3 takeaways from a gutsy win for Nebraska football

During the final minutes of the fourth quarter on Saturday, Nebraska football fans had to be feeling deja vu. Rutgers had cut a 14-0 lead in half and had the ball with the chance to tie.

Husker fans have seen that movie play out too many times over the last eight years. Not this time though. Not today. The Blackshirts were up to the task and they delivered their head coach the one-score win that he’s been seeking — that spent all offseason focusing on.

Finally, we saw the results of that against Rutgers. There was the goal-line stand. The fake punt for a first down and the ability to finally shut the door at the end against a good team, which Rutgers is, regardless of the result.

It was a weird game. There were two blocked punts and a field goal that doinked off the upright. But the Huskers found themselves standing at the end and they have nothing to apologize for.

Here are three takeaways from Nebraska’s 14-7 win.

The defense won the game

Dylan Widger-Imagn Images

Nebraska football’s defense wasn’t able to close out the game against Illinois, but this time, the Blackshirts didn’t just close out the win — they were the reason the Huskers won.

Not the only reason. But the biggest reason. Nebraska football sacked Athan Kaliakmanis four times, intercepted him twice, and pressured him all day.

I predicted Nebraska would hold Kyle Monangai under 100 yards and they did after allowing 78 yards on 19 attempts. He had a run of 17 yards, but after the first couple of drives, Nebraska stuffed him.

Eight times Rutgers had the ball in Nebraska territory and didn’t score. James Williams was incredible in the second half. The pass rush was impactful all day and of course, the horses up front — Ty Robinson, Nash Hutmacher, and Jimari Butler — were excellent.

There wasn’t much room to run or much time for Rutgers to pass. Things looked ugly at times on offense, but when you have an elite defense, sometimes the offense just has to be good enough not to lose.

With Raiola, Nebraska can at least be that on a bad day and you saw the result on Saturday — a huge win.

Nebraska can win a close game

Let’s give Matt Rhule his flowers. Nebraska has won two close games in a row. The Purdue game technically won’t count as a close game but it was 7-3 Nebraska in the fourth quarter.

Nebraska football pulled away late in that game but on Saturday, they had to execute in the last few minutes in a one-score game. Part of me wondered if Rutgers was going to score on the last drive, but honestly, I wasn’t that nervous.

I trusted the defense and they came through. Brian Buschini sure did his part with a booming punt late, as well as the fake pass. Hell, after the first blocked punt, I didn’t know if he would continue. He flipped the field more than a few times and prevented the special teams from being a complete disaster.

Short-yardage success was a huge factor

This game was always going to come down to whichever team won in the trenches. Nebraska won on defense, but they won the offensive battle too.

Sure, the offensive line gave up four sacks. The performance in the second half could have been better. However, the fourth-and-one pickup on the opening drive set the tone.

There was zero hesitation for Matt Rhule to go for the fourth-and-goal. I loved the heavy package and the pulling guard on both touchdowns. Nebraska needed touchdowns in the red zone and they took advantage of both goal-to-go opportunities.

It was more than that though. There were seven different times (by my count) that Nebraska converted a third or fourth-and short with a run. On many of those, the Huskers just needed a yard.

But looking back at the last year eight years, how many times have the Huskers failed to convert in those situations? Those two fourth-down conversions in the first half told me how this game was going to go.

Great for Nebraska to seal the deal. Now, they just need one more win before they can start thinking and talking about something besides a bowl game.

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