Stukenholtz: The Emotions of Almost

Sports draw out the rawest of human emotions.

Screaming in joy or in pain, sometimes both. Grown men sobbing and hugging. Anxiety and disgust. Happiness and fear. You may even wonder, aloud or in your head, whether it’s worth even being a fan of a certain team at all.

The swings from one feeling to the next can take a long time, or it can happen all at once. The first three quarters were a slow burn as Nebraska built a 10-6 lead on No. 7 Indiana with a combination of defensive discipline, offensive creativity, and an intangible belief that this team is finally good enough to contend with the big boys.

You could sense the guarded happiness mixed with anxiety and a little fear.

When Husker QB Anthony Colandrea burst around left tackle, through the alley created by tight ends Janiran Bonner and Luke Lindenmeyer, cut right behind the block of wide receiver Kwazi Gilmer, and accelerated west to east while burning the last defender and coasting into the north end zone, Husker fans couldn’t contain themselves.

Pure jubilation and amazement.

Also, perhaps still a pinch of fear?

The game clock read 12:01. Twelve long minutes to make the near-perfect game plan and three-plus quarters of complementary football stand up.

You were right to be fearful. Not even ten seconds had passed before Indiana answered with their first touchdown of the game. In fact, from the moment Colandrea was in the clear around the 20-yard line to the instant Hoosier receiver Nick Marsh caught his pass from Josh Hoover at the 40-yard line with nobody between him and the goal line, only four minutes and 47 seconds of real time had passed.

Less than five minutes of joy.

Less than five minutes to live in that world of wonder, where NU could have been 6-0 with a viable path to the College Football Playoff. (They do still have a path, more on that later.) The feeling of fear grew to full-blown terror as IU forced a punt and marched 80 yards in five plays, scoring the fatal blow on a 44-yard TD pass to Marsh on 4th-and-1.

Sadness and disgust.

Even though the Blackshirts forced two more 3-and-outs, Colandrea and the offense could not convert on a pair of 4th-down attempts and were left with just 13 seconds at the end. Not enough.

Indiana 20, Nebraska 17.

Acceptance and grief.

Everyone processes their grief differently, too. My first thought after catching up on some social media comments and postgame radio call-in shows was, honestly, anger. Angry at what, though?  

It’s easy to blame Matt Rhule, especially since so many were out on him before the season started because of how poorly 2025 finished.

My anger was directed toward the folks who give no credit, only blame. Who appear to have shoehorned the outcome into their worldview, their predicted narrative.

If you want to argue that everything bad that happened in that game is Rhule’s fault, that’s fine. But that stance only works if you put the actions of the other coaches and players on him, in which case all the good stuff those coaches and players did should also be credited to Rhule. Please make your arguments, but don’t be disingenuous – there’s enough of that in politics.

Sometimes coaches or players will call it a “team win” to deflect credit, or a “team loss” to shield one person from most of the blame. This was as close to a “team loss” as you’ll ever see. All three phases were in sync and incredible, with the offense controlling possessions by starting 8-for-10 on 3rd down and keeping the Hoosier defense guessing. The Blackshirts forced two field goals and stopped the run. Special teams also contributed with a key punt downed at the 1-yard line.

Then, all three phases broke down as a team. The two back-breaking passing touchdowns allowed by Rob Aurich’s defense. The inability to extend drives once IU took Colandrea’s scrambling away. And the early missed field goal sticking in Rhule’s head when making late-game decisions.

Yes, Nebraska lost, and ultimately that falls on Rhule. But he should also get credit for pushing Curt Cignetti’s team to the brink. They’ve won 22 straight games, and they’ve blown out programs and coaches whom everyone holds in higher regard than NU and Rhule.

This year’s Huskers are different. They have demonstrated a level of consistency across multiple games and levels of competition, playing very well and even dominating in at least three quarters of all six games this season. That’s rare to see in college football, let alone any recent Nebraska team. Is it four quarters? No, it’s not. There’s room to grow. But I’ll call my shot now: Oregon will not beat NU this Saturday unless they play as clean a game as Nebraska did against Indiana (for three-plus quarters). They appear to have set a standard that prevents them from playing down or up depending on the opponent’s talent.

You can feel sad or mad about the Indiana game or any other losses yet to come. I have feelings of anticipation and maybe even trust about this group of players and coaches. I’ll only feel surprised if they lose.

And the Emmy goes to…

Matt Rhule is the proud owner of a new IMDb page. Not only did he appear in the HBO show ‘Lanterns,’ he even had a speaking part.

One thing he hasn’t done, though, is pick up that first win over a ranked team after the loss to No. 7 Indiana, his tenth loss in as many tries since coming to Lincoln in 2023. The Nebraska program’s streak has now reached 31 straight losses to AP Top 25 foes. (AP, not Coaches Poll – that’s an important distinction this week).

Rhule, the actor, has really set the tone for this team’s demeanor with his scaled-back persona. He can still monologue with the best of them, but that’s happening far less often. Is it an act? More importantly, will the performance this week be award-worthy?