Without question this is the best, most positive, most exciting finish to a season Nebraska has seen since I was a senior in high school (aka 2016, the last time we made a bowl game). With that being said, beating Iowa and hiring Matt Rhule make this end of the season incomparable to those in recent memory. It is positively the most exciting time for Nebraska fans in quite quite QUITE some time.

First thing’s first: thank God the season is over. A season that did not go in any way shape or form close to anyone’s imagination. This was the turnaround season, or was supposed to be. Instead, Huskers fans were gifted with smoking rubble of another dumpster fire of a season. But hey – they beat Iowa! And truthfully, that does mean something. It helps the morale of the program and the fan base. The Huskers and their fans finally get to end the season on a positive note.

Nebraska played extremely good football. For a half. Story of the season. Although, this time, the Huskers closed one out. They did give a valiant effort in attempting to once again blow a fourth quarter lead but were not successful. Honestly, if Iowa had finished off the comeback, I’m not sure it would have shocked a single Huskers fan. Nebraska simply cannot and has not been able to get out of its own way for so long now. However, the hopes are high and the Kool-Aid is already being drunk in Lincoln.

Nebraska AD Trev Alberts wasted no time after the finish of this God awful season to (attempt to) put the program back on track (again). The school announced the hiring of Matt Rhule, former Carolina Panthers head coach as of last month, and former Mr. Turnaround at Temple University and Baylor University. The program shifts toward a new future. 

Rhule comes in off a rough go of it in the NFL. I’m not super concerned with the Carolina track record; he’s a proven college coach. He’s a proven program rebuilder. He’s a proven recruiter. All things Nebraska has been desperate for since approximately 2011. I don’t mind the hire; I actually am trending toward liking it. Everyone involved needs to expect growing pains, but hopefully these are not as long and/or as serious as the pains Mike Riley and Scott Frost brought.

Is Matt Rhule the guy to get it done? I’ll let pundits and talking heads ask that question. Yeah, Huskers fans want to be taken back to glory. For now, I’ll simply take a bowl game. For now, I’ll take football practices where they actually practice tackling. For now, I’ll take a guy who is good for the locker room. For now, I’m going to enjoy the Heroes Trophy and the fact that Nebraska won more games than it did last year. 

If you need me, I’ll be watching the World Cup, hoping that our American boys can bring it home. (I really just need them to make it out of the group).

Nebraska under head coach Matt Rhule: 0-0.