The Nebraska football team is going bowling for the first time since 2016, and those who saw it happen live on Saturday couldn’t wait any longer to start the celebration. Fans rushed the Memorial Stadium field for the second time this fall, and who could blame them?

As Nebraska’s one-time pregame anthem, “Can You Feel It,” blasted from the stadium’s loudspeakers, the answer was undoubtedly yes — everyone could feel the energy and the joy present on the field. Fans jumped together, screaming into the November night sky as Nebraska staffers milled around and players received congratulations, applause and handshakes.

That such a breakthrough moment would happen for the Nebraska football this fall was not always certain, especially after the Huskers dropped a fourth straight game to USC last week.

Following that game, quarterback Dylan Raiola boldly proclaimed he felt the Huskers would win their next game — but why?

“I’m a big vibes person, and when I came back in the locker room even though we lost, I just got the vibe that we were about to take off,” Raiola said.

On Saturday night inside Memorial Stadium, the vibes were immaculate. Let’s drop into coverage:

When Nebraska walked off the field at the 2016 Music City Bowl, no one would’ve predicted that it’d be eight years before the Huskers would themselves back in the postseason. Year after year and season after season followed — each with its own promise and potential, only to end in heartbreak.

There was the defensively challenged 2017 team, and the 2018 team that started 0-6 but put things together late.

The 2019 team showed flashes but stumbled late, especially in one-score games.

The 2020 team actually got the option to go to a bowl game but turned it down.

The 2021 team earned the unfortunate moniker of perhaps being the best three-win team ever.

The 2022 team once again found itself on the wrong end of one-score games.

The 2023 team had an elite defense but couldn’t get the job done in four tries.

In the end, it was the 2024 Huskers who got it done, true freshman quarterback and all.

It was impossible to see the accomplishment of Saturday night and not think of the hundreds of Huskers whose playing careers came to an end not during a bowl game but during the regular season. Players like Ethan Piper, Garrett Nelson, Luke Reimer or Trent Hixson — Nebraskans who shed blood, sweat and tears for the program with little to show for it.

“It’s for the guys that came before us and stuck through it all,” senior Isaac Gifford said of making a bowl game.

Head coach Matt Rhule was paid the big bucks to deliver such a moment, but he’s still deserving of credit for getting the job done. An inability to get over the line in 2023, combined with a swing and a miss at a transfer portal quarterback, raised pressure on Rhule as other programs found their quick fix and instant success.

Rhule, who earned a reputation as a program-builder from his time at Temple and Baylor, was always going to focus on long-term, not short-term success.

“The future of Nebraska football is not hanging on one decision; it’s hanging on an accumulation of great recruiting, great development, great coaching and great teaching,” Rhule said in November 2022.

The Nebraska administrators who stood alongside Rhule on that day — Chancellor Ronnie Green, President Ted Carter and Athletic Director Trev Alberts — all left their posts before seeing the process through.

Rhule, however, hasn’t wavered.

Nebraska fans can have their gripes about clock management, playing time, offensive play calls or any of the other places where NU still has room for improvement — but who can deny that Rhule has made strides in each and all of those areas?

“It’s relief in that I’ve gotten the benefit of doing this twice before,” Rhule said Saturday of snapping the bowl game streak. “I look at the weight room, I look at the training room, sports science, sports psychology, player development, recruiting and I look at all the things we’re doing and believe it’s all right and that it’s all going to pay off in a big way.”

Offensive coordinator Dana Holgorsen is cooking up something special.

Facing a Wisconsin defense that allowed just 16 points against No. 1 Oregon last week, Nebraska ran the ball effectively, threw the ball into tight windows and strung together drives with impressive consistency.

It’s not just the 44-point output that stands out — the way Nebraska played on offense has simply looked different with Holgorsen calling the plays the last two weeks.

“Credit to coach Holgorsen and what he’s brought to the offense,” Rhule said. “Maybe it’s playcalling, but I think the biggest thing he’s brought is a little bit of swagger to them.”

Let’s give Holgorsen his flowers while remembering something as well: this is still the offense designed and built by Marcus Satterfield over the last two seasons. Holgorsen hasn’t reinvented the wheel since taking over, but what he has done is shake up the rhythm and timing of play calls within the offense and the personnel trusted to execute them.

In order to run the ball, you have to commit to it, and Holgorsen has done an excellent job thus far of making sure Nebraska gets plenty out of its ground game. Playing the most snaps (52) of any Husker running back this season, sophomore Emmett Johnson also ran for the most yards (113) any player has all year.

Nebraska also debuted a nifty two-back look where Dante Dowdell and Johnson lined up alongside Raiola in the backfield, a formation that gave the Wisconsin defense trouble to defend.

Credit the blocking, up front and on the perimeter — where NU has looked much better in recent weeks — for springing the big running day. 20 of NU’s 38 rushing attempts went to the right side of its offensive line, with the Huskers averaging over 6 yards per carry on those plays.

Holgorsen also dialed up the right mixture of passing plays for Raiola, who played his first interception-free game since late September. Nebraska got the ball out quickly with Raiola often firing to his first read for short gains, a setup senior Jahmal Banks said was “just like practice.”

“The ball went where it was supposed to be,” Rhule said of Nebraska’s pass game, adding that the Huskers did well in pass protection.

Also of interest in NU’s offensive personnel was senior wide receiver Isaiah Garcia-Castaneda getting on the field to record his first catch since the 2023 season opener.

And at tight end, usual starter Thomas Fidone II spent much of the game on the sidelines after committing an early false start penalty. Fidone played just three snaps, ceding playing time to Nate Boerkircher (49 snaps played) and Luke Lindenmeyer (44 snaps).

Many of the players who powered the Nebraska offense on Saturday are the same who the Huskers will hope to build around moving forward.

Johnson in particular stands out as the running back of the future for Nebraska, having averaged 4.6 yards per carry a year ago and 5.4 yards per attempt this fall in addition to his skills as a pass-catching back.

“We’re changing Nebraska football,” Johnson said after the game.

Raiola, of course, has gone through his own learning curves and should come back stronger as a sophomore in 2025 as a result. His favorite target this fall, freshman wideout Jacory Barney Jr., also continues to impress as the season progresses.

In addition to his work on special teams, Barney has 49 receptions, 10 rushing attempts, three touchdowns and over 500 yards to his name this season.

“Jacory runs a route as hard if he’s the first progression as if he’s the fourth progression; he runs every play like it’s the last play of his life,” Rhule said.

Nebraska’s depth of talent on offense runs much deeper than those players, with some who’ve not even seen the field this fall set to make their impact moving forward. Knowing that this Wednesday will not be their final practice of the season with bowl game practices to follow simply adds to the growth potential of NU’s young offense.

“There’s a lot of guys that if they just stop at the end of the year, catch their breath and look up, they’ve really gotten better over the course of the year,” Rhule said. “Now we have a couple extra weeks of bowl practice to try and get them to another one.”

A veteran-heavy Nebraska defense, excellent throughout the 2023 season, hasn’t necessarily been at the same level this fall.

Remember, that unit essentially dragged the team to five wins; earning more than that is the reward for their hard work this time around.

Wisconsin struggled to finish drives off but still chewed up more than 400 yards of offense as Nebraska allowed 20-plus points for the fifth week in a row.

Still, NU’s early season success — particularly in the nonconference slate — has allowed the Huskers to put together a solid campaign at home. Nebraska allowed just 15.7 points per game inside Memorial Stadium this season, a number which rose to 28.8 points per game on the road.

Nebraska’s Black Friday matchup against Iowa will pit the Huskers against a team that is down to its fourth-string quarterback.

If there’s one thing Iowa knows how to do, it is win with defense, special teams and the ground game. Sophomore walk-on Jackson Stratton completed 10-of-14 passes for 76 yards in Iowa’s win over Maryland, with head coach Kirk Ferentz saying Stratton is likely to start against Nebraska as well.

NU fans can now begin looking at bowl game projections with the knowledge that the Huskers will be a part of the postseason. CBS Sports’ projection, updated after Nebraska’s win over Wisconsin, has the Huskers set for the Guaranteed Rate Bowl against Texas Tech on Dec. 26 in Phoenix.