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Nebraska football: Full year-end stock report following Matt Rhule’s first season

Paul Harvey

By Paul Harvey

Published:

That is not how Nebraska wanted to end Year 1 under Matt Rhule. After some ugly losses to open the year, the Huskers found a spark and provided some hope for the fanbase with a 3-game winning streak in B1G play.

Unfortunately, that winning streak coming out of October was not indicative of what was to come in November.  Nebraska maintained its ability to fight hard but ultimately dropped all 4 November games to end the year at 5-7 and outside of the bowl picture.

In reality, Nebraska experienced growth in some areas but maintained a number of areas to clean up. As for Rhule, his task entering the offseason will be improving ball control with the offense and finding a quarterback who can prioritize taking care of the ball. The head coach will also need to prove in 2024 that he is not just a replication of his predecessor when it comes to hard-fought losses in close games.

Coming out of 2023, here is the full stock report on Nebraska football:

Team MVP: DB Isaac Gifford

The majority of the bright spots for Nebraska this season came on the defensive side of the ball, and it makes sense for the team’s MVP to be the leader of that unit. Gifford led Nebraska this season with 86 total tackles — more than 30 better than the team’s second-leading tackler. He also led the unit with 44 solo stops.

However, Gifford was not just some run-stopper in the box. The defensive back finished with 8 pass breakups, a mark that trailed only Tommi Hill with the defense. He even registered an interception and produced 6.5 TFL (4th on the team) and half a sack.

Most improved: TE Thomas Fidone & RB Emmett Johnson

One positive for Nebraska is that a number of players took positive steps in their development throughout 2023. In fact, it’s worth highlighting a few players here, so that’s what we’re going to do!

By this point, Thomas Fidone’s path at Nebraska has been well-documented as the former top-100 prospect battled injuries his first few seasons in Lincoln. Fortunately, the 6-foot-6 and 250-pound TE was finally healthy in 2023 as he appeared in 12 games with 8 starts.

On the field, Fidone’s talent and physical tools shined through. He finished as Nebraska’s second-leading receiver with 25 catches for 260 yards and led the team with 4 touchdown catches.

His best game came against Northern Illinois with 4 catches for 42 yards and a touchdown. Fidone would finish the year with 3+ catches in 5 games and should be a red-zone target for the offense moving forward.

Meanwhile, Emmett Johnson arrived at Nebraska as a 3-star prospect in the 2022 recruiting class. He did not appear likely to see much action as a redshirt freshman in 2023, but that was before season-ending injuries to Gabe Ervin Jr. and Rahmir Johnson after 3 games.

In the end, Emmett Johnson appeared in all 12 games and went on to be the most efficient running back from the group that finished the season. Johnson’s 411 rushing yards finished third on the team behind QB Heinrich Haarberg and RB Anthony Grant, but Johnson’s 4.6 yards per carry trumped Grant’s 4 yards per carry.

Johnson’s breakout performance came with 73 rushing yards in a win over Northwestern, and he followed that up with 76 yards and a touchdown against Purdue. He would also deliver 93 yards of offense in the loss to Maryland.

Though Johnson ended the year with just 2 touchdowns, he showed a shot to be a contributor heading into 2024, even if the running back room returns to full strength.

Biggest surprise: Horrific turnover problems offensively

With a young team adjusting to a new coaching staff, some miscues are bound to occur. That alone cannot account for a disastrous performance in terms of ball control.

Just how bad was Nebraska at holding onto the ball? The Huskers had 31 total fumbles during the 2023 season, an average that comes out to more than 2.5 per game. As a result, Nebraska was the worst team in the nation with 15 fumbles lost.

The passing game did not fare much better. Despite functioning as a ground-first offense, the Huskers finished tied for 124th nationally with 16 interceptions. No QB was spared with Heinrich Haarberg, Chubba Purdy and Jeff Sims all throwing 3+ picks this year.

As for turnover margin, Nebraska finished 132nd with a -17 mark. With all that considered, the biggest surprise might be that Nebraska ever came close to fighting for a 6th win and bowl eligibility.

So, who gets the blame for those issues, and how does the offense correct moving forward? Nebraska OC Marcus Satterfield received a lot of criticism for the concerns. Whether or not another year in the system helps will be something to monitor as Rhule enters Year 2 with the program.

Best win: 17-9 win vs. Northwestern

Searching for the win of the year for Nebraska is admittedly not a tall task. Though the Huskers had five wins and three in conference play, just one of those victories came against a team with a winning record, and that belonged to the win over Northwestern.

The timing of the win was also important as it fell squarely in the middle of the schedule between a pair of 3-3 teams. With the win, Nebraska bumped above .500 to 4-3 overall and stood a chance to get to a bowl game. We all know how that opportunity ended, but the win stands to be revisited.

The game was impressive for a number of reasons, including the response by the Huskers. Heinrich Haarberg opened that game with a pair of interceptions in the first 6 minutes of playing time.

In response, Nebraska outscored the Wildcats 17-6 the rest of the way, Emmett Johnson had a breakout performance carrying the ball and Malachi Coleman had his first touchdown as a Husker. There were a number of reasons for optimism after this victory, even if the goal of the postseason was not realized.

Worst loss: 20-17 at Michigan State to begin November

The month of November provided plenty of disheartening losses to pick from, but one sticks out. After all, three of the losses came to teams with winning records that will be playing in the postseason. The same cannot be said for the loss to Michigan State.

Coming out of a 3-game winning streak in October, Nebraska headed to East Lansing with a 5-3 record and a shot to secure a bowl game against the Spartans. What ensued was a mess of defensive busts and offensive struggles for the Huskers.

In the second half against the Spartans, Nebraska had four drives of 10 yards or less, including one that resulted in a fumble late in the fourth quarter. That doesn’t include a 6-play drive that covered 41 yards before ending in an interception.

On the other side of the ball, Nebraska’s defense stunningly gave up 295 yards of offense to Michigan State to go with a slew of big plays. That was an unexpected poor performance against a Spartan team that averaged right 289 yards of offense and went 4-8 all season long.

Play of the Year: Malachi Coleman’s first Nebraska TD

For the Play of the Year, it’s worth revisiting Nebraska’s best win of the season against Northwestern. For most of that game, the Huskers struggled to hit the home run play and held a 10-6 lead heading into the fourth quarter.

That is when Malachi Coleman made his presence felt. A highly-regarded prospect in the 2023 recruiting class, Coleman took the top off the Wildcat defense for a 44-yard touchdown on his second career catch as Nebraska went on to win 17-9.

Coleman arrived as a highly-touted freshman at Nebraska and began carving out more playing time for himself in the middle of the season. He finished the year with 8 catches for 139 yards and a touchdown and provided some flashes in the second half of the season as a big-play target for the Huskers.

Paul Harvey

Paul is a lifelong fan and student of all things college football. He has been covering college football since 2017 and the B1G since 2018.