5 bold predictions for Nebraska football vs. Rutgers

After a frustrating loss to Illinois two weeks ago, Nebraska football has the chance to redeem itself at home against a 4-0 Rutgers team.

The Scarlet Knights and Huskers (4-1, 1-1) are each on the verge of being ranked in the AP poll. Rutgers has beaten two non-power-4 opponents, but does own wins over Virginia Tech (on the road) and Washington.

Rutgers won’t be intimidated and beating a team like Nebraska would be another huge win for their program, especially to win in Lincoln Memorial Stadium.

For Nebraska football, it’s about getting one win closer to six. The last six games feature four on the road and they are all against teams with winning records. At home, Nebraska will have Wisconsin and UCLA. Both are winnable games but not guaranteed wins by any means.

So every game is a big game and here are five bold predictions for Nebraska vs. Rutgers.

Kyle Monangai won’t reach 100 yards

There’s no doubt about Rutgers best player on offense, it’s running back Kyle Monangai. He earned All-Big Ten Preseason honors and has certainly lived up to that so far with 589 yards in four games as well as an average of 6.1 yards per attempt.

Nebraska football is allowing just 2.8 yards per attempt and 85 rushing yards per game. Illinois and Northern Illinois got over 100 yards but, the tackling was much better last week and Purdue was held to 1.6 yards per rush. Both running backs were under 3.5 yards per carry too.

The Huskers should load the box though and make Athan Kaliakmanis beat them, which I think they will after holding Monangai in check (under 100 yards).

Jacory Barney has 100 total yards and a touchdown

Rutgers hasn’t been doing a ton of different things on the backend of their defense and even though they held Washington to 18 points, the Huskies had 521 total yards.

Will Rogers is a veteran but Dylan Raiola hasn’t looked like a freshman at all this season, outside of a few series against Illinois. He’s making good decisions and if Rutgers is using basic coverage looks, Raiola will eat them alive.

Getting yards and touchdowns are two different things though. But, Jacory Barney has been an explosive play waiting to happen. Teams will catch on to the Jet Sweep, but I’m sure the Huskers have been working on a counter.

Barney is a difficult dude to deal with in space. He’ll make some plays as a runner and receiver and he’ll hit paydirt for the Huskers too.

Nebraska football won’t miss any field goals

Yes, this sounds crazy but hear me out. The Huskers will be more aggressive going for it and I don’t see them trying to a field goal from outside of 40 yards, especially if John Hohl is the kicker again.

I guarantee that Matt Rhule spent as much time as possible this week to correct it. He said in his press conference that the snap was the issue. It was better in the second half against Purdue in the sense that the Huskers made all four extra points without incident.

Field goals are usually longer, but I don’t see a kick getting blocked, and if Hohl gets a chance inside 40 yards, I think he makes it — maybe even more than one.

Dylan Raiola throws for 300 yards

Rutgers was the definition of a bend-but-don’t-break defense against Washington. That’s what we’ll see on Saturday. Nebraska should have the edge when it comes to wide receivers versus cornerbacks. I’m guessing we’ll see plenty of Cover 3 and man-to-man.

Raiola is every bit as good as Rogers. The Huskers offensive line is solid and Rutgers has just four sacks in four games. Raiola is the most talented quarterback the Scarlet Knights have faced. The Huskers probably have the best assortment of weapons too.

The red-zone execution might keep the score down, but Raiola has his first 300-yard game as a Husker.

Blackshirts get at least one interception

Athan Kaliakmanis has only thrown one interception this season for Rutgers but he’s had the benefit of an elite running game almost every week. That makes life much easier on a quarterback.

However, Kaliakmanis threw nine interceptions last season and I’m not a huge believer. He’s beaten Nebraska twice playing for Minnesota, but if Rutgers can’t run the ball, I’m not sure Kaliakmanis can pass Rutgers to a win.

I’d take the Blackshirts in that bet and I think they’ll intercept at least one of his passes on Saturday.

Prediction: Nebraska 23, Rutgers 13 

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