Nebraska 28 Rutgers 21: Recap and Postgame Thread

Nebraska’s punter William Przystrup is not on the field so Tyler Crawford will punt for the Huskers. In an interesting turn of events, Luke McCaffrey is not throwing passes in warmups - Logan Smothers is taking the backup QB snaps. I don’t know if Luke is hurt in some way or if the coaches are just planning to get him on the field at other positions and will try to give the true freshman some time.

With Brendan Jaimes opting out, Turner Corcoran will be the left tackle. This is the first time in school history that three freshman will be starting on the o-line for the Huskers. In the preseason, we looked at the offensive line as one of the most experienced - returning all five starters. The young talent on the team seems to have made a move. Hopefully this pays dividends in two years.

There is also no Luke Reimer and no Zavier Betts for the Huskers.

For Rutgers, quarterback Noah Vedral won’t play. The former Husker has had a good season, but was injured in a dirty play (similar to the one Adrian Martinez suffered vs Colorado) against Maryland.

Rutgers won the toss and deferred.

First Quarter

If you had swing pass as the first play on your bingo card. Drink. The Austin Allen catch was followed by a Dedrick Mills run (and another where Mills drug defenders with him). A swing pass to Wan’dale Robinson lost yards but Adrian Martinez got the Huskers past midfield on a draw.

Fumble. Drink. Martinez recovers.

Another fumble. It was a scary play where Adrian landed on his head and the ball appeared to be coming out before he was down. Rutgers ball. This offense just cannot get out of its own way.

Rutgers went right for the home run ball as Artur Sitkowski hit Bo Melton for a 51 yard gain over JoJo Domann. The Blackshirts put up the stop sign, but the field goal for the Scarlet Knights was good.

Rutgers 3 Nebraska 0

The Husker offense seems to show their cards early and if this is what we can expect - hang on Nebraska fans.

Alante Brown tried to return the kickoff and only made it out to the 15. A turnover-prone offense starting deep in their own territory?!? This will go well.

Dedrick Mills is running at will (#RunTheDamnBall) and a facemask penalty got Nebraska past midfield, where they faced a fourth down. Adrian Martinez (#PunterOfTheYear) pooch punted and Wan’dale downed it at the one.

Johnny Langan came in at QB for Rutgers and ran for a first down. An unsportsmanlike penalty on Rutgers backed them up again and Sitkowski came back in. Will Honas made a big tackle for loss to bring up third and 11. Garret Nelson made the third down stop to force a punt.

NO, NOT AGAIN. A Martinez fumble as he ran past midfield was recovered by Rutgers.

The Blackshirts forced a three and out but the punt stopped cold around the two.

Can we just run wildcat the rest of the game? I mean Dedrick has been looking good...

Rahmir Johnson gained some yardage, but an Ethan Piper false start backed the Huskers up.

An offensive holding call (Bryce Benhart) backed Nebraska up further. See foot. Shoot foot.

Punt.

Words no longer seem adequate. It is still the first quarter.

We know which Husker team showed up.

The first quarter ends with Rutgers nearing the red zone. Or maybe they are there already. I am no longer watching the game and am searching for the perfect gifs to express my current state of mind.

Second Quarter

The completion was ruled to have occurred after the clock expired so Rutgers started the quarter on the Husker 27 yard line. A Pheldarius Payne sack backed the Knights up to the 30. Deontai Williams made the third down tackle to force a field goal.

Rutgers 6 Nebraska 0

The Blackshirts might have to start scoring points if Nebraska is going to have any chance at all.

OR THEY CAN JUST LET DEDRICK RUN THE DAMN BALL. FIRST AND GOAL.

Rutgers can’t seem to stop Dedrick but let’s give the ball to a player who hasn’t been on the field much this season (Chris Hickman). For the record, I think Hickman should be on the field more. On second and goal, let’s give it to the QB that has three fumbles already. On third and goal, let’s try to break Wan’dale. #DidNotSucceed.

Fourth and goal. Try again to break Wan’dale. #Success

The Connor Culp extra point was good.

Nebraska 7 Rutgers 6

Cam Taylor-Britt registered a tackle for loss, followed by an incompletion. On third and 14, the open receiver dropped the pass.

It is like Nebraska fans keep saying “look at our dysfunctional offense” and Rutgers says “hold my beer”.

AND NEBRASKA GIVES THEM THE BEER BACK. NO ONE WATCHES THE PUNTER.

First down Rutgers.

At least the Blackshirts came to play. They forced a fourth down and Garrett Nelson stopped the fourth down play short. Husker ball.

High snap. Drink.

Intentional Grounding. Don’t drink. We can’t keep up this pace.

Third and 20.

WANDALE ISN’T BROKEN AFTER ALL!!!! First down. #WeCanHazADownfieldPass

Husker holding penalty. Rutgers intercepts in the end zone. GOOD FREAKIN’ GRIEF.

Rutgers past midfield. Rutgers fourth down at the Husker 34.

Touchdown Rutgers. The two-point conversion was good.

Rutgers 14 Nebraska 7

A poor decision on special teams (SURPRISE!) resulted in the Husker offense taking over a their own 15ish yard line. A sack of Martinez dropped them back more. A Jack Stoll completion brought up third and five.

Rutgers seems incapable of stopping Dedrick, so... FROST MAKES THE CALL TO GIVE IT TO MILLS, WUT? First down. Adrian and Dedrick get the Huskers to midfield with 90 seconds left in the half.

Sack. #NotAtMidfieldAnymore

More stuff happened. #NotReally

Second Half

Are you watching? I’m busy writing rants and then deleting them. #YouAreWelcome

Also wondering what to do when my small beer supply runs out (#AlreadyThere)

My kids told me to look at the TeeVee. 41 yard run. TOUCHDOWN ADRIAN MARTINEZ!!

The game is tied up.

Nebraska 14 Rutgers 14

Nebraska special teams decides to get in on the suckatude. (#IThinkIMadeUpANewWord)

Why not make it harder? #ItsTheNebraskaWay

The Nebraska offense gets the ball back and Adrian throws an interception.

[See: gif, above]

Seriously though, we have given Erik Chinander all kinds of crap about the defense for the past three seasons. Without the Blackshirts, the Huskers would not even be sniffing a chance at a victory in this game.

Sorry, I didn’t include “Blackshirts holding serve against Rutgers despite the offense being...offensive” on the CN Bingo card.

Plays happened.

Alante Brown caught one of them. Nebraska was in the red zone but decided to do the ‘lose yards on the swing pass thing’.

Fortunately Adrian and Wan’dale didn’t give up the way Husker fans did. Touchdown.

Nebraska 21 Rutgers 21

The Huskers remembered that Rutgers couldn’t stop Dedrick.

Offensive plays ensued.

Nebraska scored a touchdown when Dedrick threw Adrian into the end zone. #OrSomethingLikeThat

Nebraska 28 Rutgers 21

The Blackshirts played a better game than their offense and...

CAM TAYLOR-BRITT INTERCEPTION! (fourth quarter)

Dedrick Mills did work, but the Huskers were flagged for holding.

As the clock went under five minutes, Nebraska faced a third down...and DEDRICK WAS UNSTOPPABLE AGAIN.

I think we are witnessing good clock management.

We win!!

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Frost Post-Game Remarks

Adrian Martinez Post-Game Remarks