Inside the Nebraska vs Penn State Clash: Unseen Insights from Black Shoe Diaries Revealed!

As the 2025 college football season barrels toward its final curtain, I find myself reflecting—somewhat sheepishly—on a habit I’ve neglected this year: sitting down for those revealing Q&A sessions with our opponents. Time slips by faster than a corner blitz, and details? They fade like echoes in a roaring stadium. Yet, here we are, looming over the last two games, buzzing with anticipation and, frankly, a fair share of uncertainty. Enter Brian Bennett of Black Shoe Diaries, who kindly took the time to unpack the season’s rollercoaster, sharing candid insights about everything from coaching changes that shook the fanbase to the mental grit—or lack thereof—within Penn State’s locker room. If you’re craving that insider perspective on all things Penn State versus Nebraska, you’re in the right place. Curious to dive deeper into the nuances and get a feel for what’s really going on behind the scenes? LEARN MORE

I have been derelict in doing questions and answer sessions with our opponents this season. I tend to forget a lot of things these days.And here we are, coming down to the last two games of the 2025 season.

Brian Bennett at Black Shoe Diaries was kind enough to answer a bunch of questions for me.

For even more from BSD, check out their Nebraska Preview – it’s always fun to see what the enemy thinks of your football team. Also, they have a “Who’s the Next Coach” bit up recently, and it has 210 comments. I didn’t go through EVERYTHING, but I saw zero mentions of Matt Rhule from waht I did read.

Q: The obvious subject is the James Franklin firing. Franklin was fired after the loss in double overtime. Were you surprised? Were you upset? Relieved? What was your reaction to the firing?

My personal reaction was that “it was time”. I was a Franklin supporter, but it wasn’t the double overtime loss to Oregon that did it for me – and he wasn’t fired until a couple of weeks later.

It was clear that after Penn State followed up the White Out loss with losses to UCLA and Northwestern that he had lost the team.

Franklin had put so much into this particular year and things simply blew up in his face. I wasn’t surprised. You could just feel the tide had completely turned by the end of the dispirited and ugly loss at home to Northwestern. There was no coming back from it.

Overall, what was the fan base’s reaction?

Franklin said he was the man to blame for what happened in those three straight losses leading up to his firing. So, I think the consensus from the fan base was “ok, then you have to go”. As Penn State’s recruiting class has fallen apart and as Franklin was just hired at Virginia Tech, I think there is a small minority of the fan base that is saying “maybe we shouldn’t have been so quick with this decision”.

But, this really wasn’t a quick decision.

Franklin was – unfairly – on the hot seat in 2016 before that team turned it around and won the Big Ten.

The team underperformed in 2020/2021, but that was easily brushed away with the COVID and injured quarterback excuses. But then the team got passed by Michigan and saw Oregon join the league.

Fairly or unfairly, Franklin is the literally the first Penn State football coach ever to be fired for not living up to on-the-field expectations. He raised expectations and Penn State and he deserves credit. It’s also clear that this 2025 team failed miserably and this was as good a time as any to make a change.

I can only assume that Penn State fans did not want to see Matt Rhule as their coach. But you can go ahead and tell me about it if you want.

I think most view Rhule as a homegrown version of Franklin. He’s great at building programs, especially programs that were down on their luck. But, that’s not what the current version of Penn State is – it’s a team that was a blown fourth-quarter lead from playing for the national title just back in January.

I think there’s also a question about the relationship between Rhule and Penn State AD Pat Kraft. They are clearly very close friends and there are questions about how that would work in a boss-employee dynamic. It was nice to hear Rhule say such good things about Penn State just before he signed his extension. He will get a nice welcome in Happy Valley this weekend, I’m sure.

Penn State comes into this game at 4-6. They still have a ball game to play. But it’s clear they lost to UCLA and Northwestern because of their mental state, not because of their roster. Do you think Penn State comes into the Nebraska game with a purpose or are they still mentally broken?

They’ve said the right things all along and, honestly, their play has backed it up. This is a flawed football team. The offensive line has underperformed. The star quarterback is out for the year. The wide receivers haven’t played well.

On defense, they lost their best linebacker and it’s taken them until the last two weeks to look like they actually have a plan. Having said all of that, they’re still a team that has had fourth quarter leads in eight of the 10 games they’ve played this year.

Their last time in Beaver Stadium, they were a miraculous acrobatic catch away from knocking off No. 2 Indiana. Interim coach Terry Smith has them playing hard and I think they’ll be motivated to win their last game in Beaver Stadium – the last time a lot of these guys will play there with all of the uncertainty ahead and a senior-laden roster.

Kaytron Allen. Nick Singleton. Penn State’s rush offense is 65th nationally, but they put 240 yards up against Michigan State. Nebraska’s rush defense is 92nd nationally. I don’t think there’s any secret as to how this game’s going to be played. Can you give us an idea how Nebraska can stop your rushing offense, or should we just start weeping now?

A lot of the rushing attack against Michigan State came in the fourth quarter – when Penn State had a nine-minute possession and then Allen broke a couple of long runs on one final drive where the Spartans had sort of quit.

The simplest and easiest answer is for Nebraska to get a lead and not wind up in that situation.

There’s no doubt that Penn State is going to feed Allen – he needs 138 yards to become the all-time leading rusher in school history.

But, this offense has also been very predictable and susceptible to run blitzes. So, John Butler can send some numbers, give different looks, and take advantage of Penn State playing a quarterback who they don’t trust.

Penn State’s rush defense is 71st, giving up 148.4 yards per game. I’ve watched Penn State play. Their defense doesn’t seem to really have any weaknesses. Can you tell me what you think can exploit on offense to score some points on a Saturday night in November in Happy Valley? Basically, if you were Nebraska’s offense, how would you win this game?

Have your quarterback run. Honestly. Penn State has been torched by mobile quarterbacks all season long. The UCLA game was downright embarrassing. Penn State’s linebackers aren’t great, so exploiting them is key.

Defensive end Dani Dennis-Sutton has finally played up to his potential the last couple of weeks, so sitting your quarterback in the pocket isn’t the best plan. But, moving the pocket or just relying on some quarterback run game like Iowa did can net some big plays.

Go ahead and give me a prediction.

So much of a vibes pick. But, Penn State has won nine straight Senior Day games and I think this one is a big deal to a lot of different people for a lot of different reasons.

Like I mentioned earlier, Terry Smith has this group playing hard and has even mentioned the idea of reaching bowl eligibility (I think Penn State would decline any bid). With that in mind, I think Penn State gets enough offense to come away with a 24-17 win.