Grading Nebraska’s offense, defense and special teams in 20-15 win in Pinstripe Bowl

It wasn’t pretty and it got closer than it needed to late, but Nebraska ends the season 7-6 after a 20-15 Pinstripe Bowl victory of Boston College, the Huskers’ first winning season since 2016. The win featured big performances from the usual suspects: Jahmal Banks, Ty Robinson and Emmett Johnson. A few young Huskers flashed, namely Vincent Shavers Jr. who saved his best performance of his freshman season for the last game of the year.

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Despite the weather conditions, Dylan Raiola was efficient and fairly accurate, though he did miss on a few deep shots in the first half. An ill-advised throw on the first drive resulted in a toe-tap interception, but the freshman bounced back from the early mistake to help lead Nebraska to a bowl game victory. He finished the day completing 74% of his passes for 238 yards and a touchdown. His deep ball consistency needs to improve as does his awareness running the ball as he slid too early, putting Nebraska in a fourth-and-short situation late. Overall, successful freshman season all things considered for the former five-star, who broke Nebraska’s freshman passing yards record.

Rahmir Johnson led the way for the Huskers in the first half in his final game in a Nebraska uniform, he finished the day with 60 rushing yards and a touchdown. It was a fitting end for Johnson, a New York City native, to end his career in hometown with family and friends watching from the stands. After an early fumble, Emmett Johnson returned to the form he showed down the stretch of the year, combining for 96 all-purpose yards and a touchdown. Redshirt freshman Kwinten Ives punched in his first touchdown of his career on the goal line. Wasn’t the most effective day on the ground, especially considering the field conditions but when it mattered, Johnson and Johnson proved effective.

Jahmal Banks led the way in his final game in Nebraska’s uniform, with four receptions 79 yards. Thomas Fidone had a bounce back performance, proving to be a reliable target across the middle with five receptions for 50 yards. With Nate Boerkircher off to Texas A&M, Luke Lindenmeyer was the second tight end for the Huskers and had two critical receptions for 22 yards to move the chains. Raiola couldn’t connect deep with Jaylen Lloyd or Jacory Barney, but Nebraska did enough in the passing game to escape with the win in messy field conditions.

Nebraska’s veteran offensive line kept Dylan Raiola relatively clean, allowing just one sack and zero additional hurries on the day. Hiles in the run game weren’t there consistently for Emmett Johnson and Rahmir Johnson, but Nebraska’s line did enough to keep the offense on schedule and showed fight on a messy day. Big offseason ahead for a unit that has to replace Bryce Benhart and Ben Scott.

In his final game at Nebraska, Ty Robinson made his impact felt in the first half with a sack, 1.5 tackles for loss and a pass batted down at the line of scrimmage. Robinson, Nash Hutmacher and Nebraska’s defensive line led the way in keeping Boston College’s offense from finding the end zone until late in the fourth quarter, coming up with four turnovers on down, along with two forced fumbles, one recovered by Elijah Jeudy. The future of the line: Keona Davis, Riley Van Poppel and Cam Lenhardt combined for five tackles and two hurries on Grayson James. As a unit, the Huskers limited Boston College to just 47 rushing yards and 1.8 yards per carry.

Consider the Pinstripe Bowl the Vincent Shavers Jr. breakout game, as the freshman linebacker had a standout performance playing in a bigger role. He was all over the field with two tackles for loss, a critical tackle on third down late in the first half and five total tackles. Javin Wright and Willis McGahee IV had productive days, combining for 12 tackles, while John Bullock came through with a forced fumble in the third quarter that gave the offense the ball at midfield. Productive day from Rob Dvoracek’s unit and the flashes from Shavers and McGahee should give the fanbase hope for the future.

Nebraska’s secondary had trouble keeping Lewis Bond and Boston College’s wide receivers in check, as Grayson James threw for over 300 yards, 82 of which went to Bond, on just five receptions. Nebraska’s veterans in particular struggled. Pass defense bent, but didn’t break, allowing just two offensive scores, one off a turnover deep in Nebraska territory, but it’s clear the secondary needs some work this offseason. On a positive note, with some depth missing, freshman defensive back Donovan Jones was thrust into action and held up in coverage. Young defensive backs Amare Sanders and Caleb Benning got some run late as well.

Nebraska’s special teams showed some improvement down the stretch of the 2024 season, but the unit fell apart in the season finale. A poor snap on Nebraska’s second PAT attempt was low, leading to a blocked kick that Boston College returned for their first two points of the game. The Eagles blocked a punt late in the fourth quarter that made it a one score game with just over four minutes left in the game. The one positive was a successful fake punt attempt that extended a drive, but a snuffed fake field goal attempt on the same drive essentially rendered the previous fake irrelevant.