Nebraska hangs on in ugly, but perfectly Huskers bowl win. It was a slippery mess of a field, but for Nebraska fans wanting to see the Huskers cap off a year that showed some progress with a win, the 20-15 victory over Boston College was a beautiful sight.
The Huskers took the lead early, shutdown the Eagles on multiple fourth down attempts and found ways to keep moving down the field and add to the score. Then, because it’s some sort of football law, they held on for dear life in the fourth quarter. Still it finished with Dylan Raiola running over to celebrate with the bench and Matt Rhule covered in fake grass clippings.
Here’s a few quick thoughts on the Huskers win:
— How about Rahmir Johnson doing big things in front of friends and family? The New York native capped his career with a critical first down run and scored the first touchdown of the game. He finished with 55 yards rushing, nine yards receiving and ended his career with a Nebraska bowl win in what is roughly his hometown.
Nebraska’s offense was a bit of mixed bag but largely was able to move the ball down the field against Boston College’s defense. Raiola tossed a touchdown to Emmett Johnson on a fourth down late. He missed several throws throughout but was also in command of what the Huskers were looking to do on offense.
Worth noting Dana Holgorsen got some good run out of Nebraska’s tight ends. Luke Lindenmeyer in particular could use this game as a bit of a runway.
— Nebraska’s defense shutdown Boston College on fourth down but had a much harder time getting off the field on third down, allowing a number of long pass conversions throughout the contest. The pass rush that got home early wasn’t around as much as the game went along and the Eagles did a great job slipping tackles.
Nebraska has to shore up its tackling moving forward. The Huskers allowed a 50-yard screen pass on the heels of a pair of blown tackles that might’ve ended the play well before the line to gain, to say nothing of getting it across midfield.
Still there was a lot to like in terms of individual plays and players. Vincent Shavers announced himself in a big way with a sack, a tackle for loss and a forced fumble all in the opening part of the game. Riley Van Poppel showed up big on a fourth and short at the end of the first half. Cameron Lenhardt made some nice down the line plays. Donovan Jones got some run on defense. Ceyair Wright broke up a fourth down pass. These guys all come back. Nebraska will need them.
— Nebraska’s special teams didn’t benefit that much from time off. It’s hard to ding everything because conditions made things sloppy, but the Huskers still had an extra point blocked and returned for a safety. The snaps were still questionable. There’d be more benefit of the doubt given if it hadn’t been a struggle all season to even do simple things. Nebraska faked a field goal and went for it on fourth down rather than kick field goals because there’s too much uncertainty about snapping.
Nebraska couldn’t finish out the game without having a punt blocked and setting up Boston College’s final touchdown.