The Nebraska Cornhuskers produced their “get right” game last week in a 28-10 victory over Purdue following an overtime loss to No. 24 Illinois to open up Big Ten play. One of the early feel-good stories of the college football season, Rutgers enters Saturday’s game unbeaten at 4-0 under Greg Schiano and looks to ruin the Huskers‘ homecoming weekend.
Plenty of narratives will come out of this game regardless of result, but for NU a victory would put the Huskers one win away from its first bowl berth since 2016.
The HuskerMax and Nebraska Cornhuskers SI crew make their predictions. The average score is 24-18 Nebraska.
Last week’s closest predicion for Nebraska at Purdue was by Redcast Abbie with a 31-10 score prediction win for the Huskers. That was three total points off the actual 28-10 NU victory.
*Indicates closest in previous week’s prediction and how many “wins” over the season.
Prediction
Predictor
Nebraska 24-13
Kaleb Henry
Nebraska 24-20
Austin Jacobsen*
Nebraska 28-17
Eric Hess
Nebraska 20-17
Geoff Exstrom
Nebraska 21-20
Josh Peterson
Nebraska 31-21
Joe Hudson*
Nebraska 31-28
ThotDoc*
Rutgers 24-21
Matt McMaster
Nebraska 24-21
Maren Angus-Coombs
Rutgers 23-21
Cole Stukenholtz
Nebraska 24-21
Jay Stockwell
Nebraska 24-17
Middle-Aged Ball Coach
Nebraska 21-17
David Max*
Nebraska 24-13
Tad Stryker
Nebraska 28-17
Tanner Johnson
Nebraska 31-20
John Anthony
Rutgers 24-21
Chris Fort
Nebraska 21-17
Jeremy Pernell
Nebraska 27-20
Redcast Rob
Nebraska 24-14
Redcast Boomer
Nebraska 24-21
Redcast Abbie*
Nebraska 3-2
Redcast Honke
The Why
Austin Jacobsen: Expect a back-and-forth game filled with unique mistakes and opportunities for both sides. Rutgers took advantage of Washington’s errors to earn a win last week – without generating a single turnover. If Nebraska shoots themselves in the foot, the Scarlet Knights will pounce and take advantage. Regardless, the best player on the field will continue to be Dylan Raiola who can make a winning play at the right time.
Eric Hess: Nebraska has a strong day running the ball and wears down the Rutgers defense. Kyle Monangai has his worst game of the season thanks to a strong outing from the Blackshirts
Josh Peterson: The Huskers move one win away from a bowl berth with a gritty win over previously undefeated Rutgers. Emmett Johnson finally hits double digit carries and Nebraska burns out the clock at the end of the game to hold on to a one-point victory.
ThotDoc: This may well be a four quarter battle and the Huskers will be tested. The game will be won or lost in the trenches much like the Illini contest. The hope is that Nebraska has learned from that experience and will start a new winning streak at home, believe it or not, by a field goal.
Cole Stukenholtz: Huskers’ special teams struggles continue, and the Scarlet Knights hold off Raiola’s comeback bid late.
Jay Stockwell: Greg Schiano, who Matt Rhule deeply respects, brings a reset Rutgers team to town that is very evenly matched if not a slight statistical favorite. Nebraska will continue to build resilience and take care of the ball and win by a field goal with its moribound kicking game.
Middle-Aged Ball Coach: It will be brutal. Monongai is too good to be stopped, so they’ll move the ball and score, but Raiola’s arm will make the difference. Rutgers is a solid team.
David Max: Both teams have strong defenses and the turnover battle will be key.
Chris Fort: Nebraska is more talented but Rutgers plays the kind of football that frustrates the Huskers. They bow up in the red zone, stop fourth downs, and generally create chaos on defense. Their running game will also test the Blackshirts. If NU had a kicking game, I’d say Big Red. But they don’t.
Matt McMaster: This game is going to be a heavy weight bout that will come down to the wire. In games like this you need elite special teams, NU has the exact opposite. This contest will come down to who can execute in the third phase of the game, I’ll put my money on Rutgers to do that.
Bold prediction: Nebraska misses a field goal to tie the game in the fourth.
Tad Stryker: This would be a nice but unnecessary win if the goal is simply to make a bowl, but it’s imperative if the Huskers want to take a measurable step this year toward becoming a major program again. This is my bet that Nebraska’s seniors want it bad enough to go get it.
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