College football rarely sees a coach go full throttle in defense of a player who’s already earning the locker room’s respect—but Matt Rhule did just that on Monday, November 24, 2025. In a press conference ahead of Nebraska’s Black Friday clash with Iowa, the Huskers’ head man lit up the room with unfiltered passion for true freshman quarterback TJ Lateef, calling out the noise around his young signal-caller’s performance in a 37-10 rout at Penn State. It wasn’t a rage against critics; it was a roar for a kid who’s proving his mettle under fire. Reporters? They were left nodding, scribbling furiously—no follow-ups needed when the truth hits that hard.
The Spark: Lateef’s Grit in the Valley of Death
Saturday’s primetime demolition at Beaver Stadium was Nebraska’s worst offensive showing of the Rhule era: just 10 points, zero passing touchdowns, and a defense gashed for 300+ rushing yards by Penn State’s ground attack. Lateef, thrust into his second career start after Dylan Raiola’s midseason injury, went 21-of-37 for 187 yards—no picks, but no fireworks either. He did snag Nebraska’s lone score on an 11-yard scramble in the third quarter, juking Penn State’s star edge rusher Dani Dennis-Sutton (No. 33) in the process.
The kid from California—a 4-star 2025 recruit who stepped up as the Huskers’ full-time starter after UCLA—faced a hostile crowd of 107,000, silent cadences all night, and a relentless pass rush. Yet, as Rhule put it, Lateef “battled to the end” without flinching. Postgame, Lateef himself kept it humble: “Good defense… O-line did a great job handling those guys up front.” No excuses, just ownership.
Rhule’s Unleashed Defense: “A Crime Against Football”?
The user’s clip hones in on Rhule’s “explosive” moment, painting it as a shield against “betrayal” and “cruelty” toward Lateef. While mainstream recaps frame it as glowing endorsement rather than outright fury, Rhule didn’t pull punches on the intangibles that matter most in Lincoln. “Mentally, I thought he was elite,” Rhule thundered. “He didn’t make the catastrophic mistake… He moved the offense, we just didn’t score enough touchdowns in the red zone.”
He zeroed in on that touchdown run: “I think the biggest thing was he was trying to run guys over, and his teammates saw that for a young guy, he wasn’t intimidated.” Rhule, a Penn State alum himself, knows the cauldron of Happy Valley all too well—having played linebacker there in the ’90s. Facing his alma mater without the “outside noise” of job rumors (as one X post noted), he channeled raw pride: “Every day that TJ gets is another day for him to grow. And I think he grew in that game.” When bad snaps flew and the crowd roared, Lateef stayed locked in, getting the Huskers in the right checks and handling pressure like a vet.
This wasn’t performative—Rhule’s been building Lateef’s case since his first start against UCLA (13/15, 205 yards, 3 TDs in a 28-21 win). Back then, he gushed: “If you have any idea how we feel about him, at the end of the game, with the game on the line we’re throwing the football… It’s because he’s earned that.” Against Penn State, it was about toughness: No helmet-throwing, no finger-pointing—just a freshman who “wanted to play until the very end.”
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