The growing trend in major college football is cutting and running before your season ends. Opting out. Hitting the transfer portal. Making business decisions that mean ending your season before your buddies do.
For Nebraska, the refreshing theme of the 2024 Pinstripe Bowl was all about the ones who stayed to the end.
Not only did they stick around, they made plays that decided the game and clinched Nebraska’s first winning season in eight years.
Start with Rahmir Johnson, the injury-prone running back from New York City who came back to play a sixth season for the Big Red. Despite missing more games to injury, Johnson returned for the Pinstripe Bowl and was named the game’s Most Valuable Player, running 10 times for 60 yards, including a 4-yard touchdown run to open the scoring on the first play of the second quarter. He also caught a pass for nine yards, all the while playing in front of his high school and club sports buddies.
Then look to the Polar Bear, Nash Hutmacher, who was his usual hard-to-budge self in the middle of the defensive line. The senior from Oacoma, South Dakota, was not credited with any tackles Saturday, but stuffed a two-point conversion attempt and was as responsible as anyone for the Blackshirts holding Boston College to just 47 rushing yards.
Senior linebacker John Bullock made the single biggest play of the game, getting a strip sack at midfield midway through the third quarter. The loose ball was recovered by Elijah Jeudy. Seven plays later, the Huskers scored on Dylan Raiola’s 13-yard swing pass to Emmett Johnson, and had a 20-2 lead.
Senior linebacker Javin Wright, who battled through blood clots and circulation problems which caused him to miss a portion of the season, returned in late September. He had a team-high eight tackles against BC.
Last but not least, big Ty Robinson, the heart and soul of the 2024 Blackshirts who played in his 60th game as a Cornhusker. Robinson had four tackles, including a sack and 1.5 tackles for loss, a pass broken up and a quarterback hurry. Nobody would have faulted Robinson for opting out, because he’s a certain NFL Draft choice, but like Ndamukong Suh in 2009, he wouldn’t hear of it. Robinson likely will be a mid-round draft choice; he enhanced his stock by playing an extra year in Lincoln.
These seniors finished what they started, and got Nebraska over a gigantic hump to become a bowl qualifier — and winner.
It was refreshing for the Husker players and for coach Matt Rhule to make such a big deal about the bowl game for the thousands of fans who made the costly trip to the Bronx to be in rain-soaked Yankee Stadium for the game.
Rhule paid tribute to those who stayed, even to the point of personally paying the expenses of nearly two dozen graduates from the 2023 team who didn’t have the chance to play in a bowl.
Stat of the game: the Huskers were three-for-four in the red zone while holding the Eagles to two touchdowns and no field goals in five trips.
Quarterback play favored Nebraska. Raiola kept his poise and completed 23 of 31 passes for 228 yards and a touchdown on a wet day. He should have had two touchdowns: Jacory Barney and Jahmal Banks each dropped a pass in the end zone on the first drive of the third quarter, and a failed field goal fake ended the drive. But Raiola came back to give the Huskers an 18-point lead on their next drive.
Aside from Raiola, the Huskers got another good look at the future, at least on defense.
Two freshman linebackers, Vincent Shavers and Willis McGahee IV, flashed some speed and promise for Nebraska. Shavers had six tackles, including a sack and two tackles for loss. McGahee made four tackles, broke up a pass and was credited with a quarterback hurry.
The Huskers held BC to 1.8 yards per rush, not bad against a team that prides itself on its ability to run the football. The Eagles were missing one of their starting offensive tackles, who opted out. Still, the Blackshirts played well and never allowed BC to get into a rhythm offensively.
In winning their first bowl game since 2015, the Huskers evened their all-time bowl record at 27 wins, 27 losses. And part of the beauty of the result is what wasn’t said afterward. The ESPN website’s college football page didn’t have a headline mentioning Nebraska ending its seven-year run of losing records. You can be sure it would have publicized the Huskers’ eighth consecutive losing season, had that occurred.
It’s been a while since a Husker team with a winning record finished its season with a victory. Think back 11 years to another muddy bowl game, Tommy Armstrong to Quincy Enunwa for 99 yards and a 24-19 win over Georgia in the Gator Bowl. But now is the time to look ahead. After a productive December with 15 bowl practices to give the team a chance to get used to incoming coordinaators Dana Holborsen and John Butler, and an encouraging effort in the transfer portal, Husker fans will enjoy the best offseason they’ve had in nearly a decade. How will this win affect preparations for 2025?
It will be a shot in the arm for the entire program. With Raiola returning for his sophomore season, three offensive linemen coming back, young stud Barney and promising pass catcher Carter Nelson returning for their sophomore seasons, there is promise for considerable improvement on offense.
But the first meaningful step to prepare for 2025 involves stabilizing the shaky kicking game that set back Nebraska time and again throughout 2024. It’s high time to relieve Ed Foley of his duties as special teams coordinator.
Despite occasional big punts from senior Brian Buschini and the late-season emergence of redshirt freshman placekicker Jon Hohl, it could be argued that there were more spectacular breakdowns than there were good moments on special teams. That theme continued throughout the Pinstripe Bowl, and was directly responsible for a 10-point swing in the game’s final outcome. So if you’re happy that the Huskers finally won a one-score game, you can thank Foley for making it possible. But you can hang at least one single-score loss (Iowa) this season on Foley.
Saturday against BC, the Huskers won in spite of their kicking game. Foley’s special teams were the main reason the Huskers didn’t win by a comfortable margin. There’s a lot to look forward as the 2025 season beckons, but the one thing that would most help a serious Husker fan sleep soundly as the calendar flips over to January is believing that Rhule will replace Foley. I went on record after the Iowa loss favoring the hire of Bill Busch. That didn’t happen. The most likely scenario is that Rhule has a plan to replace Foley with a qualified coordinator whose season — whether college or pro — is not yet finished.
Camden Witucki, who had plenty of problems earlier this season on long snaps, replaced Aidan Flege, who had problems of his own against Iowa. Witucki promptly uncorked a bad snap after the Huskers’ second touchdown, resulting in a blocked conversion kick returned for a double extra point by BC.
The kicking game’s one shining moment — a successful fake punt that ultimately led to a Husker touchdown — was more than offset by two ugly breakdowns that led to a pair of blocked kicks and nine points. Rhule took a huge risk in bringing Foley to New York in the first place, and the Huskers came uncomfortably close to paying for it with a loss.
Beyond that, Nebraska needs to develop a physical running game. It did not have one in 2024. That’s because the offensive line, one of the most experienced lines in major college football, never became a physically dominant unit. At season’s end, it was not even close to being able to impose its will on Big Ten opponents.
NU’s 22 fourth-quarter rushing yards were just barely enough to close out the game with two first downs. That’s after Rahmir and Emmett Johnson had improved their field vision and ability to follow blocks. Despite being verbally propped up by Rhule and Holgorsen, the offensive front was mediocre at best. A tiny fourth-quarter rushing output with a game on the line is all this offensive line was capable of. No body blows were being landed by the Nebraska offense during this game. Thankfully, Raiola and the short passing game allowed Nebraska to control the ball for a little over 10 minutes of the fourth quarter. Of NU’s 21 first downs, 14 came by passing. This is not a physical offense.
I’m still convinced Rhule wants it to become a physical offense. He made a big deal about the fact that Rahmir Johnson’s game-clinching run came out of the I formation. He could’ve added that Kwinten Ives’ touchdown run came out of the I as well, with Robinson leading the way at fullback. That type of gimmick was necessary for NU to get enough short-yardage conversions to squeak out a 7-6 record this season. Better blocking from the fullback, tight ends, wideouts and hopefully a retooled o-line, will be needed in 2025. Rhule and Holgorsen must actually produce a physical offense and not just talk about one, or Rhule’s ceiling is eight or perhaps nine wins at Nebraska.
NU’s 2024 season wrapped up with an embarrassing 3.8 yards per rush and 130.3 yards rushing per game. That won’t get you anywhere in the defensively dominant conference where the Huskers play.
After Year Two of the Rhule Era, a foundation of hard work, loyalty and cohesiveness has been built. Even so, a lot of work remains for Rhule, his staff and his team, but a rain-soaked 20-15 win over Boston College showed enough of a glimpse of character and potential to envision the Huskers making a move into the top half of the Big Ten.
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