What Nebraska coach Matt Rhule said after losing to Utah in Las Vegas Bowl

There were plenty of questions about the Nebraska defense and its future heading into the Cornhuskers’ Las Vegas Bowl matchup against No. 15 Utah on Wednesday.

Those questions persisted in the postgame press conference, after Nebraska gave up 535 yards of total offense in a 44-22 Utah win.

“They got the best of us today,” Nebraska coach Matt Rhule said.

The 7-6 Huskers had several important opt-outs for the bowl game, and they had an interim defensive coordinator, Phil Snow, captaining that side of the ball.

Utah, meanwhile, had opt-outs in talented offensive tackles Spencer Fano and Caleb Lomu, as well as defensive end Logan Fano, but the Utes largely had their top personnel available for the first game of the Morgan Scalley era.

That all led to an offensive showcase for Utah, as the Utes scored 37 unanswered points after the Huskers took a 14-7 lead through one quarter.

After a first-quarter punt, Utah scored on its next five possessions, including four touchdowns — a common occurrence for a Utes squad that entered the bowl game averaging 40.9 points per game, fifth nationally.

“There was a lot of big, explosive runs (for Utah),” Rhule said. “I wasn’t concerned with the effort, (it) was more just the execution.”

Devon Dampier set a Vegas Bowl record with 458 yards of total offense, breaking the record previously set by BYU’s John Beck (410) back in 2006.

That included 310 passing yards and two touchdowns, to go with a game-high 148 rushing yards and three scores on the ground.

Dampier, in particular, earned praise from Rhule for his MVP effort at Allegiant Stadium.

“I thought (Dampier) was spectacular. We’ve seen him all year, he’s done that versus everybody,” Rhule said.

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Rhule, who’s already had quarterback Dylan Raiola declare his intentions to hit the transfer portal, pointed to Utah as a success story for making the transfer portal work in their favor.

Last year, the Utes went 5-7 and missed out on the postseason, amid a year where quarterback issues plagued the Salt Lake City team.

This season, Dampier, who was previously at New Mexico, and first-year offensive coordinator Jason Beck — along with one of college football’s top offensive lines — helped elevate the Utes into one of the top offenses in the country.

“They’re a great model, right?” Rhule said, speaking about Utah and its ability to find solid additions in the transfer portal. “They were (5-7) last year, and you know that quarterback was on another roster, and he came in. He’s been a lightning rod for them.”

With the bowl behind them, Rhule and the Huskers are gearing their efforts towards the future — that includes getting ready for the transfer portal opening Friday, finding some answers on defense and becoming more competitive against the country’s top teams, like Utah.

“We’ll look at everything. We’ll attack everything in the portal. We’ll attack everything with our roster. We’ll try to find ways to improve. To me, it’s really black and white, isn’t it? Like, hey, they’re the No. 15 team in the country. They beat us,” Rhule said. “We were able to hang with them early for a while. We’re not able to do it the entire game yet. And that’s where we have to improve.”