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Tad Stryker Pregame Perspective: Strong Backing for Matt Rhule

Nebraska's new head coach enjoys enthusiastic fan support despite two road losses to start the Huskers' season

Tad Stryker

Tad Stryker
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Disappointment over a pair of turnover-filled losses at Minnesota and Colorado has not diminished people’s belief in Matt Rhule, at least for the overwhelming majority of Nebraska football fans. If my pregame survey is any indication, about seven out of eight Husker boosters are largely unshaken in their enthusiasm for Rhule as head coach.

Fans I encountered seemed to consider a 13-10 loss at Minneapolis and a 36-14 setback at Boulder as disappointing, but not unsettling.

On a breezy, partly cloudy Saturday afternoon before Nebraska hosted Northern Illinois in Rhule’s home debut, I went to parking lots and gathering places near Pinnacle Bank Arena and along South Eighth Street to ask 100 Husker fans this question:

“How have Nebraska’s first two road losses affected your enthusiasm for Matt Rhule’s hiring?”

They chose from five possible responses, which ranged from strong support to strong skepticism. Although I regularly hear from the skeptics after each Husker loss, I didn’t encounter any of them Saturday on the streets of Lincoln.

The most popular choice was also the most optimistic: “Not at all, I’m just as excited as I was,” which was selected by 61 percent of the respondents.

A little over one-fourth of the respondents (27 percent) chose “Only slightly, Rhule has a good plan and things will improve.”

I detect a sense of urgency among 12 percent, who selected, “I’m concerned, but I still support Rhule. Fix the offense, coach!”

There was no support for the final two responses: “Very concerned, Rhule made some bad coaching hires on offense,” and “I was never in favor of hiring Rhule and this is evidence I was right.”

Tad Stryker

A Husker alumni band entertains fans before Nebraska hosted Northern Illinois on Saturday, Sept. 16.

Tad Stryker

The band in action in Lincoln's Haymarket district.

Tad Stryker

Kids play a game of cornhole near a tailgating location before the game. 

Tad Stryker

A successful toss.

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Tad Stryker
TAD STRYKER

Tad Stryker, whose earliest memories of Nebraska football take in the last years of the Bob Devaney era, has covered Nebraska collegiate and prep sports for 40 years. Before moving to Lincoln, he was a sports writer, columnist and editor for two newspapers in North Platte. He can identify with fans who listen to Husker sports from a tractor cab and those who watch from a sports bar. A history buff, Stryker has written for HuskerMax since 2008. You can reach Tad at tad.stryker@gmail.com.

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