LINCOLN — Nebraska football is exactly where most prognosticators believed the team would be at this point in the season.

The Huskers are 5-2, with wins over teams that NU *should* beat. That doesn't always happen.

The two losses are to a pair of teams that were preseason top-10. They came with fourth-quarter leads that were erased by good opponents, but they ended in losses nonetheless.

Whether the coaching staff believed the team would be 5-2 or 2-5, Matt Rhule opened the team's off week like they were backed into a corner.

The theme of the opening statement, and really Rhule's time at the microphone on Monday, was that two things can be true at once.

"You can be really, really disappointed right now as a player, as a coach, as a head coach, as a fan, and also be really, really encouraged and push forward," Rhule said.

Rhule added that Saturday was a game the team could have, and should have, won.

"We're a team that's lost the last two weeks, and that's unacceptable; that's not OK. I also think we're a team that's probably two plays away from being a top-10 program, a top-10 team. Both of those can be true," Rhule said.

Rhule said the opportunity and possibility for this team to have beaten two of the top teams coming into this season are there.

"At the same time, we have failed; I have failed in each of those last two games," Rhule said.

Rhule is focused on finding the one play that decides a game and which players are willing to make that one more play when it matters.

"To me, that one play is everywhere," Rhule said. "It's in the coaching. It's in the practice. It's in the games."

He pointed to the losses to Indiana and Oregon, where Nebraska has had the advantage in nearly every category through the first three quarters. That has gone away in the fourth quarter, though, with the Hoosiers and Ducks outscoring the Huskers 25-7 in the final frame.

"We won't win the games we want to win until we win the fourth quarter," Rhule said. "We won't win the games that we want to win until we control the line of scrimmage on offense, until we win third down."

"The bye week came at a good time," Rhule said. "It came at a good time physically, but it came at a good time to reset and not, 'Poor us. Poor old Nebraska.'"

The Huskers have played seven straight weeks of games, including a 10 p.m. CT kickoff in Eugene this past Saturday. The last four weeks have come against Big Ten Conference competition. All of that, plus the inherent violence of the game of football, has left Nebraska beaten up.

"Our players will take this time to lift and run and get healthy again," Rhule said.

Rhule gave several injury updates on Monday, including that North Platte native Vincent Genatone, who scored two touchdowns against Michigan State, will have season-ending surgery.

Running back Isaiah Mozee and defensive lineman Anthony Jones Jr. are both set to miss time. Rhule said Jones played the entire Oregon game on a broken foot, which will require surgery.

Rhule is hopeful that running back Jamal Rule will be back for the Washington game on Oct. 31. He got banged up in the game at Oregon, which limited his production and snap count.

On the offensive line, Gunnar Gottula left Saturday's game with a head injury. Brendan Black has a cast on his hand, which is broken.

"The big message to our team is that every team in the Big Ten is beat up. You can't do all of the things that we do — the travel, the teams that we're facing — and not have your twos ready to play," Rhule said.

Against Oregon, Nyziah Hunter had three kick returns in the game. They went to the 28, the 18, and the 15. Compared to simply calling a fair catch, that's a net loss of 14 yards of field position.

"I told them to fair catch it after that," Rhule said.

Rhule said the philosophy out of last year was to not return any kick that had over four seconds of hang time or into the end zone.

"That was something I wanted to do last year, and the special teams coordinator wouldn't always do it even though I'd say to it, it wouldn't happen, so changes happened," Rhule said.

According to Rhule, Oregon's kickoffs had been averaging 3.6-3.8 seconds of hang time going into Saturday. That left open the possibility of more returns.

"Those were all returns that were blocked up good. They weren't elite hang times. They weren't deep," Rhule said. "But if you're not getting out to the 25-yard line, what's the point?"

Rhule added that defaulting to fair catches on kickoffs is "probably something that we'll do moving forward."

A talking point that has been there throughout Rhule's tenure but has emerged more this season is the timeout usage.

Rhule has stated over the past couple of weeks that if a situation comes up where a coach or player wants to use a timeout, especially on defense, to get something right, then he'll do it. On Monday, however, he said that this is not his preference.

"I do not like using my timeouts until the last two minutes of the game," Rhule said. "That's a core philosophy."

That lack of a timeout and the defense sitting on the field for 37 plays in the fourth quarter left no room for error in the final 28 seconds of the game. The final play saw a catch in bounds, but a failure to get out of bounds, letting the clock run out.

Rhule said those timeouts came while trying to get the defense in a position to win the game during Oregon's long drives, adding that he didn't believe there was going to be enough time left for his offense to go down the field.

"Would I have loved to have a timeout at the end? Yes. In most games, would I have ever called those timeouts? No," Rhule said.

Rhule added that his use of timeouts has included the defense not having a call in in time, players lining up incorrectly, or guys simply looking gassed.