After four straight losses, Nebraska’s trip to Rutgers on Saturday feels like a hinge point for the Huskers’ season. Justin Evans and Luke Lindenmeyer both said this week they want to finish with a winning season and leave on a high note, which means at minimum getting to a bowl and avoiding a seven-game skid. With Ohio State and Iowa still looming, another loss would put Nebraska in danger of missing the postseason for the second time in four years under Matt Rhule.
Even with the frustration hanging over the season, Nebraska has done one thing consistently: it has outgained every opponent in all nine games. Only Utah, UCLA and Notre Dame can say the same among FBS teams. That odd little stat says plenty about how strange this season has been, and it also sets up a matchup that could tilt Nebraska’s way if the offense finally cashes in.
Jamal Rule looks set up for a big day. Rutgers owns the worst run defense in the Big Ten, giving up 5.7 yards per carry, while Nebraska ranks sixth in the conference in rushing yards in league games only.
Rule has started to find his rhythm again over the last two weeks, piling up 141 yards on 28 carries. The freshman probably should have had even more work in that stretch, and with Glenn Thomas in the mix, that workload figures to grow.
Matt Rhule wants to lean on the ground game, so Rule should get 20-plus carries and clear 100 yards.
The Nebraska offense also has a real chance to put up a crooked number. Rutgers has already given up 37 points or more at home three times this season.
Michigan, which has the worst offense in the Big Ten, still managed 28 points there. Tommy Carr could hardly complete a pass against Michigan State and still finished with more than 300 total yards against the Scarlet Knights.
Last week, Anthony Colandrea went 31 of 43 for 283 yards. The yards have been there; turning them into points has been the problem.
But against a Rutgers defense that ranks 15th or worse in the Big Ten in rush defense, pass defense, third-down defense, scoring defense and red-zone defense, Nebraska should find the end zone five or six times.
If that doesn’t happen, then the offense probably isn’t as good as it has looked.
On the other side, Antwan Raymond may have a tough afternoon. He’s been held under 50 rushing yards three times this season, and Nebraska’s run defense has been one of the best in the country, allowing just 81 yards per game.
Raymond did run for 85 yards on 11 carries against Michigan two weeks ago, including a 57-yard burst, so he’s capable of breaking a game open. But for Rutgers to stay in this one, he’d need to go well over 100 yards.
The prediction here is that he won’t get there - not even close to 50, and not even 15 carries.
In Other News...
Nebraska Just Got A Huge Opening In Its Bowl Push
Rutgers spent much of its recent news conference focused on Greg Schianos contract extension through 2027, but the conversation also turned quickly to the bigger picture for Saturdays matchup with Nebraska. The Scarlet Knights are trying to navigate a stretch that has already been complicated by injuries to key players, including top receiver KJ Duff and quarterback Dylan Longeran, and that changes the way this game looks for a Nebraska team still trying to strengthen its bowl case.
Matt Rhule has already made clear that Rutgers is not a soft landing spot, pointing to the Scarlet Knights running game and special teams as real concerns for the Cornhuskers. Even so, the injury situation gives Nebraska a chance to take advantage of a suddenly more fragile opponent, and in a late-season race where every opening matters, this one stands out as the kind of break a bowl hopeful needs to notice. [Read more 🡒]
Nebraskas Bowl Hopes Now Ride On One Huge Rutgers Gamble
Matt Rhule made a notable midstream change this week, firing Dana Holgorsen as Nebraskas offensive coordinator and turning the offense over to Glenn Thomas just ahead of the Rutgers game. It is the sort of move that signals urgency, especially with the Cornhuskers still trying to keep their postseason path alive and needing a cleaner offensive showing at exactly the right time.
The timing of the switch only sharpens the stakes because Rutgers will not be at full strength, with starting quarterback Dylan Lonergan and top wideout KJ Duff both unavailable. Nebraska now gets a chance to reset its offense against a shorthanded opponent, but the bigger question is whether the new setup can translate all the statistical promise into the kind of performance that actually keeps bowl hopes on track. [Read more 🡒]
Nebraskas Secondary Suddenly Has A Late-Season Problem
Nebraskas secondary took an unwelcome hit late in the season with Andrew Marshall undergoing foot surgery, a development that leaves the Cornhuskers without one of their most experienced defensive backs for the stretch run. Marshall had been a two-year starter, so his absence strips some stability from a unit that had already been counting on continuity as the schedule tightened up.
For a defense trying to hold together in November, losing a veteran presence in the back end is never simple, especially when the margin for error gets smaller every week. Nebraska now has to sort out how it wants to replace that experience and communication on the fly, with the timing of the injury making the challenge even more difficult. [Read more 🡒]