Here’s what Matt Rhule had to say after painful Husker overtime loss to Badgers.
Chubba got the call and you must say the man had a response ready. With some authority behind it, too. Didn’t it look as though Chubba Purdy might end this Saturday night just how he started it? With a bang.
Please, Husker fans requested. It doesn’t always have to be maddening in this MadTown, does it?
It certainly seemed far from it when Purdy scrambled down to the 26-yard-line with 1:35 left and Nebraska trailing Wisconsin just 17-14. We were back to how this night began – the Badgers on their heels.
Then came Emmett Johnson for 7 more. Then for one more to the 18, tackled with 51 seconds left. It was third-and-2. OK, how to play it here?
Nebraska elected to let the clock go, calling a timeout with 20 seconds before that third-down snap.
«I wanted to make sure that we got into field goal range first,» Rhule said of that last-minute sequence. «I wanted to make sure that we had a chance to get down, we were going to take one shot at the end zone. Kind of akin to last week, I felt good about the kick, I wanted to make sure he got into range to make the kick. Give them a chance to take a shot at the end zone and go from there.»
As it happened, the Huskers got 6-yard run by Purdy for a first down with 13 seconds left, using their second timeout. Nebraska tried one pass, incomplete, leaving seven seconds left, which brought in Tristan Alvano on second down to hit the 29-yarder to tie it.
«Looking back maybe should’ve called that earlier so I had two shots at the end zone,» Rhule said. «A lot of people asked me why I didn’t just run the ball last week and kick it last week. So I thought we had a good play there. We gave Billy (Kemp) a chance. Kind of the same thing we did before the first half, and then kicked it. So we got big, ran the ball because wanted to make sure we were within range and then got the first down. That was really kind of the thought process.»
Overtime was not kind to the Huskers here in Madison once before, back in 2016 when an undefeated Nebraska team lost 23-17 in OT. This overtime would be played on the same end of the field, into the bowl where the students jump around and sing «Build Me Up Buttercup» and now were loud – quite so.
It was a similar pain this time as last, with Wisconsin getting the ball first and overcoming a third-and-8 from the 23. And then Tanner Mordecai, a pest with his feet as much as Purdy was to the Badgers, scrambled on the next third down to within a yard of the sticks.
Luke Fickell went for the fourth-and-1 and got it. Then the Badgers got the touchdown a play later. Nebraska’s offensive possession that followed ended up going backwards six yards and ending up with an interception on a desperation fourth-down throw.
Badgers sprinted across the field to maul each other. Huskers made the slow walk through the noise.
Nebraska may kick itself as much for leading just 14-10 at halftime after jumping to a two touchdown lead nine minutes into the game. The Huskers looked like they may extend it even more but were stuffed on a fourth-and-1 at the 33 when up 14-0. Wisconsin responded with a nine-play touchdown march and a lifeless crowd was that way no longer.
«That’s a play to win these games, to come to Madison and win these games, I think you’ve got to get,» Rhule said. «I think that certainly would’ve helped us. It’s 14-0. You get that fourth-and-1, all of sudden now that can kind of be the backbreaker.
The Huskers had held a 162-32 edge in yardage after the first quarter and it was still a 270-133 edge at the half.
But Wisconsin had the game within reach and then took the lead on a 79-yard march midway through the third quarter. The second play of that drive hurt the most. Nebraska’s Javin Wright was closing in on a sack but Wisconsin QB Tanner Mordecai made him miss and ran for 13. The Badgers had a shot of Red Bull in them suddenly.
«We blitz, and we hit him and he shakes us off and he runs,» Rhule said. «We’re a team that prides ourselves on its defense. And the defense prides itself on tackling, and verse that play, a lot of guys had opportunities to make some of those plays. We talk about momentum, we talk a lot about the offense and those things. To me, defense we could use a sack fumble. He ran a lot of quarterback draws tonight. Tony (White) was blitzing him, he was twisting them. We’d love to come off and make one of those plays.»
But Mordecai made the big play there. He stepped up again in OT – twice showing off the clutch gene. The Badgers were 7-of-15 on third down. It was when the Wisconsin QB suddenly became slippery with a nose for the sticks.
Both quarterbacks were gifted that way in this one. Certainly Purdy made a strong account for himself in his first Husker start of the year, finishing with 105 yards rushing and 169 throwing on 15-of-23 completions.
«I thought Chubba played really well … He was doing a nice job in my opinion if it wasn’t there of just pulling the ball down and going. Obviously we hit a little bit of a lull there at the beginning of the second half. Kind of watching them, that’s kind of what they’ve done to people. But found a way at the end to go make some plays. For his first start for us this year, I thought it was really something to build on.»
His last two passes were intended for two freshmen – Malachi Coleman and Jaylen Lloyd, with neither an easy play. Still, these young guys are hungry to make them in that moment. Rhule said after the game he offered a consoling word for Lloyd, knowing they’d be back here in these moments again.
«I was like, ‘That play is going to come to you 1,000 times and you’ll make it,'» Rhule said. «But those seniors are the ones who built a culture where Gifford [Isaac Gifford] runs out and puts his arm around Jaylen Lloyd.»
Amid the pain, the bright light was the play from the QB spot, a turnover not coming until that last throw. Purdy has dealt with a groin injury and perhaps will need attention to that after the season. He certainly looked like a man who could keep that spot to finish this regular season out no matter the available options at the position.
Perhaps with Purdy running the show again, Nebraska will have to come back in six days and find a way for that sixth win against one of the better defenses around in Iowa. They’ll have to push away the pain and get back to it.
«These guys are pretty crushed right now,» Rhule said. «They’re pretty crushed emotionally. But that’s OK. It shows that they care and it shows that they put a lot into it. Sometimes in life we give up on our dreams but our dream never gives up on us is one thing I’ve always believed. I’d love nothing more to go out with them on Senior Day and go battle a great Iowa team, a ranked team, and play them at home and try to go get a sixth win and go to a bowl game and extend this with these guys.
«But even if it doesn’t work out, I’m honored to take the field with those seniors, and I’m honored to be out there with them.»