Nebraska Holds On For An Ugly 14-7 Win Over Rutgers

And once again, the Huskers endures a scoreless half of football.

Nebraska defenders celebrate after a goal line stand against Rutgers. / Kenny Larabee, KLIN

The game was so ugly that had it been a birth, the doctor would have slapped the mother.
The game was so ugly that it made onions cry.
The game was go ugly that if it were left on a beach, even the tide wouldn't take it.

Husker fans should get used to ugly games because there are going to be more of them. 

Right now, Nebraska is not good enough to put together an entire game of good, solid football.  As Matt Rhule keeps trying to tell us:  The Huskers are still learning how to win.

Saturday's win over Rutgers was ugly, but if you like defense, that game was for you.

That was an absolutely amazing performance by the Blackshirts!  How about James Williams' two sacks, or Brian Buschini's 30 yard pass to Jaylen Lloyd on a fake punt, or Bushini's 69 yard punt that rolled down to the Rutgers' 11 yard line late in the game, or the picks by Marques Buford, Jr. and Ceyair Wright?

Scoring Droughts

While the D ruled yesterday, what about the sputtering Husker offense?  Nebraska managed only 261 total yards of offense in the win.  Despite the win, NU had another scoring dry spell.

I got to wondering about how often have these droughts have happened this year.  So I did some homework and here's what I found.

The answer is three times.

The first one happened during the Colorado game on September 7th.  NU jumped out to a 28-0 first half lead and didn't score in the second half.  Luckily for Nebraska, CU was able to get only 10 points in the second half.  Huskers hung on to win 28-10.

Then it was at Purdue two weeks later.  This time, the Husker scoring drought happened in the first half.  Thankfully for Nebraska, the Huskers outscored the Boilermakers 28-10 in the second half.

The third dry spell happened Saturday vs Rutgers.  This time, the Huskers were shut out in the second half.  NU held a 14-0 lead at intermission, but failed to register a single point in the second half.  As we all know, NU held on to win 14-7.

So how does this compare with Matt Rhule's first year at Nebraska?

In 2023, NU had four such drought games:  @Minnesota, @Colorado, Michigan and Maryland.  All those games were losses for Nebraska.

But unlike last year, this year's drought games have been wins for Nebraska.  

I believe that kind of turnaround is proof that what Matt Rhule has been preaching is starting to pay off. 

How Bout Them Huskers

On this week's podcast, Will and I rehash the Huskers' win over Rutgers and we reveal our votes for the plays and players of the game. 
We also heap praise on the 14-1 Husker volleyball team.

Next week is a bye week for Nebraska football.  Be sure to send your questions and/or comments to me at HuskerDan@cox.net.

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