Butler Blackshirts lost in Bronx to back up Bad Boy Bowl win

On a cold, wet, sloppy and muddy December afternoon at Yankee Stadium, the Nebraska Cornhuskers earned their first bowl victory since 2015 by holding off the Boston College Eagles 20-15. The game never seemed close…until it was. The Huskers dominated the game for the first 54 minutes before giving up 13 points in 1:53 to narrow the gap to 5 points. The Husker offense then managed to drain the final 4:11 and curb any further drama. The Huskers finish the season at 7-6 for their first winning campaign since 2016. With the win, Nebraska also moved to 27-27 all-time in bowl games.

The Husker offense looked poised to blow out the Eagles before repeatedly stalling with two turnovers and a turnover on downs in the red zone when a fake field goal failed. Meanwhile, the Blackshirts specialized on the “bend, don’t break” philosophy by thwarting Boston College four times on fourth down, twice after the Eagles scored first and goal and holding them to just 2 for 5 in the red zone. Boston College penetrated the Nebraska 40-yard line seven times, scoring only twice, and one of those was when Husker special teams gave the Eagles the ball at the 2-yard line at the following a blocked punt. The Blackshirts totaled seven tackles for loss, including sacks by Vincent Shavers Jr., John Bullock and Ty Robinson.

Boston College entered the game averaging 179 yards per game on the ground. The defense held the Eagles to 47 yards rushing and just 1.8 yards per carry on average. Instead, they threw the ball 41 times and racked up 301 passing yards. Despite their futility on 4th down, Boston College converted 6 of 12 third downs and amassed 136 yards on those six conversions (a whopping 22.7 yard average). Getting off the field on third down will have to be a priority for new defensive coordinator John Butler. Replacing Ty Robinson and Nash Hutmacher won’t be easy either.

Linebacker Javin Wright led all defenders with 8 stops while freshman linebacker Vincent Shavers finished the game with six tackles, two tackles for loss, a sack and a forced fumble, all career highs. Fellow linebacker John Bullock finished with 5 tackles, including a sack, and forced a fumble on his lightning run from quarterback Grayson James that was recovered by Elijah Jeudy. All-Big Ten defensive lineman Ty Robinson closed his career with four tackles, 1.5 tackles for loss, a sack and a PBU. Robinson finished the season with a team-best 7 sacks and 12.5 tackles for loss. Congratulations to Ty on returning for a sixth year and choosing to bowl. He is expected to be a first-round pick as he moves to the NFL. With the portal thinning out some of the defensive ranks, several youths strutted out. Besides Shavers, Willis McGahee (4 tackles) and Donovan Jones (3 tackles and a TFL) played well. We also got a taste of next year’s roster with strong play from Caleb Benning, Riley Van Poppel and Keona Davis.

Dylan Raiola completed 23 of 31 passes for 231 yards and a touchdown in today’s game, bringing his season passing total to 2,826 yards, setting a Nebraska freshman passing record. The previous record was 2,617 yards by Adrian Martinez in 2018. Raiola’s passing total ranks seventh overall on Nebraska’s single-season passing list. Raiola made plenty of expected freshman mistakes this season, but also completed 67.2 percent of his passes and the future looks bright with this year of experience under his belt. I also liked the fire on display as he went to grill with the defender who hit him on his slide on the final drive. He is a natural leader and an active recruiter to improve this team.

The 23 passes went to ten different receivers led by tight end Thomas Fidone’s five catches for 50 yards and wide receiver Jahmal Banks’ four catches for 79 yards. Unfortunately, Banks had a sure touchdown in the end zone on a drive that ended with nada, but had a one-handed catch on the first possession of the game. Banks finished the season with a team-best 587 total receiving yards. Running back Emmett Johnson exploited the defensive mismatch with five catches for 28 yards, including a nice swing pass reception for a 13-yard touchdown to make it 20-2. Johnson finished the season with 40 receptions, the most by a Husker running back since Marlon Lucky made a school-record 75 catches in 2007. Freshman receiver Jacory Barney Jr. caught three passes in the game , bringing his season reception total to 55, tying a Nebraska freshman record held by J.D. Spielman who set that mark as a redshirt freshman in 2017. Barney’s reception total is also tied for 10th overall on NU’s single-season receptions list. Tight end Luke Lindenmeyer had two catches for 22 yards, including a killer catch and ran for 8 yards on a 3rd and 4. The contribution of newly minted tight end Heinrich Haarberg should also be noted as he did not had only one catch but had at least two penalties. blocks to extend games. Haarberg is too good to sit still and should have a chance to start next year.

What’s not to like about the performance of Pinstripe Bowl MVP Rahmir Johnson, a Harlem native, who scored his first rushing touchdown of the season and seventh of his career to open the score. Johnson finished the game with 10 carries for 60 yards and finished his Nebraska career with 1,000 rushing yards. What a nice touch that his Pop Warner team, the Harlem Jets, was also there. Sophomore running back Emmett Johnson rushed for 68 yards in the game, bringing his career total to 1,002 yards. New Jersey native Kwinten Ives also got his first career touchdown with a 2-yard run in the second quarter.

As good as the defense and offense played, the special teams almost single-handedly undid this performance with arguably their worst game of the year. A blocked extra point came back for a defensive 2-point conversion after a bad snap that was then botched even more by holder Brian Buschini. Buschini then blocked a punt and returned to the Nebraska 2-yard line, giving the Eagles a touchdown. Nebraska has had 10 blocked kicks between punts, field goals and PAT this year. Task Force Coordinator Ed Foley would be advised to start sending out resumes. Nebraska had no punt returns as Boston College’s only punt went out of bounds and Buschini’s unblocked punt traveled 47 yards. A small highlight was the tackle of Janiran Bonner on an Eagle kickoff return at the 20.

The offseason will be much better for the fan base at 7-6 than it would have been at 6-7. Getting to the 105-man roster (an incredibly stupid requirement) means several dozen more players will leave the roster, including some who contributed to the bowl game. The portal’s recent acquisitions appear to be positive additions, but the team might look a little different in 2025. Historically, Matt Rhule’s third season at a school has always marked a big improvement and we hope that trend continues as the Upcoming schedule could result in at least 8 victories. Hopes always spring eternal, especially after a bowl victory. Thanks to the seniors who stayed and shout out to Rhule who brought several players from last year’s team to enjoy the festivities. This reveals how much he cares about his guys and that loyalty could pay future dividends with players and recruits. Go big red!!

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