Nebraska blanked Rutgers 31-0 on Saturday in Piscataway, N.J., the university announced, and improved to 6-4 overall and 3-4 in the Big Ten. Rutgers is 2-8 and 1-6 in league play.
It was the Huskers’ first shutout since they joined the Big Ten, and their first against a conference opponent since 2003, Nebraska Athletics said. Six wins is the standard used for Football Bowl Subdivision bowl eligibility. Two games remain, at home against Ohio State on Nov. 21 and at Iowa on Nov. 27.
How the shutout was built
Nebraska ran for 237 yards. Jamal Rule had 103 yards on 22 carries, his third 100-yard game of the season. Anthony Colandrea completed 15 of 22 passes for 188 yards and two touchdowns, to Luke Lindenmeyer and Carter Nelson.
The official recap lists four Nebraska touchdowns. Lindenmeyer finished a 16-play, 94-yard opening drive that lasted 9 minutes, 17 seconds. Colandrea scored on a six-yard keeper just before halftime, after a 40-yard completion to C. Nelson, for a 14-0 lead. Caleb Benning intercepted AJ Surace to start the third quarter, and M. Nelson capped that drive with an 11-yard touchdown run. C. Nelson added a 13-yard touchdown catch with 14:30 left, making it 28-0. The university posted the final as 31-0. The recap narrative does not describe the last three points, and we are not filling that in from unofficial sources.
The Blackshirts held Rutgers to 143 yards and forced two turnovers. Benning and Jeremiah Charles had the interceptions. Jordan Ochoa and Jahsear Whittington each had a sack.
Ohio State is next, on Saturday, Nov. 21, at Memorial Stadium. Kickoff and the television network are covered in a separate preview, because the Rutgers recap still said those details had not been set. The university schedule and a later Big Ten announcement have since posted them.
Featured image: Photo: GassDaddy69. CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Lincoln_Memorial_Stadium_new_Nebraska_entrance.jpg. The new electronic entrance at Memorial Stadium; file photo, not from the Rutgers game.
