Nebraska is bowl eligible.
Let me repeat that. Nebraska is bowl eligible.
For the first time since 2016, Nebraska is bowl eligible, after defeating Wisconsin for the first time since 2012, 44-25 at Memorial Stadium Saturday.
Official attendance was 86,923, NCAA-record consecutive sellout 403, and many, mostly students, flooded the field to celebrate the Huskers’ sixth victory.
Energy at the stadium was high, on the field and off.
“Trying to reach this point and being able to actually achieve it today, I mean, it’s a surreal moment today,” senior defensive end Ty Robinson said.
Robinson, among 30 honored on Senior Day, elected to return for a sixth season when he could have entered the NFL Draft. He spoke for all those recognized before the game.
“I got loyalty to this place,” he said. “They took me in in 2019 and they took a chance on me, and there’s no way that I would just leave it just because it got bad. That’s not the type of person I am, and I know that’s how a lot of how the older guys feel as well.”
Fifth-year senior defensive back Isaac Gifford, who’s from Lincoln and whose brother Luke also played for Nebraska, echoed Robinson. “It really isn’t for me,” said Gifford. “It’s for all of us seniors and everything, but really, it’s for the guys that came before us and stuck through it all.”
Young players, notably on offense, contributed to the win, which snapped a four-game losing streak. The Dana Holgorsen-influenced Husker offense had 473 total yards, including 180 rushing, led by sophomore Emmett Johnson who ran for 113 yards on 16 carries and caught six passes for 85 yards.
Sophomore Dante Dowdell ran 10 times for 41 yards and three touchdowns. Junior quarterback Heinrich Haarberg scored Nebraska’s first touchdown, on a 5-yard run, and senior wide receiver Jahmal Banks scored the Huskers’ third touchdown, catching a 5-yard pass from Dylan Raiola.
The freshman quarterback went 28-for-38 for 293 yards and the touchdown. Freshman wide receiver Jacory Barney Jr. caught nine passes for 85 yards.
Banks, a transfer from Wake Forest, was emotional when talking to reporters. “It was incredible. I’m ecstatic,” he said. “Everyone that loves Nebraska won today. Moments like that come once in a lifetime, so I definitely cherished that. I’m definitely grateful to be a part of that.”
There was a lengthy pause surrounding Banks’ answer about what he had learned at Nebraska.
“I learned to love myself,” he said.
Redshirt freshman John Hohl accounted for Nebraska’s other points, with field goals of 37, 45 and 26 yards, without a miss. The Huskers were “as well-rounded as we could be,” Coach Matt Rhule said.
Rhule was emotional, too, when talking about the seniors. He was “especially proud of those seniors, 30 of them, all different journeys to get here, but especially the guys who have been here a long time.”
In addition to Robinson, four others have been at Nebraska six years: offensive tackle Bryce Benhart, running back Rahmir Johnson and linebackers John Bullock and Javin Wright.
Rahmir Johnson couldn’t play because of injury.
Rhule has talked a lot about “breaking through” this season. During his Thursday news conference, he said of the seniors: “I would certainly love to end their career(s), not just with a win, but with them being the ones to break through … We will break through, and we will win at a high level.”
At some point, “someone’s got to break through and get that sixth win,” said Rhule. And the Huskers were “on the precipice of that.”
Nebraska cleared the precipice to which he referred Saturday. The Huskers are bowl eligible. First, however, it’s on to Iowa for a game Friday night.
