The Nebraska football team is officially bowl eligible after their sixth win over the season, this one coming over Northwestern. The Wildcats entered the game with the identical 5-2 record, though there was plenty of proof that the two programs were going in different directions.
Northwestern had won four in a row, including a win over Penn State that ended James Franklin's career in Happy Valley. Meanwhile, Nebraska was coming off a gruesome loss to Minnesota on the same week they got back into the Top 25.
After the game, Nebraska head coach Matt Rhule addressed the media and talked about a number of different subjects. Three stood out as particularly newsworthy, especially as they gear up for USC on Saturday night.
Here are three interesting Matt Rhule quotes from the Nebraska football press conference after Northwestern
- "Pleased with the win. We just left it there. We didn't even talk about being bowl-eligible. We just talked about the way they handled the process of doing what they're doing. And so we're not perfect, but we are 6-2. We do have a nationally televised game this week. I don't know the last time. Something that big happened in this time of year."
Matt Rhule talked a great deal in the week leading up to Northwestern about how unhappy he and the players were about how they handled Minnesota. As he noted, they trailed Minnesota 7-6 last Friday, and then everything fell apart. This week, the team rallied and won the game. Now they move to an important contest.
- "Today was the best I've seen him [Dylan Raiola] in terms of just playing one snap at a time. Even early in the game, though, he never really got into a rhythm because we were running the football at a pretty high level and a pretty good clip. And I thought Dylan, the growth, you sometimes forget because he's so grown how young he is. And I thought that was his best game in terms of poise and presence, and make no mistake, it's another time that the offense had to go down and win the game. And we went down and won the game on offense, and then obviously the defense gets to stop, and then we win the game in four minutes. So that's a situational clinic, and I think that all starts with your quarterback."
While Raiola did have one very ugly interception, he once again showed that when the game was on the line and he could do something about it, he did. Raiola did it two weeks ago against Maryland and did it again against Northwestern. It's been a stark difference from the quarterbacks that came before him over the last decade.
- "I don't own a business, but if I did, I'd probably get him [Kenneth Williams] an NIL deal here pretty quickly. His payment probably hasn't even processed yet. He's probably still owed money for classes. He's probably still playing for the classes he's in. You talk about a story. But that's why we – that's why – That's why we all got into coaching for things like that and to watch him do that."
Kenneth Williams had a huge kick return against Maryland (though he was caught before he found the end zone) and then had the first kick return for a touchdown since 2017 against Northwestern. After the Maryland game, Williams - who was a walk-on - got to share in the joy of the win over the Terrapins by also being awarded a scholarship.
Matt Rhule will have more to say Monday afternoon as the Nebraska football team turns its full attention to the nationally ranked USC Trojans on Saturday night.