Tad Stryker: Goal Line Gumption by Nebraska’s Defense vs. Rutgers

In Nebraska, where no one-score win is ugly, getting a stop when you absolutely need to get one is a reason to celebrate.

The Cornhusker defense did that in the final two minutes to nail down a 14-7 win over Rutgers in a classic brutal November-style Big Ten slugfest that occurred on possibly the hottest day in the history of Memorial Stadium, where it was 97 degrees at kickoff on the first Saturday of October with a blast furnace wind blowing through the old ballpark.

Upperclassmen like Ty Robinson, Nash Hutmacher, Marques Buford and DeShon Singleton made the big plays for Nebraska when they needed them, and so did youngsters like James Williams, who had five tackles, including two sacks for the Big Red.

The 5-1 Huskers proved they still aren’t capable of stringing four solid quarters of adequate offensive football together, but the Blackshirts held the conference’s best running back in check, still haven’t given up a rushing touchdown this season and staged a heroic goal line stand in the third quarter that swung the game in Nebraska’s favor.

Leading 14-0 at halftime despite allowing 65 rushing yards to Kyle Monangai gave the Huskers a world of good when their Dylan Raiola and the offense swooned in the second half. But handing Rutgers its first Big Ten loss wasn’t easy.

The Blackshirts found themselves in a precarious position when the latest in a depressing series of special-teams gaffes — the Scarlet Knights’ second blocked punt of the game — gave Rutgers the ball at the Husker 2-yard line with 7:50 remaining in the third quarter. But the Huskers gang-tackled Monangai for a three-yard loss, which seemed to set the tone for the rest of the series. Although a holding penalty in the end zone on Singleton gave the Knights new life at the 2-yard line, the Blackshirts stopped Monangai twice more and Singleton tackled Kenny Fletcher for a one-yard loss on a quick pass before Buford slammed the door by knocking down a fourth-down pass near the goal line.

Red zone tenacity and third-down stoutness (Rutgers converted only two of 14) were vital in this tussle that very likely had more than one Husker fan thinking that his team had just won an Iowa-style victory as he wearily trudged toward his vehicle at dusk.

It was probably even uglier than an Iowa win (but possibly not as ugly as an Alabama loss to Vanderbilt) when you consider that Rutgers wideout Ben Black, who caught an 11-yard scoring pass with 3:40 remaining in the game, really should have had two touchdowns. He dropped a surefire six points earlier in the fourth quarter when Buford fell down in coverage on Black’s deep pass route. But Big Ten games sometimes turn on things like that, or on possibly coach Matt Rhule’s best decision of the day, taking the wind in the fourth quarter instead of the third.

Then there was Brian Buschini, who unleashed a critically important, wind-aided 69-yard punt with 2:28 to go that forced Rutgers to start its final drive at its own 11-yard line. And then it was up to the Blackshirts, who remembered that they allowed quarterback Athan Kaliakmanis to lead Minnesota to a game-winning touchdown on the final drive in the 2023 season opener. This time, they shut him down on four consecutive misfires, with Williams making a hit on Kaliakmanis to force an incompletion on the Knights’ last-gasp fourth-down play.

Kaliakmanis had a rough time of it for most of the day, completing just 15 of 37 passes for 186 yards with one TD and two interceptions (by Buford and Ceyair Wright). Raiola did no better. In easily his worst effort of his young career, the true freshman completed 13 of 27 passes for 134 yards and no touchdowns, with one interception, and got very little help from a Husker running game that disappeared completely in the fourth quarter and netted less than 100 yards for the game.

After his excellent first half, Monangai got just 13 more rushing yards on nine second-half carries and finished with 78.

Buschini, who had two punts blocked and for a moment looked seriously injured after the Scarlet Knights roughed him up on the first one, singlehandedly lifted an otherwise spotty Nebraska special teams performance out of the doldrums. He pinned Rutgers at its own 5-yard line with a well-placed 41-yard punt that rolled out of bounds. The senior even completed a 30-yard pass to Jalen Lloyd on a fake punt, but not even that could jumpstart the Husker offense in the second half.

Nebraska had only four first downs the entire second half as Raiola and his offensive line looked completely baffled by the Rutgers defense.

If you called Buschini the game’s hero, you wouldn’t have gotten much of an argument from Rhule.

“I’m proud of the guys, proud of the team, and Buschini was an all-star again today,” Rhule said.

Buschini needs some help on special teams. The upcoming bye week would be a good time to figure it out.

At midseason, special teams coordinator Ed Foley is playing “whack-a-mole.” Whether it’s poor snaps on field goals, poor coverage by his punt gunners or getting punts blocked, something new comes up almost each week. Nebraska’s kicking game is a net drag on the team, although Nebraska’s steady plus-one performance in turnover margin has usually been enough to offset it.

On offense, the most surprising stat of the season’s first half is that tight end Thomas Fidone doesn’t have a single touchdown catch. Fidone caught three passes for just 15 yards and no big plays Saturday. He and Raiola had an awkward exchange on the second of Nebraska’s three consecutive three-and-outs in the fourth quarter. Fidone was open for the first down on a third-and-six play from deep in his own territory, but the usually accurate Raiola delivered the ball at about knee level to the lanky Council Bluffs native, who stooped over but couldn’t get a grip on a ball that probably should be considered catchable. It’s October, and the two really haven’t developed a good rhythm, which is costing the offense a lot of consistency.

With one major stumble against Illinois, it’s been the defense which has carried Nebraska through the first half of the season and to a win over previously unbeaten Rutgers, which although ugly, has the Huskers tied for fifth in the Big Ten, and will no doubt will be a valuable possession as the season winds down.

MORE: Adam Carriker Gut Reaction: Nebraska’s One-Score Win Over Rutgers

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WATCH: Matt Rhule and Players, Rutgers Postgame Press Conference

MORE: I-80 Club: Nebraska Wins a One-Score Game, Moves to 5-1

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