It wasn’t pretty, but it’s a win for Nebraska.
The Huskers (3-3, 2-1 Big Ten) had to overcome a 13-0 deficit at halftime to take down Rutgers (3-3, 0-3 Big Ten) 14-13 Friday night in Piscataway, NJ. This was the first true road game of the season for NU.
“We asked them to fight at halftime,” Nebraska interim head coach Mickey Joseph said. “Then in the fourth quarter, we asked them to finish. We asked them to finish and they did.”
The victory snapped a couple of streaks for Big Red. It broke the 10 game losing streak for one-score games. It broke the multi-season run of not winning back-to-back conference games, dating back to 2018.
The contest got off to a rocky start.
On the back, arm, and legs of former Husker Noah Vedral, Rutgers marched for an opening drive touchdown. That included a 33 yard pass and a 22 yard touchdown run.
Nebraska’s first possession, typically lightning fast and ending in points, managed just just 13 yards and a single first down. Brian Buschini made his first of eight appearances for the game.
That’s when the game leaned fully into Big Ten tradition, especially for the West.
A blocked punt set up Rutgers for a field goal. Nebraska threw an interception that Rutgers did nothing with before punting. Four more punts and another field goal for the home team. The final four possessions of the first half saw two more punts, an interception, and a missed field goal.
Ugly.
The Huskers started the second half with the ball, and promptly marched 70 yards in 4:18. Casey Thompson hit Travis Vokolek for a short touchdown, the first of the tight end’s career with Nebraska and first for him in college since he played for Rutgers.
Now back to a one-score game, neither team seemed to want to take over.
Rutgers punted once and threw two picks. Nebraska had a three-and-out, a miserable fourth down effort, and another punt.
But after the second interception by the Blackshirts, offensive coordinator Mark Whipple dialed up a shot. Thompson hit gold with a 27-yard strike to Trey Palmer for the one-play scoring drive, giving Nebraska the 14-13 lead in the fourth quarter. (See photo at top of page.)
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After another Rutgers punt, their seventh and final of the game, Nebraska went into burn clock mode. A healthy dose of Anthony Grant helped to run off nearly five minutes of game clock, but a holding call made the sticks too far to pick up near midfield, so Buschini punted once more.
All those runs, though, did force Rutgers coach Greg Schiano to burn his allotment of timeouts.
With 1:03 to go, the Scarlet Knights took over at their own 20. Three plays later, Malcolm Hartzog grabbed the interception to seal the victory.
Thompson finished 24-for-36 for 232 yards and two touchdowns. Neither of his two first half interceptions led to points.
Palmer led the pass catchers with 64 yards receiving and one touchdown. Marcus Washington was next with 53 yards followed by 46 for Vokolek.
Grant was quieter on the ground in this one, amassing just 47 yards on 19 carries. However, his six receptions for 34 yards both marked career highs.
To go with Hartzog’s interception were Myles Farmer and Brandon Moore.
Garrett Nelson led the defense with 11 tackles, including 1.5 sacks.
Nebraska’s destiny, however unlikely, is still entirely within their own control. Sitting alone on top of the Big Ten West (for a few hours at least), the Huskers can solidify that position next week at Purdue.
A win over the Boilermakers would put NU at 3-1 in the Big Ten, which would be the best start to league play since the the 2016 team started 4-0.
Suddenly, five of the remaining six games look gettable. That’s not something that seemed possible a month ago.
Nebraska and Purdue kick off at 6:30 p.m. next Saturday.
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