Nebraska football goes bowling.
NU improved to 6-4 with a 31-0 win at Rutgers. The Scarlet Knights fell to 2-8.
The win secures eligibility at Nebraska for a third straight year. This follows a seven-year stretch in which the Huskers failed to achieve that goal.
The win also ends a four-game losing streak, which resulted in the firing of offensive coordinator Dana Holgorsen. Glenn Thomas, who had been Matt Rhule’s OC during previous stops, took over as game manager this week.
Thomas and Nebraska placed a heavy emphasis on the running game, which was the case on the first seven plays of the game. The eighth play saw Anthony Colandrea hit Jacory Barney Jr. in the end zone, but the wideout couldn’t hold on.
Four more points followed before Colandrea got to work with the passing game. He finds Mekhi Nelson for a 10-yard gain. A few plays later, he hit Luke Lindenmeyer, who trotted in for the score. That capped a 16-play, 94-yard drive that fell behind 9:17.
In the second quarter, the Huskers used a 10-play drive to go 90 yards in 4:57, culminating in a Colandrea rushing score. In the last three games, Nebraska has had five completions of at least 90 yards.
Defensively, the Blackshirts stifled the Scarlet Knights from the jump. Rutgers worked to burn down the clock and shorten the game, holding it for more than five minutes in its opener. Yet this drive ended with a punt after reaching midfield.
Rutgers only picked up 60 yards in the first 30 minutes.
After a Husker punt to open the second half, the Scarlet Knights appeared to have some life on offense. Runs of 17 and 18 yards put Rutgers in the red zone. But the home team couldn’t muster more than that, as Caleb Benning scooped up a poorly thrown ball on the sideline, returning it to midfield.
Four plays later, Nelson rushed for the touchdown, giving Nebraska a 21-0 lead.
The Nebraska offense added points in the fourth quarter with a pass to Carter Nelson and a 41-yard John Hohl field goal. Rutgers, meanwhile, couldn’t move the scoreboard.
This is Nebraska’s first shutout since joining the Big Ten. The last shutout came in the 2009 Holiday Bowl against Arizona. The last shutout against a conference opponent came against Iowa State in 2003, with the last on the road coming in 1997 at Kansas.
Nebraska’s offense outscored Rutgers 429 yards to 143. The Huskers had 237 yards rushing. While the Scarlet Knight totaled 101 yards on the ground, they only added 42 yards through the air.
Colandrea completed 15 of 22 passes for 188 yards and two touchdowns. He added nine carries for 66 yards.
Jamal Rule led the backfield with 22 carries for 103 yards.
Nebraska returns home next Saturday for Senior Day, hosting No. 20 Ohio State. Kick-off time and television designation have not yet been announced.
Nebraska Athletics Postgame Notes
- With today’s win, Nebraska improved to 8-0 against Rutgers. The 8-0 series advantage is tied for the most Nebraska wins without a loss against an FBS opponent. NU is also 8-0 against Utah State and Wyoming.
- Nebraska recorded its first-ever shutout in a Big Ten Conference game. The Huskers posted their first shutout since Akron last season, their first shutout in a conference game since 2003 against Iowa State and their first shutout in an away conference game since 1997 at Kansas.
- NU held Rutgers to 143 total yards and 42 passing yards. Each of those totals was the lowest for a Husker opponent in the Big Ten era and the lowest total since 2010 against Kansas, when the Jayhawks totaled 87 yards and 42 passing yards.
- Nebraska blanked Rutgers in the first half, marking the fourth scoreless first half for an opponent this season. It was the sixth time in 10 games that NU held the opposition without a touchdown in the first half.
- Nebraska opened the scoring on a 16-play, 94-yard drive that lasted 9:17. It was Nebraska’s longest drive of the season in terms of games and time.
- The 9:17 TD drive was Nebraska’s longest scoring drive since a 9:22 field goal drive against UTEP in the 2024 season opener.
- Nebraska added a 10-play, 90-yard drive in the second quarter and had five touchdown drives in the last three games of 90-plus yards.
- Nebraska totaled 237 yards rushing, improving to 6-0 with a run of at least 150 yards.
- Tight end Luc Lindenmeyer had a 15-yard touchdown catch in the first quarter, marking his second touchdown catch of the season. Lindenmeyer finished the game with three catches for 52 yards.
- With his three receptions, Lindenmeyer increased his season reception total to 35, putting him within three catches of Austin Allen’s NU season-long tight end record of 38 catches in 2021. Lindenmeyer increased his career total to 69 receptions, passing Kyler Reed (67) for second place on the NU career list, 13 catches of Mike McNeill’s Husker record of 82 receptions.
- Tight end Carter Nelson had a 40-yard reception to set up a Nebraska TD in the second quarter. The 40-yard catch lasted a career, bettering two 24-yard receptions. Nelson added a 13-yard TD reception for his second TD catch of the season and third of his career.
- Strategist Anthony Colandréa threw two touchdowns to bring his season total to 18, while rushing for his fifth score of the season. He ended up tied for 10th place place on Nebraska’s season passing touchdowns list.
- Defensive tackle Jahsear Whittington had a 6-yard sack in the second quarter, giving him a team-leading 5.5 sacks this season. Whittington added a tackle for loss in the third quarter, giving him 6.5 TFL this year.
- Security Caleb Benning had an interception in the third quarter to stop a Rutgers scoring threat, marking Benning’s first career interception. He had a 39-yard return on the play.
- Cornerback Jeremy Charles had an interception in the fourth quarter for his first career interception. Charles had a 23-yard return on his interception.
- Defensive end Jordan Ochoa had a 2-yard sack in the second quarter, marking his second straight game with a sack.
- Originally from Central and New Jersey Justin Evans made his 41st career start, tied with Jeremiah Sirles for the second-most starts by an offensive lineman in program history.
- True freshman cornerback Danny Odem III made his first career start in today’s game.
- Run back Jamal Rule had a career-high 22 carries for 103 yards, marking his third 100-yard rushing game this season and his first in Big Ten play. Rule became only the second true Husker freshman running back to total 100 rushing yards in a Big Ten Conference game, joining Maurice Washington, who had 109 rushing yards against Minnesota in 2018.
- Run back Isaiah Mozee had four receptions for 48 yards, tying his career high in receptions.
- Jacory Barney Jr. had three receptions for 28 yards. It was his 36th consecutive game with a catch, tying him with Jordan Westerkamp for the third-longest receiving streak in school history (36 games). Barney also increased his career total to 144 receptions, passing Johnny Rodgers for sixth place on Nebraska’s career receptions list.
- Run back Mekhi Nelson had an 11-yard touchdown run in the third quarter for his team-high sixth touchdown run of the season.
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