NEW YORK — Nebraska held on and got the job done on Saturday.
The Huskers traveled to New York City to play in the Bad Boy Mowers Pinstripe Bowl against Boston College and will fly home with a 20-15 win.
It wasn't pretty — is it ever with this program? — as NU led 20-2 with three minutes left in the third quarter but allowed BC to score two touchdowns in the final 6:11 of the game.
NU ends its 2024 season with a record of 7-6 (3-6 in Big Ten). That's the most wins since the 2016 team went 9-4. It's also the first bowl victory for the Huskers since the 2015 team beat UCLA 37-29 in the Foster Farms Bowl.
Here are three key statistics that stood out from NU's win over the Eagles.
A good showing in the red zone from Nebraska's offense
One of the top stats that usually equals winning football involves making the most of your trips to the red zone. On Saturday, the Husker offense was good enough once it entered BC's 20-yard line.
NU finished the game by scoring points on three of its four red zone opportunities, and all of them were touchdowns. All three of NU's scoring drives that entered the red area lasted at least seven plays, too, so the Huskers were going on some drives in Yankee Stadium.
The only red-zone appearance that didn't end in a score was a fake field goal that had punter/holder Brian Buschini attempting to run the ball on a fourth-and-goal from the BC 8-yard line. That didn't work as Buschini got 1 yard to seal a turnover on downs.
Nebraska turned the ball over twice, but John Butler's defense put out the fires
NU's offense turned the ball over twice in the game, both of which came in the first half thanks to a Dylan Raiola interception and an Emmett Johnson lost fumble.
Those could have been back-breaking mistakes, but they weren't because defensive coordinator John Butler's defense, which featured several young players getting opportunities, stood tall after each turnover.
The Huskers did not allow BC to score points off those turnovers. NU may have bent — the Huskers allowed BC to convert 5-of-10 third downs in the first half — but it never really broke until late in the game when the Eagles scored their first touchdown at the 6:11 mark of the fourth quarter.
On a wet and slippery field, yes, there were missed tackles and sloppy play at times. But the Huskers flew around like a team who had fun in the city for a week before flipping a switch and winning a football game, just like Matt Rhule wanted.
If BC was going to win this game, it needed to run the ball — that didn't happen
Nothing against BC quarterback Grayson James. He played as well as he could and made some good throws while being pressured by NU's defense all day.
But if BC was going to win this game, it needed to have an effective run game. That didn't happen — BC would have liked to have its first-team All-ACC right tackle Ozzy Trapilo, who opted out — as the Husker defense limited the Eagles' rushing attack to just 47 yards overall and 40 in the first half. That rushing total rises to 64 yards if you take away the 17 sack yards NU's defense had.
BC entered the game with a top-50 rush offense nationally at 176 yards per game, good for 46th in the country.
The defensive front that played for NU today — guys like Ty Robinson, Nash Hutmacher, Cam Lenhardt, Elijah Jeudy, Keona Davis, MJ Sherman, Willis McGahee and Co. — held up well against BC's offensive line and tight ends and allowed the linebackers behind them, like Javin Wright, Vincent Shavers Jr. and John Bullock, to clean up, which they did.
The Wright-Shavers-Bullock trio combined for 18 tackles, 3.5 tackles for loss and two sacks.
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