Final take: Huskers show flashes of what they can be in win over Rutgers

PISCATAWAY, N.J. - Nebraska's (3-5) 28-21 win over Rutgers (3-6) on Friday gave us a little bit of everything.

It gave us reminders of what this football team has been for most of the year with five fumbles, two interceptions and four total turnovers. There was also inconsistent play on special teams that allowed Rutgers to return a kick for a touchdown and covert on a fake punt.

However, Friday also gave us a taste of what most of us thought a Scott Frost offense would look like. We saw rhythm and flow and 365 total rushing yards. NU wore down the Scarlet Knights for the tune of 620 total yards and held the football for nearly 40 minutes. They put together a 2020 NCAA-best three 90+ yard scoring drives.

The Blackshirts also bowed up and got stops in sudden change situations. They got stops when they were given poor field position because of bad kick coverage. Then most importantly they closed the game with an interception when Rutgers was driving to tie the game.

"I wanted to see a team that was out there having fun, playing for each other and didn't make any makes. We failed miserably at that in the first half," Frost said. "That' just been too common in our program, we got to get all that fixed. It was better in the second half. They played better in the second half. I was really impressed with the fight.

"We've had a better record right now if we weren't doing things like that to ourselves. It's hard to overcome those things, much less in the Big Ten. We were able to overcome those things tonight and win, but we've got to get them stopped."

So what's next? Will NU decide their season is over after their 3-hour flight home from New Jersey? Or does this team want to play another football game?

More than likely the Big Red will have an opportunity to play in a bowl game if they want to, but that might mean playing as early as Dec. 26.

"I need to talk to the guys about it. I have to see if there's an opportunity for us to do it or not," Frost said. "This has been a long hard year for a lot of people.

"If I would've known this season was going to get delayed, I don't think I would've brought them back as early. Some of our guys haven't seen their families since March or April. It's been a long haul. I think it would be great for us if we had an opportunity to play another game. I don't know if we'll have that opportunity yet. I'm going to let the guys decide if they have gas left in the tank or not. We'll make that decision."

It was a uniformed message by all of Nebraska's players as well. There's no question playing another game is going to be discussed on Saturday and Sunday, but there's a lot to chew on if the team wants to move forward with it.

"That's definitely something as a leadership council and obviously the coaching staff and players, in general, we are going to have to discuss," junior quarterback Adrian Martinez said. "It's something that I don't think has been completely decided yet. It's been a long year. I think one way or another we are happy with the way we played tonight. We'll just have to see where things go. I'm not sure if this is the last game of the season or not."

No on to the breakdown...

***Quarterback Luke McCaffrey dressed and watched pregame warm-ups as a decoy, but when the game started he got back into street clothes. Frost said McCaffrey was hurt and not available to go on Friday. He wanted McCaffrey at the game to serve as a signal-caller as well.

***Former Husker quarterback Noah Vedral was not dressed for Rutgers on Friday night.

***How about the play of freshman offensive lineman Turner Corcoran. Making his first career start, he looked like a seasoned pro. As Frost said, "I didn't notice him, which tells me he was doing his job."

***I think a game like Friday is probably all Mills needed to give him the push to go pro. He had nearly 250 yards of total offense and demonstrated what type of back he can be when healthy. It's too bad that wasn't there all season.

***Will Nebraska play in a bowl game? Great question. You can tell after the win the team had a uniform message that no decision has been made. Today, I think they will end up playing one more game. Frost said the date of the game may impact the decision. Would NU want to play on Dec. 26? Or would they only be interested in playing Dec. 30? As Martinez said on Friday, most of these guys on the team have not been home since March or April. On the flip side, what's one more week?

***The Huskers had three drives of 90 yards or more on Friday. Before that, their long drive on the season was 79 yards. They also became the first team in the country to produce three scoring drives of 90+ yards in the same game.

***Freshman wide receiver Zavier Betts did not travel on Friday, nor did linebacker Luke Reimer. You have to wonder if Betts tested positive for COVID-19 this week because there was no word at all of him being injured? Reimer got hurt last week, and was a late scratch.

***In Reimer's place, I thought the Huskers got a really good game out of Nich Henrich, who led the Big Red with 12 total tackles.

***It was a big night for Nebraska's tight ends, who finished with six catches for 82 yards. Jack Stoll gave the Huskers three catches for 44 yards.

***I don't know what it is, but there's something about this team when they play on the road. They have looked considerably better on the road this season.

Rushing offense: A-

Nebraska ran for 365 yards and three touchdowns on the ground. They got 191 yards from Dedrick Mills and 157 rushing yards from Adrian Martinez. It's the first time the Huskers have had two 100+ yard rushers since the 2018 Minnesota game. Yes, NU had two turnovers in the rushing game, but they completely wore down the Scarlet Knights with 58 rushing attempts. I have a hard time not giving this part of the game an A level grade. The Huskers also won the time of possession battle 39:31 to 20:29. I went A- because of the two turnovers.

Passing offense: B

Martinez threw two interceptions, but Martinez finished 24-of-28 for 255 yards. His third-down pass to Wan'Dale Robinson near the goal line, along with his 38-yard ball downfield were two of the best passes he delivered all season. Mills also had six catches for 45 yards, while Robinson finished with six catches for 79 yards.

Rushing defense: A

NU held Rutgers to 130 yards rushing on 30 attempts. There was only one run longer than 20 yards. The Scarlet Knights came into this game knowing they had to run the ball to win, and the Blackshirts shut it down.

Passing defense: A

Rutgers finished 11-of-22 passing for 122 yards. 50 of the yards came on the first play of the game for the Knights, and after that, they had just 72 yards on their other 10 completions. The Cam Taylor-Britt sealed the win, and it was the turnover the Huskers needed to lay the knockout blow.

Special teams: F

Yikes. Special teams nearly blew this game for Nebraska. Aron Cruickshank ran a kick back on the Huskers for the second year in a row. It was the only time Nebraska kicked deep. They tried short squibs, and their coverage units failed to get downfield and Rutgers was starting at midfield more often than not. This put the defense in tough spots and also allowed the Scarlet Knights to punt from around midfield and pin the Huskers deep. It was a major issue tonight Nebraska was able to overcome. They also gave up a fake punt for a first down.

Sean Callahan can be reached at sean@huskeronline.com and he can be heard each day at 6:45 am and 5:05 pm on Big Red Radio 1110 KFAB in Omaha during the football season. He can also be seen on KETV Channel 7 in Omaha during the fall and each week he appears on NET's Big Red Wrap-Tuesday's at 7 pm.