NEW YORK — You never know what someone is dealing with in their personal lives.

That rings true in life for everyone. It certainly does for Rahmir Johnson, Nebraska's sixth-year running back who earned himself MVP honors after rushing for 60 yards and one touchdown while catching one pass for 9 yards in Saturday's 20-15 Pinstripe Bowl win against Boston College at Yankees Stadium.

There's more to life than football. But sometimes when something, or someone, close to the heart is taken away, a game like football, with a locker room full of teammates who are like brothers to one another, can be a safe place. It can feel like home when home is far away.

Football was Rahmir's safe place and that Nebraska locker room was home when he received devastating news that his mother, Angela, had passed away.

"His mom was really, really sick for the whole season. I asked him to go home. President (Jeffrey) Gold intervened and got us in contact here with doctors who would be taking care of his mom as she was preparing for hospice," Matt Rhule said after the game. "I asked Rahmir to go home, he wouldn't go home. He had to play that game, he had to stay here with his teammates. Went home at the bye week, asked me not to tell anyone, didn't want it to be a distraction. Only let Emmett (Johnson) know. And he lost his mom, he lost his mom in November. Those are the kids that got me into coaching. Those are the kids, the men, who keep me in coaching."

While Rahmir was up at the podium, talking about what he went through for the first time publicly, he talked about his determination to have a special season in 2024, his last as a Husker.

The Harlem, New York, native really wanted to go out with a bang and a win, a bowl win for the first time since 2015. Something that will help a program that now means so much to Rahmir move forward to better times. Winning times.

"Everything I do is for Nebraska, for this team," Rahmir said. "So when I found out the news about my mom passing, I told coach Rhule I don't want it to be a big distraction, I didn't want the team to be like, 'Oh, Rahmir, I'm sorry for your loss,' and all that stuff. That's what it means to be a Cornhusker. I love this program. I'm dedicated to this place. And even with news like that, I still want to play for these guys. That's just the type of person I am."

Perhaps Angela was in Rahmir's thoughts while in the huddle for that key fourth-and-1 late in the game against BC, a long fourth-and-1 that Rhule saw was almost a fourth-and-2.

One yard away from a bowl win. One yard away from helping Nebraska do something it hadn't done in nine years.

What better play to call than Rhule's bread-and-butter run he's used since his Temple days: Stud Right 30 Hammer.

"The guys wanted it. They wanted that play. Ty (Robinson) comes in. We call that play Stud Right 30 Hammer. Been called that since Temple," Rhule said with a smile. "It's our play."

Nebraska has used Stud Right 30 Hammer on a touchdown earlier in the game, the one where Kwinten Ives followed Robinson's block into the end zone to put the Huskers up 13-2. But on this run, in that moment, Rhule wanted 14.

And 14 got 11 yards when he only needed 1. Rahmir kept his pads low and his legs churning. He even took a couple Eagles for a ride on his way down.

"He (Rhule) was like, 'This is your city, man, let's finish it the right way,'" Rahmir said. "I saw the lane, Ty created the lane for me. Got the first down. Got the bowl win."

"It was a great run," Rhule said. "Even then, he had five points of ball security, he knew the situation, he knew four-minute. Really good play."

"I just told Rahmir to follow me," Robinson said. "On the edge, I saw three dudes and they all kind of stopped when they looked at me. Then I felt Rahmir hit the seam and I got right behind it to make sure he could keep doing. When I'm out there, I don't know much except just go hit somebody."

Said Dylan Raiola of the run: "That's a play that's, in fall camp, a day-one install, set the tone and kind of our DNA — get downhill, run the ball. And I think, whoever sees No. 9 running at them like that, they're gonna duck out of the way. I think the touchdown, we ran the same play, looked like he (Robinson) choke slammed him or something. That's a tone-setting play for us. We know, when that play is called, it's time to go work and get the win."

Rahmir saw members of his family and football family in Yankee Stadium. His old youth football team, the Harlem Jets, were in one corner. His family members were in the end zone where he scored his touchdown.

It was all a special moment, special day for Rahmir. And in a victorious locker room after the clock hit zeros, Robinson wanted to say something to his buddy.

"I told Rahmir in the locker room, this is for life," Robinson said. "The brotherhood that we built, it means so much. Next time I come to New York City I'm gonna be hitting him up. As we hang out, go wherever, it just shows what kind of person Rahmir is to go through that type of adversity personally. I kind of understand it from a different perspective, but it takes a lot. I know the mental toughness he's had throughout the season has just proven how good of a man he is."

Everyone has their own unique way of dealing with difficult moments in life. Some like to talk about it. Others would rather keep it close to the vest. There's no right or wrong way. Whatever they think is the right way.

Rahmir Johnson put the team first. But this team was also his second family that helped him get through it. Now he's in the city he grew up with a trophy that means something to the program he loves.

"It's never been about him. He loved his mother. He lost his mother. He cares about this team and I think this is a fitting end for him," Rhule said. "So I hope he wears his pads home on the subway and goes to his apartment and takes his MVP trophy and takes it out tonight somewhere."

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