We take a look at the last time Nebraska won a bowl game.
In my previous miniseries, I took a deep dive into parts of Nebraska’s 2015 football season. The primary focus circled around the Husker’s upset win over the top 10-rated Michigan State.
This time I switch my attention to the Husker’s last bowl game appearance, which also took place during that same 2015 season. Don’t worry, I to had to read the previous sentence a few times over myself, and unfortunately, no, you are not hallucinating. The last bowl appearance from the boys in red and white was in 2015 against the UCLA Bruins in the Foster Farms Bowl.
Following their upset win over Michigan State, Nebraska had two opponents left on their schedule and ended the month of November with a record of 2-1. Their fifth win of the season came off a shellacking of Rutgers at High Point Solutions Stadium, a 31-14 final.
Nebraska however, fell short during their final game of the season losing to Iowa by eight at home. With a bowl berth much likely in doubt for a 5-7 Cornhusker squad, their high academic progress rate came to their rescue with a limited number of bowl-eligible teams to fill some of the bowl games. The Huskers received and accepted an invitation to the Foster Farms Bowl that would occur in Santa Clara, California, matching up against the UCLA Bruins.
The Huskers likely accepted the bowl invite to have a chance to send the seniors out on a good note. Also, it would allow the returning players to get some extra reps before that next season. Plus, money talks and Nebraska could bring in a nice chunk of change to benefit the school. It’s also worth noting that where Nebraska goes, Husker Nation will follow.
The bowl game would be no cakewalk. The 2015 Bruins were led by then-freshman quarterback Josh Rosen. Rosen and company finished their season 8-4. UCLA had some impressive wins on their resume coming into the contest. They had four wins over top 25 teams compared to Nebraska’s one. One of those wins stands out, as they did what the Huskers failed to do in their week one season opener, and that is edge out a close victory against (19) BYU. Rosen was getting high praise from analysts everywhere in regards to his pro potential.
The one positive coming into the game was that Mike Riley was no stranger to UCLA’s schemes. Riley had faced off against the Jim Mora -led Bruins once during his tenure at Oregon State.
With a bowl win, Rosen could prove his rank amongst a short-list of young talented quarterbacks in college football. A win for Nebraska could show they were making strides in the right direction to get the program back into the national spotlight.