LINCOLN, Neb. — Nebraska buried a pair of long-running streaks Saturday during a 44-25 victory against Wisconsin at Memorial Stadium. The Huskers not only beat the Badgers for the first time in 12 years but became bowl-eligible for the first time in eight years.
It was a good day for Matt Rhule’s Nebraska program and one that reaffirmed the issues surrounding Luke Fickell’s Wisconsin program. Both teams met as 5-5 foes in search of bowl eligibility. Rhule had been 0-8 in opportunities to clinch a bowl game over his first two seasons.
Nebraska broke the game open late in the first half when quarterback Dylan Raiola threw a 5-yard touchdown pass to receiver Jahmal Banks for a 21-10 edge. The Huskers led by double digits the rest of the way.
The breakthrough to bowl eligibility
Do you want to go to Tampa, Fla., or Charlotte, N.C., Nashville, Tenn., or Phoenix? Go ahead Nebraska fans, you can talk about it. The seven-year bowl drought is over. Never in the history of college football has a program with five national championship trophies collectively celebrated bowl eligibility like Nebraska on Saturday.
The Huskers are nowhere near the mountaintop, but they cleared a hurdle against Wisconsin. The losing seasons that date to 2017 have hung over Nebraska like a black cloud. Rhule won for the first time in nine games with a bowl game in the balance. The 30 players who walked Saturday on senior day at Memorial Stadium will receive an opportunity to play in the postseason.
The Osborne Legacy Complex will be filled with life in December — an important development for Nebraska’s ability to recruit out of the transfer portal and to move forward as a program. It can finally again hold practice sessions on par with competitors in the Big Ten.
The magnitude of a sixth win on this day in Lincoln is difficult to overstate. It’s big. It lifts a weight off the shoulders of Rhule. No matter what happens next Friday at Iowa or in bowl season, Rhule can point to this as tangible progress. His second teams at Temple and Baylor advanced to a bowl game. So did this group at Nebraska.
And it allows the Huskers to play without enormous pressure on Black Friday at Iowa. — Sherman
Wisconsin’s new offensive plan not enough in loss
The most intriguing Wisconsin storyline was how the approach offensively would change after Fickell fired offensive coordinator Phil Longo on Sunday because there was minimal play-calling experience remaining on the staff. Tight ends coach Nate Letton took over play-calling duties, and the most noticeable on-field change was a decision to huddle between every play to avoid confusion at the line of scrimmage.
Quarterback Braedyn Locke played quite well. He threw three touchdowns, including a pair of scores to receiver Bryson Green. He also dropped in a 58-yard touchdown pass to Vinny Anthony II. But Wisconsin couldn’t consistently turn drives into points. Kicker Nathanial Vakos missed a pair of first-half field goals, the first of which summed up Wisconsin’s mediocrity. The field goal team was flagged for a delay of game penalty, which pushed the attempt back from 29 yards to 34 yards. Vakos then missed the field goal attempt wide left.
In yet another sign of where this program is at this season, Wisconsin took possession at its own 25-yard line with 17 seconds remaining in the second quarter after the Badgers defense surrendered a touchdown. Rather than run a kneel-down, the Badgers handed off to tailback Tawee Walker, who fumbled the ball away. Nebraska kicker John Hohl made a 37-yard field goal with two seconds remaining to give the Huskers a 24-10 lead. The defense did the offense no favors by surrendering nearly 500 yards of total offense to Nebraska. — Temple
Holgorsen shines in home debut
Pay Dana Holgorsen whatever he needs to stay at Nebraska in 2025. The move to hire Holgorsen as offensive coordinator is looking like a smart decision by Rhule after just two games. Holgorsen, in his debut on the sideline at Memorial Stadium, kept Wisconsin’s defense off balance throughout.
The Huskers mixed an effective running game, and Raiola regained his early-season form after a difficult stretch during Nebraska’s four-game losing streak.
Some of this, no doubt, involved Wisconsin’s depleted and fragile state. But the Badgers held No. 1-ranked Oregon to 16 points a week ago. They held No. 3 Penn State to 23 points less than a month ago.
But Wisconsin’s defense to enter Saturday rated behind Ohio State and Indiana as the third best to face the Huskers this season. And Nebraska’s point total marked its highest under Rhule and just the second time in 19 games against power-conference teams that it eclipsed 30 points.
Nebraska showed balance offensively. Most notably, it established a rhythm. Some play callers have it. Others do not. Holgorsen’s play-calling sense showed in the third quarter after Wisconsin failed to convert a fourth down at the Nebraska 25.
Raiola followed by leading the offense on a 74-yard march in seven plays. The Badgers didn’t know what was coming at them as Nebraska gained 9, 19 and 11 yards on a handoff to Dante Dowdell, an RPO throw to tight end Nate Boerkircher and a toss to wide receiver Jacory Barney Jr. On third-and-4, Raiola hit Emmett Johnson for 26 yards, then Dowdell broke through from 3 yards for his third touchdown.
Johnson went over 100 yards on the ground. Raiola hit 27 of 37 throws for 290 yards. He connected with seven receivers.
Holgorsen tapped into something that Nebraska had not discovered in weeks. And he stuck with it.
The win on Saturday marked the first time under Rhule that Nebraska won a game when it allowed more than 14 points. The Huskers are paying Holgorsen $66,667 to coordinate the offense for four games in November. It’s essential after Saturday to keep him in 2025. — Sherman
Badgers bowl game streak in jeopardy with questions about future
Wisconsin has qualified for a bowl game in 22 consecutive seasons, which represents the third-longest active streak in the FBS behind Georgia (27) and Oklahoma (25). It is a streak players have taken pride in over the years but one that is now in peril. Wisconsin needs a victory against rival Minnesota on Friday at Camp Randall Stadium to reach six wins and qualify for a bowl.
No matter what happens against Minnesota, the Badgers clearly have more problems on their hands than attempting to reach a lower-tier bowl game this season. Players talked during the week about the value of the Nebraska game with a trophy on the line and an opportunity to respond from a 16-13 loss to No. 1 Oregon. But the Badgers let yet another chance slip away. The defense once again couldn’t string together consecutive strong performances, mirroring an abysmal showing in a 42-10 loss to Iowa. And the offense will need a revamp under a new coordinator. Fickell has a long, important offseason ahead. — Temple
(Photo: Nebraska coach Matt Rhule and Wisconsin coach Luke Fickell: Dylan Widger / Imagn Images)
