Nebraska’s first adjustment was to move Dana Holgorsen, not replace him. The offensive coordinator went from the sideline to the coaches’ box for Friday night’s game at Illinois, with the Huskers searching for a way out of a three-game losing streak. By the end of the night, the question was no longer where he should call the offense from. The Huskers scored 13 points, missed two field goals, and left Champaign with another defeat. By Saturday, Matt Rhule had made a much bigger change.

Rhule dismissed Holgorsen as offensive coordinator on November 7, a day after the 24-13 loss to Illinois extended Nebraska’s losing streak to four games. He announced the decision in a statement that opened with an unusually blunt admission.

“Like so many of you, I am angry, I am disappointed, and I am frustrated with our results this season,” Matt Rhule said in his statement. “As the head coach, I am ultimately responsible for every aspect of our program, including wins and losses.

“It is my responsibility to make changes when they are warranted. While there are many areas that need improvement, our offensive plan and execution is simply not working.”

Co-offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach Glenn Thomas will take over play-calling duties for the remainder of the season.

Rhule is turning to a familiar colleague. Thomas worked with him at Temple in 2015 and 2016 before following him to Baylor, where he served as co-offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach from 2017 through 2019. Their work together included developing Temple’s P.J. Walker and Baylor’s Charlie Brewer, giving Thomas experience guiding quarterbacks in Rhule’s offense well before their reunion at Nebraska.

Now in his third year with the Huskers, Thomas inherits an offense and a quarterback room he already knows. His existing role working with Anthony Colandrea provides continuity, but the responsibility changes: he must now turn that familiarity into better results as Nebraska tries to halt its four-game slide. His first opportunity comes at Rutgers on November 14.

The decision comes after a 5-0 start that had raised hopes around Lincoln. Four straight defeats have since dropped Nebraska to 5-4 overall, and 2-4 in Big Ten play, with the offense struggling to produce enough points to stop the slide.

The Huskers scored just 54 points across those four losses, averaging 13.5 per game and never finishing with more than 17. The 13-point performance at Illinois continued that pattern, leaving Rhule to make a change after another week of adjustments failed to produce a turnaround.

Rhule had defended Holgorsen earlier in the week, calling him “one of the best offensive minds of our generation.” Five days later, he dismissed him. Nebraska had entered the Illinois game with only 41 points across its previous three defeats, and moving Holgorsen to the coaches’ box did not provide the improvement Rhule was seeking.

He initially resisted the idea of making a coaching change, instead moving Holgorsen and offensive line coach Geep Wade from the sideline to the coaches’ box.

Holgorsen had also spoken about the need to find “a few more points.” But the Huskers went to Illinois and managed only 13.

Nebraska moved the ball well enough to give itself chances. The Huskers outgained Illinois 426-376 and averaged 5.8 yards per play, yet finished with only two scoring possessions. Colandrea completed 32 of 43 passes for 284 yards and a touchdown without throwing an interception, but that production did not translate into enough points.

Jacory Barney Jr. led Nebraska with six catches for 93 yards, including a 51-yard touchdown that cut Illinois’ lead to 21-13 early in the fourth quarter. It gave the Huskers a chance to recover, but they did not score again.

The bigger problem was finishing the longer possessions. Four Nebraska drives lasted at least 11 plays and ended without points. John Hohl missed field goals from 45 and 54 yards, while the Huskers converted only one of four fourth-down attempts and committed 11 penalties for 82 yards. Those missed opportunities explain why the yardage offered little comfort after another defeat.

The penalties were costly from the start. On Nebraska’s opening possession, an illegal-motion penalty on Jacory Barney Jr. wiped out a 17-yard reception by Jamal Rule, and the Huskers eventually punted. Their next drive brought another setback just as the offense appeared to be threatening.

Colandrea broke free for a 21-yard run to the Illinois 10, but a holding call on offensive lineman Tree Babalade against defensive lineman Pat Farrell erased the gain. Rhule disputed the decision, suggesting Farrell had flopped. Nebraska could not recover enough ground to reach the end zone and came away empty-handed when John Hohl missed a 45-yard field goal, ending an 11-play, 41-yard possession.

That sequence captured the problem Nebraska could not solve Friday night: moving the ball without finishing drives. The Huskers had four possessions of at least 11 plays that produced no points, leaving their 426 yards of offense worth little on the scoreboard.

Too many possessions ended with a flag, a missed kick, or a failed fourth down. Illinois did not need to produce a perfect defensive performance. Simply put, Matt Rhule’s team kept making the job easier.

“I will continue to evaluate our program through the season and certainly at its conclusion and make additional changes where I believe they will help us win,” Rhule noted. “The Nebraska fan base has high expectations and I embrace them.”

On November 2, Matt Rhule had been asked directly about the possibility of changing his staff. His answer was that he was “steady in the boat.” He also called Holgorsen “one of the best offensive minds of our generation.”

Rhule had even suggested that the problem might be his own approach. He said the Huskers had tried to do too much on offense and needed to simplify.

Now, in his November 7 statement, Rhule has made clear that the decision was about more than the result against Illinois. He also made a point of praising Holgorsen’s work at Nebraska, describing him as a strong leader with a “fantastic” offensive mind.

Holgorsen joined Nebraska as an offensive consultant in November 2024 after holding the same role at TCU. Within a week, Rhule handed him the offensive coordinator’s job and play-calling duties, replacing Marcus Satterfield in an effort to revive the struggling offense.

Nebraska committed to keeping him that December with a two-year contract worth $1.2 million annually. At the time, Matt Rhule said the progress made over the final three regular-season games offered “a glimpse of the potential of our offense under his direction.” He also called the bowl game, giving him four games in charge before his first full season in 2025. His dismissal therefore came during his second full season as coordinator, nearly two years after Rhule first turned to him for answers.

The early returns in 2026 were encouraging as Nebraska averaged 43.6 points and 475.6 yards per game through its first five games. The collapse since then has been hard to ignore.

Nebraska’s slide has been particularly frustrating because the first three defeats came by one score, with the Huskers holding fourth-quarter leads in each. Those opportunities slipped away, and Thomas now has three games to stop the losing streak: at Rutgers on November 14, home against Ohio State on November 21 and at Iowa on November 27.

At 5-4, the Huskers remain one win short of bowl eligibility. Rhule has changed the play-caller, but the task remains the same: turn offensive production into points and close games into wins. After four straight defeats, Nebraska’s finish will determine whether this change salvages a season that began with five straight victories.