Penn State’s final home game of the season will also be a homecoming for former Nittany Lion Matt Rhule, who will bring his 7-3 Nebraska squad to Happy Valley for a primetime clash.
The Nittany Lions are looking to secure a second consecutive win after defeating Michigan State 28-10 in East Lansing last weekend, continuing the battle for bowl eligibility, while the Cornhuskers enter off a bye week.
Both teams are without their five-star quarterbacks, as Drew Allar broke his ankle and Dylan Raiola broke his fibula, keeping them sidelined for the rest of the season. Still, they’ve found ways to win with new signal callers and are battling for bragging rights after rumors of Rhule being a candidate for Penn State’s head coaching opening resulted in a significant raise.
Here’s what to know about Nebraska before kickoff on Saturday at 7 p.m.
Head coach:
Rhule, a State College Area High School alum who played linebacker for the Nittany Lions from 1994-97 and was a graduate assistant in 1998, has been at various coaching stops since then.
His first head coaching role came at Temple, where he had previous experience as a coordinator, resulting in a quick turnaround. The Owls went from 2-10 in his first year to back-to-back 10-win seasons in his third and fourth years, including a conference championship.
Rhule continued to develop a reputation as a program builder at Baylor, inheriting a team that went 1-11 in his first year and 11-3 in his third year, resulting in his hiring as the head coach of the Carolina Panthers, his second NFL stint after being an assistant with the New York Giants.
He was unable to turn around the franchise and was fired midway through his third season, finishing with an 11-27 record in the big leagues.
Rhule landed on his feet with a head coaching role at Nebraska in 2023, leading the Cornhuskers to a 5-7 record followed by a 7-6 season, including the team’s first bowl appearance since 2016.
Coordinators:
Nebraska’s offense is headed by Dana Holgorsen, who’s in his second year with the team. Holgorsen has hefty head coaching experience at West Virginia and Houston, including a 92-69 overall record.
The Cornhusker offense is pass-heavy and ranks among the top half of the Big Ten in yards and points per game, though the team switched to a more run-centric approach last week with backup quarterback TJ Lateef.
Defensive coordinator John Butler is also in his second season at Nebraska, one of many stops on his coaching resume. He served as the defensive backs coach for Penn State in 2012 and defensive coordinator in 2013 before heading to the NFL for the next decade.
Butler’s unit also ranks in the top half of the conference in points and yards allowed, and is particularly stout against the pass but can be susceptible on the ground, including giving up 286 rushing yards to Michigan earlier this season.
The special teams, led by Mike Ekeler in his first season in Lincoln, is above average on returns but struggles in punt and kick situations.
Standout players:
Lateef has just one start under his belt but was impressive, completing 13 of 15 passes for 205 yards and three touchdowns. The freshman has been extremely efficient in limited action this season and is also capable of making plays with his legs.
He’s operating primarily out of play action (61.4%) and, while he doesn’t throw downfield often, has been effective with the deep ball, completing six of nine passes that travel 10 or more yards downfield.
Running back Emmett Johnson has been the entire ground game for Nebraska this season, sitting at 1,131 rushing yards on 203 carries for 11 touchdowns, making him the focal point of the offense, especially since Raiola’s injury.
Johnson has rushed for triple digits six times this season and has only been held below four yards per carry by the Wolverines (65 yards on 19 touches) this season. He’s not the most explosive back, but Johnson is rarely tackled for a loss or no gain and runs primarily between the tackles.
Wide receiver Nyziah Hunter paces the team with 41 receptions for 592 yards and five touchdowns through the air, and he’s been especially effective on short to intermediate crossing routes over the middle, where he’s gotten a large majority of his targets.
Linebacker Javin Wright leads the team by a wide margin with 72 tackles, including hitting double digits five times this season. He’s the highest graded starter on Nebraska’s defense, per PFF, and is particularly impressive in run defense.
Record:
Nebraska enters at 7-3, with a bowl berth secured but the College Football Playoff firmly out of reach. The Cornhuskers took care of business in the nonconference slate but took on losses against Michigan, Minnesota and USC, two by one score. Their conference wins over Michigan State, Maryland, Northwestern and UCLA aren’t particularly impressive, though the Nittany Lions lost to two of those teams.
Series history:
Nebraska boasts a slim 10-8 advantage over Penn State in the all-time series, including wins in five of the last six matchups. They haven’t faced off much recently, meeting just twice since 2013 and once since 2017.
Prediction: Penn State 24, Nebraska 21
The Nittany Lions opened as consensus 9.5-point favorites, but the line has since dropped to 7.5 as more money has poured in for the Cornhuskers. On paper, Nebraska has the better record and has been the better team this season, though Penn State has made improvements in recent weeks with a narrow loss to No. 2 Indiana and a win over Michigan State.
The Nittany Lions have struggled against the run at times this season, and corralling Johnson will be no easy task. Pair that with a mobile quarterback in Lateef, who’s not much of a step down from Raiola. However, the Nittany Lions’ pass rush has rounded into form and could disrupt the true freshman’s performance on dropbacks, aided by the Beaver Stadium crowd.
It’s a similar story on the other side of the ball, as Kaytron Allen has put together some of the best games of his career recently and Nebraska has surrendered lots of yardage against the run.
Ultimately, this game should produce limited possessions and resemble classic Big Ten ground-and-pound football. Given the prime-time homefield environment and emotional boost of Senior Night Penn State may hold a slight edge.
