By Aaron Bonderson , Nebraska Public Media
Nebraska-The Nebraska Cornhusker football team won its first bowl game since the 2015 season on Saturday.
The Huskers bested the Boston College Eagles, 20-15, in the Pinstripe Bowl played at Yankee Stadium in New York.
It was a homecoming win for head coach Matt Rhule who grew up in Manhattan. He helped the Big Red improve to 2-0 in Yankee Stadium. Nebraska defeated Miami in the 1962 Gotham Bowl at the old Yankee Stadium. That was the Huskers’ first-ever bowl win.
NU improved to 7-6 on the season, its first winning season since 2016.
The Big Red came out firing in the first quarter. They got the ball first, and quarterback Dylan Raiola quickly found receiver Jahmal Banks for a 29-yard, one-handed grab.
Nebraska moved the ball down within striking distance before Raiola threw an interception near the goal line.
Boston College hit a long screen pass to get away from its own goal line. Cornhusker senior defensive lineman Ty Robinson came up with a sack on a third to force a long field goal. On a sloppy and rainy day in the Big Apple, the Eagles couldn’t cash in its field goal attempt, hooking it left.
NU moved the ball down the field slowly. It tried a couple of deep passes again — this time to freshman receiver Jacory Barney Jr., but Raiola couldn’t connect.
Short passes and runs kept the offense on track. The 6 ½ minute drive ended with a four-yard touchdown run by senior running back Rahmir Johnson.
It was Johnson’s first rushing touchdown of the season, which included multiple injuries. In an era of open transferring rules, Johnson has stayed at Nebraska all six years of his college career. Quarterback Dylan Raiola knew the significance of the touchdown by making sure the game ball was saved for his teammate.
The Harlem, N.Y.-native carried the ball nine times for 59 yards and a touchdown. He also caught one pass for nine yards.
In the post-game press conference, Nebraska head coach Matt Rhule said Johnson hasn’t told many people about his mom being sick throughout the season.
“He lost his mom in November. And I mean, those are the kids that got me into coaching. Those are the kids that — men that keep me in coaching. And he’s awesome, and so for him to go out there and do that today, for him to have that run, for us to have to get him out of the stands, to get him to accept the MVP trophy — it was never about him,” Rhule said. “So forgive me for that, but I told him I was going to share that, because it’s never been about him. (He) loved his mother, he lost his mother, and he cares about this team. I think it’s a fitting end for him.”
Saturday was Johnson’s final college game.
His touchdown came right at the beginning of the second quarter, to give the Cornhuskers a 7-0 lead.
In the middle of the second quarter, the Big Red defense made two massive fourth down stops sandwiched around an Emmitt Johnson fumble.
Despite the two turnovers by the NU offense, it found a way to continue moving down the field.
A long run by Rahmir Johnson brought the Huskers down to the 2-yard line. Redshirt freshman running back Kwinten Ives, who entered the game with five rushing yards on the season, punched it in on the next play.
The Ives TD gave Nebraska a 13-0 lead. Then Boston College blocked the extra point attempt and returned it 87 yards to the end zone, making it 13-2 Cornhuskers.
With the first half clock winding down, the Eagles looked ready to cut the lead. Yet another fourth down stop by the Husker defense kept the lead at 11 going into halftime.
The Blackshirt defense played tough the entire game, without defensive coordinator Tony White who left for Florida State earlier this month.
Trying to create a spark out of the locker room, Nebraska successfully faked a punt on fourth down. Punter Brian Buschini hit defensive back Isaac Gifford for a momentum-shifting first down pass.
Emmitt Johnson broke a big run to get the Huskers inside the 10-yard line. A dropped touchdown pass on third down left NU lining up for a field goal. The Big Red faked a kick for the second straight special teams play. This time Buschini, who also holds field goal kicks, was tackled for a loss.
The Blackshirts answered the call again in the third quarter.
Senior linebacker John Bullock sacked Boston College quarterback Grayson James. James fumbled on the play, which was recovered by Nebraska.
Once again, the Huskers moved the ball near the goal line. It faced another big fourth down and decided to go for it. Raiola found Emmitt Johnson out of the backfield for a 13-yard touchdown pass.
Nebraska connected on an extra point to make it 20-2 Big Red going into the final quarter.
Much like the whole game, Boston College moved the ball but couldn’t convert a fourth down in the red zone. For the game, the Eagles went 0 for 4 on fourth down attempts, while Nebraska was 3 for 4.
It looked like the Cornhuskers could close the game out, if it could squeeze out a long fourth quarter drive. The Husker offense couldn’t get it done this time and had to punt.
Boston College finally broke through on offense on its next possession. A 21-yard completion to junior receiver Lewis Bond and a defensive pass interference penalty got the Eagles close. Bond caught another pass to place his team at the 1-yard line. Freshman running back Turbo Richard punched it in for a touchdown. A failed two point try made the score 20-8.
That’s when things got dicey for Nebraska.
It went three and out on offense. And on the next play, Boston College blocked a Buschini punt and nearly returned it for a touchdown. Running back Jordan McDonald scored on the next play.
After being in control of the game almost the entire way, the Big Red led just 20-15 and lost all of the momentum.
Needing a big drive to seal it, Raiola found junior tight end Thomas Fidone II on the first play. Fidone II recovered his own fumble on the play and got the first down.
Facing a key fourth down play, Rahmir Johnson ran for 9 yards and the game winning first down.
The Huskers kneeled the game out to win 20-15.
Following the blocked punt, Rhule said his team had to collect itself to finish the game.
“I think that’s the biggest thing, is that finally, finally they can walk off the field and say, ‘Hey, we got it done.’ We’ll have a lot of momentum heading into the offseason. I think we’re doing really well in recruiting right now,” Rhule said.
Several seniors played their final game, in addition to Johnson, including multi-year starters Bullock, Buschini, Robinson, Gifford, Nash Mutmacher and Bryce Benhart.
There were more than 30,000 fans in attendance for the bowl matchup on the cool and rainy Saturday. Rhule said it was mostly Husker fans making the trip to the historic baseball venue.
“They’ve been awesome all year. I heard our guys early on the first drive, they’re like, ‘Hey, this is going to be a home game.’ And so I think that that sends a message to our guys, hey, ‘We better play well.’ So I can’t thank the fans enough,” Rhule said. “It’s cool just being downtown, walking around and seeing people wearing Nebraska colors in Times Square.”
Nebraska sets its sights for 2025 with a handful of important pieces returning on offense — like Raiola, Barney Jr. and Emmitt Johnson. On defense, the Blackshirts will need to replace lots of production especially on the defensive line.
The 2024 Cornhuskers rode a rollercoaster of a season after starting out 5-1. But the team snapped the longest bowl drought for the program since 1961. The seven-year bowl hiatus was also the longest among Power Four conference schools.
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