Instant takes: Nebraska 28, Rutgers 21
PISCATAWAY, N.J. - Here are some quick takes and reactions following Friday's Nebraska vs. Rutgers game.
The offense we wanted to see all season finally showed up
620 yards of offense. Three 90+ yard touchdown scoring drives. A bell-cow effort from Dedrick Mills. 200+ yards passing and over 100 yards rushing for Adrian Martinez. Two touchdowns for Wan'Dale Robinson.
It was all there for the Huskers on Friday in a snow-filled SHI Stadium in New Jersey. This, in a lot of ways, was the type of numbers we expected to see from a Scott Frost offense at Nebraska.
The only problem was it took a lot of head shaking and I'm sure remote tossing in living rooms across the state to get to that point on Friday. NU put the ball on the ground five times and lost two fumbles. Martinez threw two interceptions, including one in the end zone.
We saw a lot of flashes on Friday night of why Nebraska was 2-5 going into this game, but we saw reminders of what this can look like too if it's working. This was a perfect way to close out the regular season. NU fought through adversity and overcame four turnovers and a kick return for a touchdown.
Chinander's crew kept Nebraska in this game
Nebraska doesn't win this game if Erik Chinander's crew doesn't show up on Friday. The Blackshirts held Rutgers to 252 yards of total offense and handled the constant sudden change situations that were thrown at them.
On Rutgers's first 12 plays of the second half, NU held the Scarlet Knights to 13 yards and forced three punts.
NU got stops when they mattered and Cam Taylor-Britt came down with the interception that sealed the victory.
This was probably one of the most complete defensive efforts of the season.
Special teams play continues to be an issue for the Huskers
Nebraska's kick coverage team nearly cost them the game on Friday.
The Scarlet Knights got a kickoff return for a touchdown from Aron Cruickshank and took multiple short pop-up kicks to around midfield.
They made the job of NU's defense much harder and it also put the offense in situations where they started inside the 10 multiple times because Rutgers was punting around midfield.
The Huskers also gave up a fake punt that put their defense right back on the field, but luckily the Blackshirts bailed out that mistake.