Butler’s Blackshirts Bowed Up in the Bronx to Bolster a Win in the Bad Boy Bowl

ThotDoc's Brain Droppings on the Nebraska-Boston College football game.

Nebraska linebacker Gage Stenger celebrates after the Huskers' 20-15 win over Boston College. / Vincent Carchietta-Imagn Images

On a cold, wet, sloppy and mucky December afternoon in Yankee Stadium, the Nebraska Cornhuskers netted their first bowl victory since 2015 by holding off the Boston College Eagles 20-15. The game never seemed close…until it was. The Huskers dominated play for the first 54 minutes before surrendering 13 points in 1:53 to cut the margin to 5 points. The Husker offense was then able to run out the last 4:11 and curb any further drama. The Huskers finish the season at 7-6 for their first winning campaign since 2016. With the win, Nebraska also moved to 27-27 all-time in bowl games.

The Husker offense seemed on the verge of blowing out the Eagles before repeatedly stopping themselves with two turnovers and a turnover on downs in the red zone when a fake field goal failed. Meanwhile, the Blackshirts specialized on the “bend, don’t break” philosophy by thwarting Boston College four times on fourth down, twice after the Eagles had 1st and goal and holding them to just 2 for 5 in the red zone. Boston College penetrated the Nebraska 40-yard line seven times scoring just twice and one of those was when Husker special teams gave the Eagles the ball at the 2-yard line following a blocked punt. The Blackshirts totaled seven tackles for loss, including sacks by Vincent Shavers Jr., John Bullock, and Ty Robinson.

Boston College came into the game averaging 179 yards a game on the ground. The defense held the Eagles to 47 yards rushing and just a 1.8 yard per rush average. Instead, they tossed the ball 41 times and piled up 301 yards passing. Despite their futility on 4th down, Boston College converted 6 of 12 third downs and amassed 136 yards on those six conversions (a whopping 22.7-yard average). Getting off the field on third down will have to be a priority for new defensive coordinator John Butler. Replacing Ty Robinson and Nash Hutmacher will be no small task either.

Boston College tight end Jeremiah Franklin fights for yards against Nebraska linebacker Vincent Shavers. / Vincent Carchietta-Imagn Images

Linebacker Javin Wright led all defenders with 8 stops while freshman linebacker Vincent Shavers finished the game with six tackles, two tackles for loss, a sack and a forced fumble, all career highs. Fellow linebacker John Bullock finished with 5 tackles including a sack and forced a fumble on his blitz rush of quarterback Grayson James that was recovered by Elijah Jeudy. All-Big Ten defensive lineman Ty Robinson closed his career with four tackles, 1.5 tackles for loss, a sack and a PBU. Robinson finished the season with team-leading totals of 7 sacks and 12.5 tackles for loss. Kudos to Ty for returning for a sixth year and choosing to play in the bowl game. He should be an early round draft pick as he moves to the NFL. With the portal thinning out some of the defensive ranks, several youngsters strutted their stuff. In addition to Shavers, Willis McGahee (4 tackles) and Donovan Jones (3 tackles and a TFL) played well. We also got an early taste of next year’s roster with good play by Caleb Benning, Riley Van Poppel and Keona Davis.

Dylan Raiola completed 23-of-31 passes for 231 yards and a touchdown in today’s game, pushing his season passing total to 2,826 yards, setting a Nebraska freshman passing record. The previous record was 2,617 yards by Adrian Martinez in 2018. Raiola’s passing total ranks seventh overall on the Nebraska single-season passing list. Raiola made plenty of the expected freshman mistakes this season but also completed 67.2 percent of his passes and the future is bright with this year of experience under his belt. I also liked the fire displayed as he got grill to grill with the defender who hit him on his slide on the final drive. He is a natural leader and an active recruiter to make this team better.

The 23 passes were distributed to ten different receivers led by tight end Thomas Fidone’s five grabs for 50 yards and wide receiver Jahmal Banks’ four catches for 79 yards. Unfortunately, Banks dropped a sure touchdown in the endzone on a drive that ended up with nada, but had a highlight reel one-handed grab on the game’s first possession.  Banks finished the season with a team-leading total of 587 receiving yards. Running back Emmett Johnson exploited defensive mismatches with five catches for 28 yards including a beautiful swing pass reception for a 13-yard touchdown to make it 20-2. Johnson finished the season with 40 receptions, the most by a Husker running back since Marlon Lucky had a school-record 75 catches in 2007. Freshman receiver Jacory Barney Jr. caught three passes in the game, pushing his season receptions total to 55, tying a Nebraska freshman record held by JD Spielman who set that mark as a redshirt freshman in 2017. Barney’s receptions total is also tied for 10th overall on the NU single season receptions list. Tight end Luke Lindenmeyer had two catches for 22 yards including a bruising catch and run for 8 yards on a 3rd and 4. The contribution by newly minted tight end Heinrich Haarberg should also be noted as he had just one catch but had at least two punishing blocks to extend plays. Haarberg is too good to sit and should have a shot at starting next year.

What’s not to like about the performance of Pinstripe Bowl MVP Rahmir Johnson, a Harlem native, who scored his first rushing touchdown of the season and the seventh of his career to open the scoring. Johnson finished the game with 10 carries for 60 yards and finished his Nebraska career with 1,000 rushing yards. What a nice touch that his Pop Warner team, the Harlem Jets, were also in attendance. Sophomore running back Emmett Johnson rushed for 68 yards in the game, pushing his career total to 1,002 yards.   New Jersey native Kwinten Ives also got his first career touchdown with a 2-yard run in the second quarter.

As good as the defense and offense played, the special teams almost single-handedly negated that performance with arguably their worst game of the year. A blocked extra point returned for a defensive 2-point conversion after a poor snap that was then further botched by holder Brian Buschini. Buschini then had a punt blocked and returned to the Nebraska 2-yard line gifting the Eagles a touchdown. Nebraska has had 10 blocked kicks between punts, field goals and PAT this year. Special team’s coordinator Ed Foley would be advised to begin sending out resumes. Nebraska had no punt returns as Boston College’s only punt went out of bounds and Buschini’s non-blocked punt did travel 47 yards. One small highlight was the tackle by Janiran Bonner on an Eagle kickoff return to the 20.

The offseason will sit much better for the fanbase at 7-6 than it would have at 6-7. Getting to the 105-man roster (an incredibly stupid requirement) means several dozen more players will be leaving the roster, including some who contributed in the bowl game. The recent portal acquisitions look to be positive additions, but the team may look a bit different in 2025. Historically, Matt Rhule’s third season at a school has always marked a big improvement and we are hoping that trend continues as the upcoming schedule could yield at least 8 wins. Hopes always springs eternal, especially after a bowl win. Thank you to the seniors who stayed and kudos to Rhule who flew in several players from last year’s team to enjoy the festivities. It reveals how much he cares about his guys and that loyalty may pay some future dividends with players and recruits.  Go Big Red!!

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