Matt Rhule shares psychological, physical value of bowl eligibility for Nebraska

For the first time in eight years, Nebraska is going to a bowl game.

Following the 44-25 win over Wisconsin this weekend that clinched their first bowl berth since 2016, Matt Rhule received the obvious questions of how it felt to end that streak for the Cornhuskers. He said it was a two-part answer as to its effect on their program.

“Well, I think there’s probably a psychological component to it. But there’s also a physical component to it,” Rhule said postgame.

For one, Nebraska will get to participate in the additional bowl practices next month which they’ve been missing out on. That will allow for additional development to set them up for next season to make consecutive bowls and start a new streak of their own.

“As I said when I was talking to the production? You know, you think, the last seven years, Wisconsin has been in a bowl game. That’s roughly 15 practices a year. That’s 105 practices that their players have had of development that we haven’t had,” Rhule said. “So, you know, this is a great way to send off the seniors. It’s also an opportunity for us to continue to develop our players.”

For two, the Cornhuskers can finally say that they did it. It’s not something that they’ll have to keep questioning or wondering about as their work in their approach has led to the end result that they were hoping for.

“Then, kind of, you know, the cloud that kind of hangs over everything, you know. Like, it’s gone, you know. This will be the last time that we ever celebrate six wins,” said Rhule. “As I’ve told our players, it’s always the hardest to do it, you know, because it’s always hard to be the first to do it, right. Everyone’s always, you know, you’re own self – you’re always questioning, like, is this right, is that right? Once you do it, it’s like, okay, this works. I trust it now.”

“Well, it’s, like, you know, again, it’s the third time I’ve done this. I’m in the same exact spot that I’ve been every time. So it’s just kind of like, you know – the hard thing now is, you know, you see other people that are doing it faster in different ways. So that – I mean, I guess that makes sense. Like, it’s why people say, ‘Why didn’t we do this? Why did we do that?’. But, you know, I was just trusting in what I saw, you know,” Rhule continued. “I just think seeing the guys, seeing the way they work everyday, knowing that they’re here? You know, they hear all the noise and they probably have their own questions. Like, ‘Coach, you’re working us really hard and we’re not getting what we want?’. But no one has ever accomplished anything in life by quitting halfway through.”

After a 5-1 start, Nebraska almost did it to themselves again with a four-game losing streak this last month. However, the ‘Huskers still managed to clinch it with a game to spare, which will now allow them to focus on their finale this week as a game rather than a moment where they had to win in.

“I hope, as we come in tomorrow, our players have a much better picture of what’s possible when you do things at the level that they’re capable of,” said Rhule. “You know, we’ve gotten to a bowl game. We have another opportunity on Friday to go play another game, a rivalry game that should mean a lot to us.”