What making a bowl game would mean for Matt Rhule, Nebraska

Nebraska grabbed their fourth win of the season on Saturday after defeating Northwestern in a gritty 17-9 win at home.

Things are looking up for the Cornhuskers in their first season under head coach Matt Rhule, as they are now just two wins away from securing bowl game eligibility with five games remaining in the regular season. On3’s Andy Staples recently spoke to HuskerOnline’s Sean Callahan about what Nebraska making a bowl game would mean for the program, with a seemingly small goal having potentially major implications.

“Yeah you think about 2016 they went to Nashville, that was their last bow trip. And I’ll tell you what, I think a lot of Husker fans would kill for a trip to Nashville or Vegas for a bowl game right now,” Callahan said. “You think about the Scott Frost era, that was the home run of coaching hires, like this cannot fail. They never went to a bowl game once under Scott Frost. They could gone in 2020, they players actually voted not to go to the bowl in 2020 after Scott Frost lobbied to play football in 2020, took a lot of heat for it at that time.”

Nebraska’s recent struggles are well documented, highlighted by six straight losing seasons before Rhule’s arrival, none of which did the team reach the necessary six-win mark to secure bowl eligibility. But a bowl game appearance this season could give the program and fan base the hope they need moving forward during the Rhule-era in Lincoln.

“So yeah, a bowl game of any kind if it’s in Detroit or it’s in Vegas, or Nashville, or New York, wherever. I think Rutgers would be a lock by the way at this point going to the Pinstripe Bowl getting their sixth win that just makes too much sense,” Callahan added. “But I think anyone here would just crave [a bowl game] and they need these practices Andy, they haven’t those 15 bowl practices since that 2016 season.”

Staples also asked Callahan what the Cornhuskers will need to do in order to take care of business and secure at least two wins to close out the season and become bowl-eligible.

“They gotta run the ball effectively, close to 200 yards in a game and they can do that. By the way, Northwestern only blitzed twice yesterday, so teams are not blitzing Nebraska anymore. They know [Heinrich] Haarberg is effective as a runner so they’re not gonna let him have those long QB scramble runs because they’re blitzing him. Because he can outrun your blitz, he’s that fast. So the running game is gonna be challenging,” Callahan explained.

Callahan added that the offensive line will be a key in Nebraska’s offensive success during the home stretch of the season, as a multitude of injuries transpired on the offensive line in the team’s win versus the Wildcats.

But there is one position group that’s already been absolutely depleted this season, and will definitely need some fresh faces to step up moving forward for the Cornhuskers’ offense.

“I just don’t know how they’re gonna draw it up at receiver,” Callahan said. “They’re gonna play three true freshmen and a walk-on from Omaha who was just put on scholarship in Alex Bullock, he’s their number one right now.”

The Cornhuskers will continue working toward their first bowl appearance since 2016 this Saturday, as they face a Purdue team that represents one of their next two opponents that currently have losing records.