A game of mixed emotions, a punter throwing a beautiful pass and defense having an outstanding performance, led to a Husker one score victory. Rutgers fought the whole game but when Kyle Monangai was bottled up by the fantastic play of the blackshirts, Rutgers fell in a fourteen point deficit. Rutgers is not built to play from behind, especially when the Blackshirts seemed to swallow up everything on the field.
Monangai is a Top 3 leading rusher in the country, or at least was before today. The Blackshirts played their best game of the year. Rutgers started their drive with some of the most consistently great field position I have ever seen and were held out of the endzone until it was too late. Ceyair Wright played lights out. There hasn’t been a noticeable drop-off since Tommy Hill suffered an injury against Illinois. Ceyair Wright was all over the field and has imposed his will on receivers since coming in. Wright is not afraid to take risks and had proven very beneficial in the run game especially when Rutgers tried a fake field goal and was immediately tackled by Wright.
Nash Hutmacher had by far his best game of the year. The Polar Bear was out looking for prey all night long, causing havoc in the backfield and disrupting Rutgers run game. A strong performance that may not yield fantastic stats but had just as much to do with the outcome of the game as anyone on the field. Sophomore defensive end James Williams was however the player that stood out the most in this battle against the Scarlet Knights. Williams had 5 total tackles, 4 solo tackles, 2 tackles for loss and 2 sacks today. He was consistently all over the backfield and showed just how bright his future is at Nebraska.
Raiola was due for a freshman moment and we got just that as Raiola threw the ball directly to a Linebacker from Piscataway. The Scarlet Knights do have a Top 20 pass defense in the country but Raiola just seemed off tonight. Something way missing in his game, he seemed to lack that laid back island swagger that we’ve grown to love so far this season. We all have had a bad game or a bad day and that very well seemed to be the case for Raiola. While Raiola may have struggled, the running game seemed to get the job done when it was given a chance.
In a game where the offense seemed to have water in its fuel allowing Rutgers to outgain the Huskers the storyline must be the outstanding play of the Blackshirts. While the defense will keep us in and may even win us games, the offense needs to find out how to be consistent. If Nebraska can put it all together they could be very, very dangerous. This bye week seems to be perfectly placed in a season that has been full of emotion. Lets rest and get healthy and hey, we won a one score game!