Matt Rhule can even make a record-setting Colorado quarterback believe in the Nebraska football program and want to buckle up a chin strap and lay it on the line for the red N.
Joel Klatt started nearly every game as the Buffs’ QB1 from 2003-05 including three games against the Huskers, throwing for 650 yards and four touchdowns. He also threw four interceptions against the Blackshirts and finished with a 1-2 record. This week, he gave back to the Huskers once again, this time doing so by squeezing some extra grease onto the wheels of the Nebraska hype train.
Rhule was the interview subject on the latest edition of the Joel Klatt Show, which aired Monday, and Klatt – one of the most renowned and respected voices in college football – is fully bought into the Matt Rhule Experiment in Lincoln.
“I think this is the first time in my life that I’ve ever wanted to be a Husker after that speech right there,” Klatt said while sharing a laugh with Rhule at the conclusion of the interview.
Rhule: “We could use you. Bro, we honestly could use you.”
Klatt: “No, you’re in better hands at that position than you would be with me.”
And that, as loyal Inside Nebraskers know well by now has become customary, is where we kick things off in running through a few highlights from Rhule’s 25-minute sit-down with Klatt.
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The topic of Dylan Raiola was a brief one, but Rhule did reveal an unsurprising fact: Raiola’s work ethic has been matching his absurd talent level this offseason.
Rhule even compared Raiola to Tom Brady.
Sort of.
“At the end of the day, it comes down to the football,” Rhule said. “He has a unique feel for the game. He’s really, really smart. You always hear Tom Brady and those guys talk about, ‘When your best players work the hardest, you have a great team.’ Well, Dylan’s one of those guys that tries to work the hardest.”
That should be music to Husker fans’ ears even if, again, it’s right in line with what you would (and should) expect from the former five-star and No. 1-ranked quarterback in his recruiting class. He is at the core of Nebraska’s rebuild and will be the centerpiece of its entire offense in 2024 and, therefore, the centerpiece of the entire team’s success (or lack thereof) this season.
Truthfully, though, Raiola does not need to go above and beyond in Year 1 for the Huskers to build on the foundation laid last year and simply take the next step. The Huskers went 5-7 during what was supposed to be one of the notoriously We-Will-Be-Bad Year 1 seasons that marked Rhule’s Temple and Baylor programs.
The Huskers finished an astonishingly terrible -17 in turnover margin, which came just one additional turnover shy of matching the program’s all-time “record” for worst turnover margin that has stood for 56 years. (The 1967 Nebraska team finished -18 in TO margin.)
The defense, obviously, plays a part in that number, too. But even though the Huskers’ defense didn’t consistently take the ball away, let’s not misplace any anger here toward one of the Big Ten’s very best defensive units from last season. The offense needs to do a much, much better job of taking care of the ball. That starts with the quarterback.
“People talk a lot about turnovers last year, which we should,” Rhule said. “I go back and say, ‘If we can throw the ball better, if we can complete 3rd-and-5, if we’re not throwing interceptions, if we can be more aggressive because we trust our decision making (then we’ll be better).’ That’s been one of the challenges for Dylan, that’s been one of the challenges for Danny (Kaelin) and for Heinrich (Haarberg).
“Everyone wants to know who the starting quarterback’s gonna be in Nebraska. I’m always like, ‘Hey, it’s gonna take two, maybe three in this 17-game season that we wanna have.’”
The Huskers’ journey toward becoming much-improved offensively and massively improved with ball security, again, begins in the quarterback room. And that room begins with Raiola, a 19-year-old true freshman, leading the way. And there’s a good chance it ends with “Dylan Raiola” becoming a household name.
“He certainly has helped us raise the level of play,” Rhule said, “and I think he’s gonna be a guy that all of college football knows.”
The turnover margin from last season was mentioned more than expected during the Rhule-Klatt interview. Although, in retrospect, last year’s turnover total was such a glaring disease infecting the team’s success that it should not have been a total surprise that it was a major topic.
Klatt pointed out that Nebraska committed 15 combined turnovers across five of its seven losses. Klatt has such high confidence in the Huskers to have a momentous season, in part, because of the simple fact that turnovers (forced and surrendered) often regress more toward the mean from one year to the next.
Rhule has the same school of thought. And, as it turns out, the Husker head man is one of us. He, too, dives into the annual Phil Steele CFB magazine. And he, too, puts a good deal of stock into it. At least one part of it, anyway.
“I always like when Phil Steele’s magazine comes out every year,” Rhule said. “One of the things he uses to predict success the next year is usually closes losses lead to close wins and turnovers usually (turn around). Let me tell you this right now: If we are minus-17 again this year, I’m gonna be playing golf. They won’t have me back as the coach, and they shouldn’t. It was a phenomenon that just kind of built on itself. Obviously, I didn’t do a good enough job. But we won’t be that this year.
“And, again, you talk about building. How do you do that? I think you just don’t panic. You go through that year and you say, ‘OK guys, listen. If we just fix a couple things, we’re gonna be a really good team.’ So I know we’ll be better on offense. We were really good on defense, we were pretty solid on special teams. … Now, as we enter Year 2, we’ll be better with the turnovers, we have a better idea of how to win in the Big Ten – I know the Big Ten’s changed now, but we’ll have a better idea with most of the teams and how to win.”
