LINCOLN, Neb. -- This week at Nebraska has produced a list of questions and concerns in the wake of the Huskers' showing against Minnesota.
For instance:
* In what scenario is it reasonable to accept that some Nebraska assistant coaches and players failed to take seriously, as coach Matt Rhule said, a Minnesota team that had won five consecutive games in this series before the Gophers' 24-6 victory Friday?
* How could so much go wrong immediately for Nebraska after it reached a high point of success to date under Rhule with consecutive comeback wins in the fourth quarter?
* Why were the offensive and defensive game plans out of alignment with Rhule's vision of the style required against Minnesota?
Rhule laid it out in plain terms as he's not done at Nebraska in three seasons.
"We completely failed," he said.
He called out the poor pass protection and tackling. Rhule shined a light on the lack of offensive balance and a defensive scheme that trended too "vanilla" against Minnesota's methodical effort. A kind of entitlement among the Nebraska players, who showed disappointment to trail by 1 point at halftime, angered Rhule.
And he implicated himself.
"It rests on my shoulders," Rhule said. "And if the players are who they say they are, which I believe they are, then it rests on their shoulders, too."
The performance last week points to a lack of focus. Media sessions this week with Rhule, offensive coordinator Dana Holgorsen, defensive coordinator John Butler and several Huskers led to acknowledgments about last week -- before the game at Minnesota and during it.
Butler said he deviated from a few planned tactics on defense after a 71-yard run by Darius Taylor early in the second quarter led to Minnesota's lone points of the first half.
It was a learning experience, the first-year defensive coordinator said. "We've just gotta freakin' play every play like our hair's on fire and let somebody else worry about the score."
Tight end Luke Lindenmeyer said he believed the Huskers lost sight of "who they are" after rallying to beat Michigan State and Maryland. He noticed a change in practice and wished he would have said something.
Cornerback Andrew Marshall agreed the Huskers "took our foot off the gas" and "got comfortable" after they won on the road in Week 7. Linebacker Marques Watson-Trent said the Huskers "relaxed a little bit."
Offensive guard Henry Lutovsky said he believed all week that Nebraska was better than Minnesota.
"I still believe that," he said.
Lutovsky erred, though, in thinking the Gophers would quit in the fourth quarter.
"Our whole objective," Butler said, "is to make sure that when a fight starts, we're not counterpunchers, but we're people that are taking it to the other person. And when you taste your own blood, you fight back."
Rhule agreed the Huskers were not ready for a fight.
"When you get punched in the face," he said, "you either cower back or you come out swinging. I'm not saying we cowered back, but we certainly didn't swing."
Hints of complacency, entitlement and overconfidence speak poorly to the Huskers' preparation. But they are only symptoms that share a root cause.
So what else happened last week that might have contributed to the fourth-most lopsided defeat -- and most difficult to explain, considering the matchup -- in Rhule's 32 games with the Huskers?
The elephant in the room involved the conversations nationally and in Nebraska about Rhule and his connections to Penn State and its open coaching position. Rhule addressed the job opening publicly twice last week.
Holgorsen and quarterback Dylan Raiola were asked about Penn State's possible interest in Rhule in the days ahead of Nebraska's trip to Minnesota. They downplayed its impact as a distraction, as did running back Emmett Johnson after the Huskers' loss in his hometown.
Perhaps it weighed on the coach, his players and staff. Only they know. Something seemed to knock them out of sync.
"I couldn't convince the coaching staff what that game was going to be like," Rhule said. "I knew what PJ Fleck and Minnesota would be like on a Friday night, and I couldn't convince the team. So now they know. That's not me saying I told them and they didn't do it. It's me saying I didn't get it done."
Since when has Rhule struggled to convey messages within the program?
"That's my job," he said. "My job is to get the team ready to play. And they were not ready for that battle."
Excuses don't matter, Holgorsen said. He counts more games on his belt as a head coach than even Rhule.
"Every single week is going to be tough," Holgorsen said. "Look what's going on across the country. It's the way it is. It's college football."
Florida State hasn't won an ACC game in longer than a year. Penn State, preseason No. 2, is riding a four-game skid. Preseason No. 1 Texas is struggling to stay ranked. Meanwhile, Vanderbilt, Georgia Tech and Indiana are a combined 20-1.
Beyond the psychology looms this question: Did too much happen too fast for Nebraska?
Rhule's typical pace is marked by slow and steady progress until an outside force affects it. Despite the Huskers' flat performance at Minnesota, the potential for distraction remains.
Next to test the Nebraska resolve: Northwestern, which brings a 5-2 mark and a four-game winning streak to Memorial Stadium for the 11 a.m. CT kickoff.
The Wildcats play "very much the same way" as Minnesota, Rhule said.
The coach promised better from the Huskers. If he were a fan, he said he'd boo a Nebraska team that repeated its play against Minnesota.
"We better show up," he said. "Hold it. Let me say this, we will show up. OK, how about that? We will show up."