House of Horrors: Ranking Nebraska's 1-score losses under Matt Rhule

The 86,907 that filled Memorial Stadium on Saturday night thought they were forgoing their traditional Halloween activities to partake in Huskers football. Little did they know, they'd actually stepped into the largest haunted house in the state.

Actually, that last part isn't exactly true. The 86,907 who voluntarily attended Washington-Nebraska on Saturday night knew all too well what they'd signed up for. 

Nebraska has lost 53 one-score games since the College Football Playoff began in 2014, 11 more than everyone else in college football. It would be unfair to categorize this as a fully Matt Rhule problem. 

And yet.

Rhule has dropped 15 one-score games in his four seasons on the job. They account for more than two-thirds of his losses (and only seven of his 28 wins). It isn't just the what, but the how. Saturday's loss may have been the worst -- not only Nebraska's third straight loss, but their third straight loss in which Nebraska led in the fourth quarter.

So bad was Washington 17, Nebraska 10 that inspired me to rank all 15 (and counting), just so we can have them all in one place.

As we go through this list, count the number of times Nebraska scored 20 points. The amount of fourth quarter touchdowns is outnumbered by the fumbles, interceptions, fourth down sacks, and three-and-outs seemingly 3-to-1. The defense isn't off the hook, either, though. A unit that routinely locks down the opposing offense through three quarters becomes a sieve in the fourth, consistently lacking a killer instinct and routinely giving up lengthy touchdown drives.

Coaches, players and fans all know the drill by now. A single incompletion, a solitary missed tackle immediately snowballs, and before you know it it's 3:30 in the morning, you're staring at the ceiling wondering why God has abandoned you. In the humanities, they call it a self-fulfilling prophecy. In science, they call it inertia. 

In football, we call it culture. 

Just as games collapse under Rhule, so do seasons. A 5-3 start became a 5-7 finish in 2023. The 2024 team started 5-1 and finished the regular season 6-6. Last season, 6-2 became 7-6. And right now, Nebraska has turned a 5-0 start into the most excruciating 5-3 record in the sport. 

Husker fans may quibble with this list, and is their prerogative. They've lived it, I've only observed it from afar -- viewed through my fingers, palms clasped against my face. 

Lo and behold, the Matt Rhule House of Horrors, ranked from least painful to most. 

15. Sept. 20, 2025: No. 21 Michigan 30, Nebraska 27. The Huskers never led and only had the ball with a chance to tie or take the lead once in the fourth quarter. That possession went 2-yard loss, Dylan Raiola incompletion, Dylan Raiola sack. 

14. Oct. 26, 2024: No. 4 Ohio State 21, Nebraska 17. Dylan Raiola moved the Huskers 74 yards in nine plays to give the visiting Huskers a 17-14 lead with 10:47 left, but Ohio State immediately answered with its own 8-play, 75-yard TD drive (converting a 4th-and-1 on the way). Nebraska's final two offensive possessions went three-and-out, interception. 

13. Nov. 4, 2023: Michigan State 20, Nebraska 17. In Rhule's first season, Nebraska had the entire month of November to notch a single victory and end a previously-unfathomable 6-year bowl drought. The Huskers never led after the 9:14 mark of the second quarter and needed a late touchdown to just pull within three of a Spartans team that would finish 4-8. The Huskers would not win again this season.

12. Nov. 9, 2024: USC 28, Nebraska 20. Trailing 21-20 entering the fourth quarter, Nebraska's defense allowed USC to run 22 plays for 149 yards in the final frame, including a 13-play, 84-yard, 7:39 march to push the lead to eight. Nebraska drove to the USC 14 with five seconds left, but then went false start-interception from there. 

11. Nov. 1, 2025: No. 23 USC 21, Nebraska 17. A 39-yard field goal gave Nebraska a 17-14 lead with 12:53 left, and the defense immediately surrendered a 6-play, 75-yard touchdown drive to give the Trojans a lead they would not relinquish. The offense did not cross its own 40 in its final two possessions, ending the day with a run stuff on 4th-and-1 from its own 27. 

10. Nov. 18, 2023: Wisconsin 24, Nebraska 17 (OT). This time, Nebraska didn't wait until the fourth quarter to collapse. The Huskers led 14-0 in the first quarter, then didn't score again until booting a 30-yard field goal to force overtime. In the extra frame, Wisconsin scored a touchdown while Purdy tossed a 4th-and-the-game interception. 

9. Nov. 2, 2024: UCLA 27, Nebraska 20. Playing a 2-5 Bruins squad, at home, Nebraska built a 27-7 deficit, but made it close late. Having gained all of 38 yards on their previous four possessions, the Huskers went for 235 over their final four chances. Only two ended in touchdowns, though: a 1st-and-goal ended in a turnover on downs, and backup quarterback Heinrich Haarberg threw an interception in UCLA territory on Nebraska's final drive. Sensing the moment, Nebraska kicker John Hohl missed a PAT after Nebraska's final touchdown, forcing the Huskers to drive for the tie, not the win. 

8. Nov. 11, 2023: Maryland 13, Nebraska 10. A dominant (10-0) third quarter stake the Huskers to a 3-point lead, but the Huskers offense did just about everything possible to lose this game by themselves. Jeff Sims turned the ball over on consecutive plays and was pulled. After its defense forced a fumble near its own end zone, backup Chubba Purdy guided an 11-play, 90-yard drive, but threw an interception on 3rd-and-goal with 3:37 left. Maryland then went 75 yards in 12 plays to kick a 24-yard game-winning field goal at the buzzer. 

7. Sept. 20, 2024: No. 24 Illinois 31, No. 22 Nebraska 24 (OT). A rare fourth quarter touchdown (scored on the first play of the frame) gave Nebraska a 24-17 lead, and a 39-yard field goal would have given the Huskers the lead with 2:59 left. It missed. Illinois scored in two plays in overtime, while true freshman quarterback Dylan Raiola was sacked on three of the Huskers' four plays. 

6. Nov. 29, 2024: Iowa 13, Nebraska 10. Having already clinched an all-too-elusive a bowl trip, Nebraska seemed on its way to avenging last year's loss in Lincoln with a 10-0 halftime advantage. You know the drill from here. The offense didn't score after halftime, the defense gave up a 72-yard touchdown pass to tie it, and then a Dylan Raiola strip sack set up Drew Stevens's 53-yard game winner at the buzzer. 

5. Aug. 31, 2023: Minnesota 13, Nebraska 10. There's no let down like your first. In Rhule's very first game, Nebraska peaked at a 94 percent win probability in the fourth quarter, holding the ball with a 1st-and-10 near midfield and a 10-3 lead and under five minutes to play. From there: a fumble, a Minnesota touchdown (on 4th-and-10, no less), an interception, and a walk-off Gophers field goal. 

4. Nov. 24, 2023: Iowa 13, Nebraska 10. Nebraska entered the game having lost three straight, but needed a win over its biggest rival to cap Rhule's first season with a bowl trip. And it seemed like that might happen when Tommi Hill intercepted Iowa's Deaon Hill (no relation), giving the Huskers the ball at their own 45 with 31 seconds left. Chubba Purdy threw his own interception two plays later, and Iowa's Leshon Williams broke free for a 22-yard run -- it was Iowa's longest gain since the second quarter; the Hawkeyes had 40 yards of offense in the second half until that play -- setting up a 38-yard walk-off field goal for the Hawkeyes. 

3. Oct. 17, 2026: Oregon 17, Nebraska 14. It wasn't just the how, but the who. Carrying a 14-6 lead into the fourth quarter, Nebraska's defense allowed Oregon to run 37 plays in the fourth quarter. THIRTY-SEVEN PLAYS IN THE FOURTH QUARTER. A 17-play, 69-yard drive pulled Oregon within five with 7:18 left. Any sort of drive from the Huskers offense likely ends the game, but instead they went 3-and-out, turning a completed pass on 3rd-and-8 into a 5-yard loss. Then, Oregon went 82 yards in 20 plays in just 5:03, when none other than Dylan Raiola fired a go-ahead 4-yard touchdown pass with 28 seconds left. 

2. Oct. 10, 2026: No. 7 Indiana 20, Nebraska 17. Anthony Colandera's 39-yard touchdown run gave 5-0 Nebraska a 17-6 lead over the defending national champions with 12 minutes to play. Indiana scored on the very next play, then went 80 yards in five plays on their ensuing possession to take a lead they would carry for the remainder of the game. The Huskers did not cross the 50 in their final three possessions, and Indiana has not produced a single touchdown drive longer than 25 yards in its two games since. 

1. Oct. 31, 2026: Washington 17, Nebraska 10. With 1:42 left in the game, Nebraska led 7-3 and had Washington in a 4th-and-18 near midfield. Twenty-seven seconds later, Washington led 17-7. Anthony Colandrea, who had just re-signed his rev-share contract to return to Lincoln for the 2027 season the previous day, went 24-of-44 for 255 yards with a touchdown, three interceptions (including a back-breaking pick-six), good for a QBR of 33.3. 

And remember, kids: These are the 15 worst one-score losses so far.