Bowl eligibility is sitting right there for Nebraska, and Rutgers is the game that could put it in reach.
The Huskers head to Piscataway with two brutal matchups still looming after this one - Ohio State and then Iowa - so Saturday feels like the clearest path to win No. 6.
Rutgers, though, is not being treated like a throwaway opponent. Matt Rhule made that clear, and so did Greg Schiano, who spent most of his Tuesday news conference talking about his extension through 2027 before finally turning to Nebraska in the last minute.
“They’re an incredibly talented team,” Schiano said of the Huskers.
Rhule knows Schiano well from their time together at Penn State, where Schiano was the secondary coach when Rhule was there.
“I have great respect for him,” Rhule said.
That respect showed up in the way Rhule handled a Rutgers team that enters at 2-7 and has been hit hard by injuries. Even so, Nebraska is preparing for a defense and special teams unit that Schiano has built with his usual edge.
“Schiano will “have a great plan for us,“ said Rhule. “We are going to continue to work to have a great plan for him, and I think the biggest thing for us is just putting our players in a position where they can be free and be detailed and go out there and play at a really high level.”
Rutgers’ offense has struggled overall, ranking 14th in the Big Ten in total offense, but the Scarlet Knights have had one real weapon in receiver KJ Duff. He caught 45 passes for 774 yards and nine touchdowns, with the nine scores ranking seventh nationally and his 96.8 receiving yards per game ranking 12th.
“KJ’s probably a top-five receiver in the country,” Husker defensive coordinator Rob Aurich said.
He’s “one of the best players in college football,” said Rhule.
But those comments are about a player Nebraska may not have to deal with. Duff did not play in last week’s loss to Wisconsin after getting hurt against Michigan, and he is listed as out for Saturday. Pete Thamel reported earlier Wednesday that sources indicated Duff will be lost for the season because of surgery for an ankle issue.
That would be a major break for Nebraska, which also has to sort out Rutgers’ ground game. Rhule said the Huskers need a “great plan” there too, and they’ll be doing it without two key defensive starters in Andrew Marshall and Owen Chambliss.
Antwan Raymond leads the Big Ten in rushing with 87.7 yards per game. He has 149 carries for 789 yards and six touchdowns. Clay Thevenin has added 425 yards and five touchdowns on 50 carries.
“Schiano continues to do a great job of finding ways to run the football,” said Rhule.
Rutgers’ quarterback situation is also unsettled. Dylan Longeran is in concussion protocol and out, leaving AJ Surace to handle the offense. Surace has completed 57 of 107 passes for 823 yards, eight touchdowns and five interceptions.
Defensively, Rutgers will be without Chis Joines, who leads the team with 45 tackles.
“Special teams-wise, they always challenge you,” Rhule said. “They’ll come after you in the punt game. He (Schiano) does a great job in those two areas (defense the other) … Defensively, they are fairly similar to our defense in that they’re a 4-3 quarters-based defense.”
The record still tells the story: Rutgers is 2-7 and has lost three straight since a 37-30 win at Maryland. At home this season, the Scarlet Knights are 1-4, with their only victory a 58-7 rout of Howard, an FCS team.
Schiano’s overall record at Rutgers now stands at 101-115 across 18 seasons, including his first stint from 2001-2011 and his current run since 2020. That first stretch included an 11-2 season and two 9-4 seasons. In this current seven-year span, he has five losing seasons and two 7-6 finishes.
The backdrop to all of this is why Tuesday sounded the way it did. Schiano’s extension dominated his news conference, just as Rhule’s Monday availability was shaped by the firing of offensive coordinator Dana Holgorsen after Nebraska’s fourth straight loss, to Illinois.
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