WATCH: Matt Rhule postgame press conference after Nebraska loss to USC
Matt Rhule and the Nebraska football program are 6-3.
Final score: USC 21, Nebraska 17
Rhule and the Huskers began the season by rattling off consecutive wins over Cincinnati, Akron and Houston Christian for a 3-0 start. Then came the disappointing Week 4 loss to Michigan followed by bounce-back victories over Michigan State and Maryland before another disheartening loss to Minnesota.
After Rhule and the Huskers earned their way into the national AP Top 25 poll on the back of that 5-1 start, things took a sharp turn for them in that lifeless loss to the Golden Gophers.
The Huskers rebounded again, however, last week by outlasting a hard-nosed, sturdy Northwestern program to set up the showdown under the bright lights – both the ones at Memorial Stadium and the national bulbs from the NBC Big Ten Saturday Night primetime slot – against No. 23 USC.
When the dust of it all settled, Rhule and Nebraska (6-3 overall, 3-3 Big Ten) once again fell short.
It was nine years ago when Nebraska took down No. 22 Oregon (35-32 on Sept. 17, 2016 at Memorial Stadium). All this time later, and the Huskers are still searching for their next win over a Top-25 team. This time, it was the Trojans (6-2, 4-1) who worked Nebraska and extended the Huskers’ skid to 29 consecutive losses to ranked teams – and Rhule’s mark to 2-24 during his time as a college coach, low-lighted by an 0-16 mark vs. Top 25 foes at Nebraska.
Related content on Matt Rhule, Huskers:
>> Instant Takeaways: USC 21, Nebraska 17
>> Report Card: Grading Nebraska’s offense, defense in loss to USC
>> Game Thread: Your reactions & thoughts from Nebraska-USC
Before the team reviews the game film and gets ready for another week of practice before next Saturday night’s road trip to the Rose Bowl to take on UCLA, Rhule and several players were made available to the media for Saturday’s postgame press conference.
The players who spoke at the main podium were quarterback TJ Lateef (the Huskers’ true freshman signal caller who played most of the second half after Dylan Raiola went down with an injury early in the third quarter), running back Emmett Johnson, offensive lineman Rocco Spindler, cornerback Andrew Marshall and cornerback Ceyair Wright.
Rhule and the players all discussed the 21-17 defeat to USC, what the loss could mean moving forward and more thoughts from Saturday night.
Watch and listen to those interviews via the videos below.
Saturday’s postgame press conference videos are also available to watch for free on the Inside Nebraska YouTube channel.
Nebraska coach Matt Rhule:
Husker QB TJ Lateef:
Nebraska RB Emmett Johnson:
Husker OL Rocco Spindler:
Nebraska CB Andrew Marshall:
Husker CB Ceyair Wright: