Nebraska still ahead of schedule but must seize the opportunity and close strong

EAST LANSING, Mich. — No cataclysmic play sunk Nebraska on Saturday as it visited Spartan Stadium. There was no moment when every player and coach and supporter dressed in red raised their arms in collective disbelief.

And still, the Huskers lost by three points. Just as they did two years ago at Michigan State.

In a 20-17 victory for the Spartans on the first weekend of November, they didn’t shock Nebraska so much as they bled the Huskers (5-4, 3-3 Big Ten) slowly with an opportunistic defense and a pair of freshman quarterbacks who converted enough big plays in the passing game to keep coach Matt Rhule’s team out of rhythm.

“We’re finding out,” Rhule said, “what it’s like to play games with consequences at the end of the year.”

The consequence is this: Nebraska hurt its shot to win the Big Ten West. Alas, Wisconsin and Minnesota also lost Saturday. Iowa, the lone contender that still must visit Lincoln, beat Northwestern on a late field goal.

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You know what wise people say about what happens every time one door closes? A new door opens. Well, in this case, the same door is open. Welcome to the bizarre landscape in the final year of this deservedly maligned division.

There’s no way, apparently, short of a month-long meltdown, to escape contending for a spot in the Big Ten title game.

Touchdown, Nebraska! 💪@HuskerFootball takes the lead 👏 pic.twitter.com/vgZGiyHBc9

— FOX College Football (@CFBONFOX) November 4, 2023

So what held true for Nebraska before Saturday still remains. The window is open. An opportunity exists for Nebraska to emerge from this month atop the wild West.

More important, a bigger window is open. Forget about the West. Forget about bowl eligibility, though the Huskers will need to get to six wins — and likely beyond — to climb through a window of greater significance than can be measured by an unplanned road trip at the end of 2023.

I’m talking about a window of opportunity to ride into the offseason with a head start on the competition at perhaps the most crucial moment in the modern history of college football.

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Look around. It’s easy to get so concerned about what’s happening, Saturday to Saturday, with the Huskers’ disgusting turnover margin or inconsistent quarterback play that you lose sight of the bigger picture.

Rhule, because it serves him well with his team, is allergic to big-picture talk.

He might think about it in a quiet time at the office. Nebraska athletic director Trev Alberts considers the big picture daily. And moving ahead, it looks more convoluted than ever. The Big Ten, soon with 18 teams, is about to wade deeper into the dark waters.

The looming expansion and influx of money have done a number on the league. Unquestionably, the changes underway impact decisions made on campuses at Iowa, Michigan, Michigan State, Northwestern, USC and elsewhere.

Turmoil, for now, is the new normal. Leadership at every school feels an urgency to get prepared. It’s created tension and extraordinary events that have cascaded on top of each other since July.

Buckle in for what the winter, spring and summer might bring.

Where can we expect to see big change?

It makes more sense to ask this: Where does stability reign?

And that is the window of opportunity in front of Nebraska. Because Alberts hired Rhule just before these storm clouds settled above the sport — and because Rhule has seemingly put the Huskers on an upward track — the next three weeks might mean more than anyone wants to admit.

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Nebraska blew it Saturday. It came here with momentum. It had a shot to win a fourth consecutive game. Instead, Michigan State won for the first time since Sept. 9 as Heinrich Haarberg committed three turnovers and the offense under his control could not gain traction on two possessions in the final three minutes.

“Three turnovers isn’t acceptable,” Haarberg said. “That’s going to lose us games. And it did today. Especially in this conference, you can’t do that.”

Defensively, Nebraska allowed points in the first quarter for the first time on the road this season. Michigan State’s second-quarter touchdown marked the first for a Nebraska foe in eight trips to the red zone.

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“Watching the guys on defense, it just never felt as crisp and as right as it normally is,” Rhule said. “I wouldn’t say it was flat. (Michigan State) made some big plays. Credit to them. They made big catches down the field.

“It just never quite got into the rhythm on defense that you’re used to — until the very end.”

At the end, Nebraska, down 20-10, appeared to throw away its final chance when Haarberg was intercepted inside the MSU 30 with six minutes to play. But the QB, gutsy if nothing else Saturday in his seventh start, answered two minutes later with an 18-yard completion to Alex Bullock and a 43-yard run. It set up Emmett Johnson’s 4-yard TD plunge.

The Blackshirts got a quick stop before Haarberg fumbled on a third-down sack. Another try in the final 45 seconds went awry.

If the defense lacked a certain crispness, the offense Saturday was nearly unwatchable for large chunks of time.

“As an offense, as a program, we have to go through these types of games to get to where we want to get to,” Johnson said. “I know it’s ugly. There’s turnovers. But we learn a lot from losing. You learn a lot of things in life from losing.”

Nebraska sits at minus-12 in turnover margin this year.

“As we continue to grow up as an offense,” Haarberg said, “some of these younger guys, myself included, we’re going to be able to find that rhythm earlier.”

Haarberg, a 20-year-old sophomore, doesn’t need to hear it, but the clock is ticking. The Huskers can finish the regular season at 8-4. They can finish 5-7. Even two wins this month, starting at Memorial Stadium against Maryland — which has lost four consecutive games — could set Nebraska further ahead of its competition than appeared possible four months ago.

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These Huskers, the head coach said, have progressed beyond the level of Rhule’s second-year teams at Temple and Baylor that finished 6-6 and 7-6, respectively.

“The difference with these guys,” he said, “they understand the process. They are bought into what we’re asking them to do.”

Nebraska was not penalized Saturday for the first time in a game since 2005. A loss like this does not call into question the Huskers’ resolve or their buy-in.

“I have to buy in more,” offensive guard Nouredin Nouili said. “I have to believe in it more.”

Defensive lineman Ty Robinson said he’s ready to get back to work Sunday and double down on Rhule’s process. Expect a team in the weeks ahead that continues to fight, multiple Huskers said.

“We’ve been through a lot of adversity,” Johnson said. “This team, we all love each other. We’re all going to go out there and play hard for each other.”

Nebraska is short on experience. Because of injuries, it’s short on talent. But it’s standing, less than three weeks from Thanksgiving, ready to make a run at the window of opportunity.

(Photo of Heinrich Haarberg: Adam Ruff / Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)