⚡ CFB Dashboard

(Photo: USA TODAY Sports) It's a place that appreciates a history conversation — the good and bad. So Nebraska players hear the numbers. How long it had been since this. How long since that. This week, the numbers were about East Lansing, where the Huskers hadn't won since 2012 and had lost their previous three trips. They were about a 4-0 start, Nebraska's first since 2016, and a win in its Big Ten opener, its first since 2019. Mekhi Nelson would rather talk about who the Huskers are now. "I feel as it shows that we're not complacent," the running back said after Nebraska's 31-13 win at Michigan State. "We're not like any of the other teams in the past. People always want to throw out, 'Oh, we haven't been 4-0 since this. We haven't won a conference opener since this long.' But what we like to say is, ''(We're) not them and they're not us.'" There's a past worth appreciating. Players who worked through harder Saturdays helped get Nebraska to this one. Matt Rhule knows that. A couple of former Huskers even sent him a message about the seeds they planted three years ago and what this team gets to reap now. The coach has plenty of love for those players. He also has a game against Maryland in Lincoln this week. "I just don't think you can win in today's college football talking too much about yesterday, or too much about tomorrow," Rhule said. "It's just this group." Bring up a milestone from 2012 and Rhule will remind you he wasn't here in 2012. Bring up the road-opener drought dating to 2019 and he'll tell you what matters about Saturday: Nebraska faced a good team away from home and did what it had to do. "Respectfully, you know how I feel about you guys: It means nothing to me," Rhule said of those historical marks. What did mean something to him? The players who were ready when their names were called. When somebody got banged up, somebody else stepped in. Rhule brought up Quinn Clark and D Bell. He mentioned Nyziah catching a ball in the four-minute offense, Mozee looking dynamic and Nelson making plays. Luke kept going, too. Those are the moments the coach can use. They say something about the group on the field now, and the work it put in to be ready. But even a win that offered plenty to like has a short shelf life. Rhule planned to watch the tape on the flight home, watch it again Sunday and turn his attention to Maryland. He didn't want his team lingering on Michigan State after that. Nor did he want to hear much about Maryland's recent results. The Terrapins were coming off a 54-3 loss to UCLA on Saturday. Rhule wasn't about to let that score do any of Nebraska's preparation for it. "It's just straight tactical," he said. Every game brings a different problem. Nebraska's job is to solve the one in front of it, then move along to the next. Nelson's message to a teammate against Michigan State fit that approach: Go back to the Day 1 installation. Execute those plays. Let things start falling into place. No need for this team to carry every number attached to earlier Nebraska teams into Maryland week. It has its own work to do. "I know that's boring," Rhule said, "but I've learned to be a little bit more boring."