Breaking down Nebraska football loss to Illinois, Dayton Raiola commitment

Hello, HUSCAR fans

Welcome back to the Husker Big Red YouTube channel. And we're back here for another episode of the podcast

I'm Chris Peterson. And joining me as always is Danny Gillette. We're back here on a Monday kind of morning, mid-afternoon, or mid-morning, I guess I would say

Still trying to get my bearings after a rough Friday night for the Huskers. But we had some exciting news over the weekend with Dayton Raola committing, a new basketball commitment, a big win, another top five win for the volleyball team

So we'll touch on all that stuff. Before we do, please make. make sure that you guys hit the subscribe button, hit the like button, get into the comment section

let us know what you think. I know Husker fans aren't shy about that. And yeah, how you doing this

Monday morning, Danny? Well, Patriots game ended on Thursday at around midnight. Nebraska game

ended around Thursday at around 11 my time or so, and then we had to do some writing after

The Miami game that I had to cover lasted four hours. So we finished our, me and my buddy's

pregame show at around 2 a.m. So I am pretty tired, actually. but I'm doing good. I'm doing good. How are you

Yeah, doing too, doing pretty well. You know, I've been arguing with lots of Husker fans over the last couple of days

So that's been all right. But, uh, my Green Bay Packers, Malik Willis got a big win

So, you know, two and one there. And, uh, yeah, you know, I wish Nebraska was four or no, though

I still got to say I'm still, I'm not over, I'm still not over Friday night. I'm still

I'm still really pissed about Friday night. So that, that, that, I guess it is what it is. But, uh, I don't know

I wanted to try to talk about some final, offer up some final thoughts on this game with Illinois

And I guess one way I thought about doing that, you know, is like

did we, looking back at the season, like, did we drink too much of the Kool-A, did we set our expectations too high

Did we put too much stock in that win over Colorado? And after what we saw, do we need to reset expectations for this team, for this season

Yeah, so at the beginning of the year, eight and four, I didn't, maybe necessarily think about, you know

Illinois loss, but I said eight and four. I mean, I thought 10 and two was a little generous

Now, granted, I would have to, you know, I would still love to go 10 and 2. There is a possibility

but, you know, I do think we kind of have to reset a little bit. I think, you know

being ranked and all that was really cool, and I love being ranked, and I still do think

when this team is firing on all cylinders, it can be a ranked team. But yeah, I think we said

our expectations too high. This wasn't 8 and 14, my opinion. And we're relying on a freshman

and quarterback and granted we have a lot of veterans and stuff like that on the defensive side of

the football but that needs to be figured out so yeah i think we did set our expectations way too

high yeah i definitely um i did which i always do i'm uh that's the thing is i'm an optimist at

heart but then i'll turn the other way real quick you know i'll turn the other way real quick so um that's just how i am i guess but you know but it's not i know a lot of people think i'm

being overly negative but to me i'm i'm just pointing out the facts of what have happened so far and

Matt Rule's tenure. And when I compare Matt Rule to Scott Frost, okay, I see a guy that's really

great at the podium. Okay, I see a guy that's a great recruiter. But when I see the results on the field

things really have not changed that much. I mean, Matt Rule, what's his best? He beat a seven and six

Northwestern team last year. And then he beat Colorado, which, I mean, they're okay. I mean

they're not a bad team. But, I mean, the 0 and 6, I mean, even Joel Klatt said that that last Friday

night looked a lot like the ones in the Scott Frost here. And you can't say that it doesn't because miss kicks, you know, turnovers, that offensive line

I mean, it's just the product on the field, I guess, to me, it doesn't look where it should at this point

And I know that people, you know, want to say that I'm being overly negative about that, but I just feel like it's being factored

I feel like that Matt Rule should not be eight and eight. Last year's team was better than a five and seven team

So I guess just when, when are we going to hold that rule responsible

I don't know if last year was better, it was better than a five and seven team

especially when they were better than Minnesota. I mean, that Minnesota, but look a game by game

Should they have won the Minnesota game? Yeah. Yes. Should they have won the Maryland game

Honestly, no. When you're first in goal with two minutes left, when you're first and goal with two minutes left and it's tied

I mean, come on. You got to win that game, 90% of them. That Maryland team was better than them, though

I get what you're saying, but that really is. Yeah, I get what you're, yeah, I mean, I won't disagree with that

But I mean, but when you're tied and you've got two minutes left and you got the ball, your own five-yard line, like 90% of the time

you win that game. game. They should have won the Wisconsin. I mean, they were up, what, 14 on Wisconsin 10? Should they

have won that game? They intercepted the ball with, they had the ball at the plus. They had the

ball across midfield against Iowa with less than a minute left. Should they have won that game

Honestly, that I have a defense, I'm going to say no there because no, like, no, they shouldn't

know. I mean, I get what you're saying, but I mean, but they were in, they were still, they were

in a better position. Like if you. And they had Trump of Bertie, a quarterback who couldn't even

win the starting job of the school he transferred to. So no, they really shouldn't have won that game

But still, if you're Iowa, Nebraska, I mean, and he did throw a 60-R touchdown to Jalen Lloyd

I mean, I'm just saying in that same game. Like, I'm just saying if you were, and Iowa, I mean, the Iowa's quarterback was not good either

So I mean I can even remember who he was but he was terrible So I just saying like it not you know I understand what people are saying And like the quarterback room yeah it was his fault

But people keep coming back. Like one comment I've heard a lot is, well, it's not Matt Rule's fault that, you know

the kicker missed a kick. And you're right. But whose job is it to have the, who's responsible for the Nebraska football roster

Whose job is it to get the kicker on the roster? Matt rules

So yes, he is actually responsible. Alvado was a bad kicker coming out of high school

He was hitting like 60-yard field goals, and he was the best kicker in the state. You know what I mean

Well, yeah. I mean, I'm not saying that, but I mean, at the end, but he's had two years in the portal, though, to get

I mean, the last two years, he could have went out and got a great kicker in the portal and didn't do it

So, I mean, that's all I'm saying is like, you know, yeah, it's sure the kids should have made the kick

but maybe they should have got a better kicker. Like, that's all I'm saying. Like, Matt Rule's responsible for the players on the roster

and how they perform is his responsibility. Yeah, that's fair. I mean, I don't know

It just seems really weird. You had Alvano who I still think can be a great kicker

who was one of the best in the state. You had a coach

Maybe if he kicks on. Well, I was just to say maybe if Alvano is there

maybe they win on Friday. I don't know, you know. I don't know what the extent of his injury is

I'm wondering if it's bigger than we thought. or maybe he has the yips

I don't know. But I do think, and I got a lot of heat for this on Saturday

but I don't, are we monetized? I don't give a shit. You know, I don't give a shit if I get a lot of heat

You know, Ed Foley needs to be, I'm not saying fired. I'm not saying let go, whatever

but there needs to be a serious look at the special teams position

because there hasn't really been a ton of improvement in terms of field goal kicking in general

I don't know if it's a technique thing. I don't know if it's just a mental thing, the yips

You know, obviously Alvano's hurt and struggling, so that could play a part of two

But overall, the field goal kicking is not where it needs to be. The coverage has been better, in my opinion

And obviously, the punting has been good, too, thanks to Brian Bouchini

But these field goals, man, like, they keep coming back to bite us year in and year out

And I don't know, you know, if they're, There's a easy fix to this, but I think Ed Foley, you know, needs to be looked at

And the special teams, you know, coaching needs to be assessed. Yeah, I can agree with that

I mean, it's the same, yeah, it's the same problems. And, you know, I just, it's weird, it's just weird stuff

It's a lot of weird stuff. And I think Matt Rule has not been a great M game coach at Nebraska

I don't think that that's unfair to say. I mean, I remember last year, you know, when he was explaining his decision at Wisconsin

and not to go for a touchdown. And he was like, you know, he mentioned like the fan criticism of the decision the week before

And to me, that was a red flag. And I don't know, man, when I saw, I don't know if you've seen the picture

but there's a picture of Matt Rule on Friday night after the game. And like

I can't get it out of my head. It looks like Scott Frost walking off the field in 2021 against Michigan

Like, I don't see that picture. I know what's what you're talking about exactly. Yeah. Like

I'm not, and that's the thing is like everybody like thinks that I want, like I wrote a whole article. I never mentioned anywhere that I don't want Matt Rule fired

I don't think he should be fired. but I do think that he should be producing better results than he is right now

And people are like, well, what happens if he goes 8 and 4? Like he should go 8 and 4

He has an 8 and 4 team, in my opinion, and he spent all offseason telling us how great they are

He goes on the radio every other week saying how great this program is going to be. And it's only a matter of when we're going to be playing in the playoffs

Like maybe you should stop doing so many damn interviews and figure out why your run defense is getting gashed by Illinois and figure out your roster

because right now, in my opinion, you got one of your better backup defensive linemen

sitting on the bench red-shirting for next year when you're getting gashed

It makes no sense. It makes no sense to me. I mean, just I don't believe that you can play Big Ten football

with like one or two backup defensive linemen. And that's just a gross miscalculation in my opinion

And if Riley Van Popple can be Ty Robinson next year, we probably could use him right now because on Friday night

our run defense was not up to snuff. So it's like just decisions like that that I

just really have a hard time wrapping my mind around. And the timeouts, the challenges, just

you know, I think that Matt Ruhle is a great CEO, but I'm not sure he's a great in-game head

coach. And, you know, hopefully, like, he can build, I think he's a great recruiter, and he'll

build a team where he can, like, overshadow that because, like, John Caliperi is not a great end game coach either, and he won a national championship. So you don't have to be, but right now

I think that's part of the issue is Nebraska just doesn't have the team to, to win, to kind of

overcome some of Matt Rule's coaching deficiencies. And maybe he'll get better. I mean, people get better

They can improve. But I think there's some clear issues with him as an in-game coach. I had heard that he wanted to change the, like he changed the defensive scheme this year a little bit according to a Mitch Sherman podcast

I don know how accurate that is because you never know what could be what could be you know expectative and what could be fact But as far as you know the in stuff the challenge on Friday the out one was very interesting to me because he was clearly in

He was clearly in. And I do think he struggles a lot at in-game adjustments

But I also think that, you know, the staff he's built around him can really hinder him sometimes

For me, on Friday, you know, I noticed a lot of issues at the wide receiver position in terms of not being aggressive, not jumping for the football, kind of running improper routes

I mean, granted, you know, I believe it was Neyer who had the, was it Neyer Banks who had the two touchdowns

I think it was Neyer. Neier had two, yeah. And, you know, he did have the two touchdowns, but again, the receivers are still struggling to create separation and stuff like that

So I'm not saying to fire anybody, but there is a lot of tendencies that are kind of very glaring at this point

Yeah, it's definitely, I mean, I don't think that you don't even think or talk about that with Matt Rule until after three seasons

Like, that's not what, you know, I'm not saying that at all. Like, yeah, if he misses a bowl game this year and then next year, then yeah, I think you need to talk about it

Because honestly, if you had told me that we would be three and one right now, I'd be so happy. Yeah, I mean, you know, it depends on the schedule too

but, you know, I just, I want to see this team, you know, take a tangible step of progress

and I just have not seen it yet. And, you know, the Colorado game, like, I don't know, I guess it's, it's kind of, you know

I mean, given the way Colorado's playing and the way that they're finishing fourth quarters, take notes to Nebraska, I think that could still be considered a big win

Yeah, I mean, it was a big win for, it was a big win. Like, I don't mean to, I don't mean to demean that, but it's just frustrating to see, you know

a lot of, and then it makes me think, too, like, man, if Shadur Sanders had and got hurt in that game, like maybe that fourth quarter would have got a little scarier

because I was worried. I actually breathed a huge sigh of relief when they brought in that backup quarterback because

I was like, man, I don't know if this, you know, secondary can hold up and, you know what I mean

I feel like that's when the wheels started to fall off a little bit over these next couple of games is that second half against Colorado

They started to, like, show some leaks. Yeah, because there's like four minutes left and like they ran the ball with that backup

but if Shadur's out there and they score with like three minutes left and it's a 10-point game and you got time, like, you're going to have to recover

an onside kick and I was like I was freaking out for a second I like my heartbeat slowed down a lot

once that backup quarterback went out there so I got to ask and maybe you know maybe you don't know

why lack of touches for Emma Johnson I don't know that's another yeah that's another question

he looks great one week and then not the next week so yeah I don't understand either and

well that's what I don't get yeah I don't know I don't understand him not playing like I don't

understand van popple not playing like i don't there's no explanation in the world unless unless he's just

his play is dropped off and matt rule doesn't want to say that like okay i understand that then i then i get it

but if he but he's played in two games this year i don't know so i can't i can't speculate but

to me i don't and maybe that then because last year he was one of your most ascending defensive

lineman and so if he's now to the point where you can't you got a red shirt i'm like that's that to me

is a bit of an issue but yeah there there are some weird things with uh personnel and

Emmett Johnson's one of them. It sure feels like they could have used his explosiveness running football

And he's proven he can do it in Big Ten games. So, yeah, it was weird. No, I will say that the coaching staff has done a good job with Ramir Johnson in terms of getting

him involved in the passing game. It's what Mark Whipple and company should have done when they said he could be like the

next Brian Westbrook. So that's a positive thing to see because Ramirez is very good at being there in case

Raola needs a safety valve checkdown type throw. And so it's good to see him get into that type of role

because I think that's where he's, he functions best. He's on between the tackles back

He's a receiving back. So on a positive note, it's good to see him kind of sort of finally find that role in his final season

Yeah, and I think, I guess just, you know, my final thoughts at Illinois in this matchup is we're going to learn a lot about this team next week or this Saturday at Purdue, I think

So it's a big game. And, you know, you got to go on the road for the first time and Purdue's going to be desperate for a win to

And they run the football. averaging 6.7 yards per carry. So if our run defense is an issue

like we're going to have to figure that out this week. But we'll have more on Purdue coming up later this week on our Thursday episode

Let's talk a little bit now about something that was a little bit of a surprise to me

And I think some other Nebraska folks, Dayton Rayola committed to Nebraska on Sunday

kind of out of nowhere, there weren't any crystal balls. The last crystal ball for a quarterback in regards to Nebraska was Michael Clayton

who's a border, he's a top 400, not a four star, but really close to that

at any rate, Dayton Raola looks like he's going to be the guy in 2026 announced his commitment

So what are your thoughts on that, Danny? I really like that. I really like that

I like to continue the family pipeline. He's still a very raw prospect, but I, you know, I'm going to go on the record here and say that I believe he has a stronger arm than Dylan

I think he I think he has a much more stronger arm I don know how that will translate to accuracy but I love this pickup I mean you know I think he going to be a really good quarterback maybe not as good as his brother

but he's still a highly rated quarterback. And he mentioned that, you know, the entire coaching staff would come to see him

And they would always smile and be excited to come to see him. So that meant a lot to him

And this was a kind of, like you said, a surprise commitment

and I was texting some of my Nebraska writer friends and things like that. And they had no idea that this was coming

So kind of an interesting time to commit to, given that it's so early in the season and things like that

But, hey, the Riola pipeline has not done this program poorly. So I am very happy to welcome Dayton to Nebraska

Yeah, I like the move, too. And I think he's got upside. You know, he's listed as 511-225, so I'm sure they're hoping that he's

He'll, you know, grow a little bit. He's just in his first year at Beaufort

He doesn't have any other Power 5, Power 4 offers right now, but they probably will come

I think he's got off to a good start. And I think basically with Nebraska, they wanted to see how he was going to handle that role as a starter

because he hadn't really had that before, right? So, you know, it's hard to evaluate a kid. And so I think they saw enough and to bet on his future

And you're betting on him on the upside here with, you know

the pipeline, the bloodlines, all that stuff. He's got the ability. and I think that will be a good addition

You know, I think a room of, you know, Latif, Kalin, you know, both Royolas

I think that will be, that'll be a good thing, which probably only be both Royolas for, you know, like one year or so

But still, I think that'll be positive. Still, quote, to play with your brother, too, and play with your uncle and play where your father, you know, made a household name for himself

And it was a really solid commitment, a first one for the 2026 class

And he mentioned that he had some guys in mind who he wanted to help recruit

I'm curious to see what that leads to as well. And Fred Hoyberg also getting some work done on the recruiting trail

And people kind of tend to forget about basketball recruiting once football starts

Basketball does a lot of their stuff in the summer. But Quentin rhymes out of Phoenix, Arizona, 6 foot 6, 185, ranked 106 in the 24-7 sports composite rankings

So composite four-star, that's a big get for Nebraska. New Mexico, Boise State, where some of the other schools interested

So not a ton of, like, heavy hitters. but a guy that really has a lot of upside

And I think this is a nice get for Fred Hoyberg and somebody that I think can really fit well

in Nebraska's system as a Juan Gary type who can shoot, defend, guard the three-four spot

and give you a lot of versatility. Yeah, he averaged over 17 points

with his AAU team over the summer this year. And Nebraska assistant Ernie Ziegler was a primary recruiter

saw him over the summer, and, you know, extended him an offer

And that's kind of where the recruitment began and he went to he went to grimes did visit the program this past weekend went to the

illinois game and was excited by the fan support so i think this was another great gift for the

basketball program and the basketball program keeps rolling so you know once football season is

over hopefully uh by the end of december or beginning of january um you know i think this is

going to be a fun basketball team to watch and it's going to continue into the future and it's

interesting you know that we were able to land a recruit instead of kind of going into the transfer portal

I know the coaching staff has taken a smaller recruiting class over the past

you know, a couple of classes due to their success in the transfer portal. So it's good to at least have a highly rated recruit in the fold as well

Yeah. And I think, you know, going back to back classes now, Fred Hoyberg has, you know

been able to get a really solid player. And, you know, he had Nick Janowski

I want to say that Janowski. I hope I'm saying that right. Yeah, no, that's how I said. I don't know if you're right, but he's 136th overall

So, you know, that's two back-to-back four-star recruits. So I really like what Fred Hoyberg's doing on the recruiting trail

Yeah, for sure. And, you know, I think he has shown the ability to recruit the first couple of years he struggled

But now he's kind of getting into his groove. Yeah, I just like where he's at

Yeah, I'm really excited about this roster. So it's going to be another fun season, I think

for Nebraska basketball. So all right, you guys, I guess really quickly

before we kind of wrap things up, first look at Purdue, Nebraska's opened as an 11-point favorite

So that's going to be interesting on Friday, or, excuse me, Saturday on Peacock, though

So get fun for that, get ready for that. That's going to be 11 a.m. Central time

I know Danny loves Peacock, and all my Nebraska fans love Peacock

but we'll see how the Huskers fair to 10-point favorite right now

so it's dropped a little bit since we started, But overall, we'll break down that matchup more on Thursday

So all right, you guys. I hope you have a great start to your week

And thanks for following along and watching. If you haven't already, hit the like button

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