defense allowing 15.1 points per game, the Huskers need easy touches early for those three. Nebraska ranks 104th nationally in red-zone TD rate; Northwestern is 15th at preventing them. That’s the crux of it all.
Make Northwestern play left-handed
The Wildcats want to shorten the game with efficient runs and a steady diet of possession throws. Nebraska can’t let 5-yarders turn into 8. Win the line, fit the gaps and force obvious passing downs where defensive coordinator John Butler can get back to the pressure/change-up menu that showed up against Michigan State and Maryland.
The last two weeks produced just one sack in each game. A couple of negative plays on early downs flip the tone.
Havoc and hidden yards
Special teams swung Maryland and helped keep Michigan State within reach before the offense found a spark. The formula hasn’t changed: tilt field position, steal a possession if it’s there and keep Northwestern behind the sticks with a tackle for loss or two per series.
This isn’t a day for pretty. It’s a day for short fields, clean operation and the kind of patience that wins the “closer than you might like” games in late October.
What the numbers say
>> 10 — Points or fewer allowed by Nebraska to Northwestern in each of the last three Lincoln meetings (10 in 2019, 7 in 2021, 9 in 2023).
>> 15.1 — Northwestern’s points allowed per game; the Wildcats also allow 305.3 yards per game — both top-25 nationally.
>> 10 — Javin Wright has posted double-figure tackles in four straight games (12 in each of the last two), the first Husker with a streak like that since 2004.
>> 75 — Career receptions for Emmett Johnson (team-high 29 this season), making him just the third Nebraska running back to reach 75 catches (Marlon Lucky, Jeff Kinney).
>> 6–2 — What a win would mean: Nebraska’s best eight-game start since 2016.
Odds and ends
Nebraska returns to Lincoln for a two-game homestand, beginning on Saturday. Northwestern arrives on a four-game win streak and unbeaten at protecting leads the last month. Expect the Wildcats to test Nebraska’s run fits early, then lean on time of possession if they’re in command of the down-and-distance.
On Nebraska’s side, keep an eye on linebacker usage. This defense is different when its most explosive second-level players are available and flying to the ball and on how the Huskers manage first-down calls to blunt pressure before it starts.
If you need the “too long, didn’t read” version, here’s the gist:
Nebraska’s offense doesn’t need to be artful to beat Northwestern. It needs to be on time, willing to take the profits and ruthless in the red zone. The defense doesn’t need a dozen splash plays. It needs a handful of stops that flip possession and pace.
Rhule’s message has been simple all week: own the loss and then get back to work. If the Huskers do the basic things at a high level, Memorial Stadium will do the rest. And if they don’t? Northwestern is precisely the kind of team that will make you relive Minnesota for four quarters.
Either way, we’ll learn a lot by mid-afternoon.