Matt Rhule and the Nebraska football program’s 2025 regular season is a wrap.
Final score from Friday: Iowa 40, Nebraska 16
The Huskers, with the loss to the Hawkeyes in the annual Black Friday rivalry game, finish their campaign with a final record of 7-5 overall and 4-5 in the Big Ten, while Iowa improves to 8-4 overall and 6-3 in the conference.
Now, Nebraska has lost any amount of momentum it would have gained with what would have been Rhule’s first win over Iowa. Instead, the head coach will carry with him an 0-3 record against the Hawkeyes and a great deal of anxiety – and questions to answer – entering not only what will now be a lower-tier bowl game in late December but also what will be yet another pivotal offseason in the Rhule Era.
>> Instant Takeaways: Iowa 40, Nebraska 16
>> Report Card: Grading Nebraska offense, defense in loss to Hawkeyes
>> Game Thread: Your reactions & thoughts on Nebraska-Iowa
Rhule and the Huskers began the season by rattling off consecutive wins over Cincinnati, Akron and Houston Christian for a 3-0 start. Then came the disappointing Week 4 loss to Michigan followed by bounce-back victories over Michigan State and Maryland.
Then, after Rhule and the Huskers earned their way into the national AP Top 25 poll on the back of that 5-1 start, things took a sharp turn for them in a lifeless loss on the road at Minnesota.
The Huskers rebounded again by beating Northwestern the following week, but they let a massive opportunity slip through its hands one week later during a home loss to USC – a game in which the Huskers were seemingly in control of with a 14-6 lead and driving deep into Trojan territory before Dylan Raiola’s season-ending injury on a sack-fumble changed the entire tide of both the game and the season.
Nebraska won its next game over UCLA, going on the road and hitting the seven-win mark in true freshman quarterback TJ Lateef’s first career start. In Lateef’s second start, though, the Huskers got ran out of the building by Penn State in Happy Valley to set up the Black Friday showdown – a rivalry matchup that ended with mostly the same feeling as the loss to the Nittany Lions.
Now, the Huskers will await their fate as they officially discover their bowl game destination. Long before they find out where they are going, Rhule and several players were made available to the media for Friday’s postgame press conference.
The players who spoke at the main podium were running back Emmett Johnson, offensive lineman Rocco Spindler, defensive lineman Riley Van Poppel and cornerback Ceyair Wright.
Rhule and the players discussed the 40-16 loss to Iowa, what the defeat could mean moving forward and more thoughts from Friday afternoon.
Watch and listen to those interviews via the videos below.
