Link:
Full Game Notes (Huskers.com)
RUTGERS SCARLET KNIGHTS (4-0, 1-0) | at | NEBRASKA CORNHUSKERS (4-1, 1-1) |
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WHEN: Saturday, October 5 | 3:00 PM (CT)
WHERE: Memorial Stadium | Lincoln, Nebraska
TV: FOX Sports 1 (Alex Faust, Robert Smith)
RADIO: Huskers Radio Network (Greg Sharpe, Damon Benning, Jessica Coody)
THIS WEEK'S NUMBERS
1 - Saturday's game is the only scheduled college game this season matching head coaches with NFL head coaching experience. Nebraska Coach Matt Rhule led the Carolina Panthers for three seasons, and Rutgers Coach Greg Schiano was the head coach of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers for two seasons.
24 - Nebraska has scored at least 24 points in each of its five games. It marks the first time Nebraska has scored at least 24 points in its first five games since 2016 when NU scored at least 24 in the first seven games. It marks Nebraska's first five-game streak with at least 24 points at any point since a five-game span between the 2018 and 2019 seasons.
113 - Saturday's game is the 113th Homecoming game in University of Nebraska history. The Huskers are 85-23-4 on Homecoming and have won 12 of their last 14 Homecoming games. Nebraska is 9-2 against Big Ten opponents on Homecoming, including 1-0 vs. Rutgers
HUSKERS
Record: 4-1 (1-1 Big Ten)
Last Game: at Purdue (W 28-10)
Streak: Won 1
Rank: AP (RV) | Coaches (RV)
Head Coach: Matt Rhule (9-8, 2nd year at NU | 56-51 9th year overall | 0-1 vs. Rutgers)
SCARLET KNIGHTS
Record: 4-0 (1-0 Big Ten)
Last Game: def. Washington (21-18)
Streak: Won 5
Rank: AP (RV) | Coaches (RV)
Head Coach: Greg Schiano (91-95, 16th year at Rutgers and overall | 0-2 vs. Nebraska)
THE MATCHUP
Nebraska returns to Lincoln for Homecoming Weekend as the Huskers take on Rutgers in a Big Ten Conference matchup at Memorial Stadium. Game time is set for 3 p.m. CT with FS1 providing the television coverage of the contest. The game can also be heard on the Huskers Radio Network and the Huskers App.
The Huskers stand at 4-1 on the season and 1-1 in Big Ten Conference play following a 28-10 road victory at Purdue. After trailing 3-0 deep into the third quarter, Nebraska exploded for 28 points in just over 12 minutes of action to pull away for the victory. The Nebraska defense limited Purdue to just three points until the game's final minutes, while the balanced Husker offense drove into Purdue territory on every possession in the game.
Rutgers comes to Lincoln with a 4-0 record following a 21-18 victory on Friday night against Washington in the Scarlet Knights' Big Ten opener. The win over the Huskies followed a perfect non-conference slate highlighted by a road victory at Virginia Tech. Coach Greg Schiano's team features one of the nation's top rushing offenses, as Rutgers averages 237.8 rushing yards per contest and better than 420 yards per game in total offense. The Scarlet Knights have committed just two turnovers through four games in the 2024 season.
Saturday's game marks the first matchup between the schools in Lincoln since 2017. The past two meetings between Nebraska and Rutgers have been in Piscataway with the Huskers winning in both 2020 and 2022. Overall, Nebraska has won all six meetings in the series, including both games at Memorial Stadium.
SERIES HISTORY
Nebraska and Rutgers will be meeting for the seventh time overall and the sixth time as Big Ten Conference opponents. The Huskers have won each of the six matchups in the series, including victories at Memorial Stadium in 2014 and 2017.
- The most recent meeting occurred in a Friday night matchup at Rutgers in the 2022 season, with the Huskers winning 14-13
- Saturday's game will be the first matchup between the two programs in Lincoln since 2017 when the Huskers posted a 27-17 victory
- Before the 2014 matchup in Lincoln, the schools had not met since a 28-0 Nebraska victory in 1920 at the famous New York Polo Grounds.
Nebraska vs. Rutgers History
1920: Nebraska 28, Rutgers 0 (New York City)
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Big Ten Opponents-------
2014: Nebraska 42, Rutgers 24 (Lincoln)
2015: Nebraska 31, Rutgers 14 (Piscataway)
2017: Nebraska 27, Rutgers 17 (Lincoln)
2020: Nebraska 28, Rutgers 21 (Piscataway)
2022: Nebraska 14, Rutgers 13 (Piscataway)
ABOUT RUTGERS
Rutgers has fielded a football team since 1869 and the Scarlet Knights have tallied 675 wins as a program. Rutgers has claimed one national championship and a conference title. The Scarlet Knights have made 12 bowl game appearances, claiming seven wins. Rutgers' last bowl game came last season when the Scarlet Knights defeated Miami (FL) 31-24 in the Pinstripe Bowl.
First Year: 1869
All-Time Record: 675-695-42
Bowl Record: 7-5
Conference Titles: 1
National Titles: 1 (1869)
Stadium: SHI Stadium
Capacity: 52,454
Surface: FieldTurf
Location: Piscataway, New Jersey
Enrollment: 67,000
Colors: Scarlet
ABOUT 2024 RUTGERS
Schedule/Results
Howard (W 44-7)
Akron (W 49-17)
at Virginia Tech (W 26-23)
Washington (W 21-18)
at Nebraska
Wisconsin
UCLA
at USC
Minnesota
at Maryland
Illinois
at Michigan State
Rutgers is off to a 4-0 start after picking up a pair of three-point wins against Virginia Tech and Washington in the last two weeks.
The Scarlet Knights enter this week's game averaging 35.0 points and 428.0 yards per game, with 190.2 yards per game through the air and 237.8 yards per game on the ground. Athan Kaliakmanis has completed 59-of-96 passes for 761 yards, seven touchdowns and an interception. Dymere Miller leads Rutgers with 15 receptions for 227 yards and a touchdown followed by Ian Strong with 12 grabs for 186 yards and a score. Kyle Monangai paces the Rutgers rushing attack with 97 carries for 589 yards and six scores. He ranks third nationally in rushing yards per game. Samuel Brown V has carried the ball 33 times for 172 yards and three touchdowns.
Defensively, the Scarlet Knights are allowing 16.2 points per game and 352.3 yards per game. Dariel Djaborne leads the Rutgers defense with a team-high 36 tackles, followed by Desmon Igbinosun with 22 stops. Rutgers has totaled 14 tackles for loss, four sacks and three interceptions through four games this season.
ABOUT GREG SCHIANO
Greg Schiano is in his fifth season back as the head coach of Rutgers. The Wyckoff, New Jersey native is in his second stint with the Scarlet Knights after previously serving as the head coach at RU from 2001 to 2011.
Schiano has led the Scarlet Knights to eight bowl games, including six victories. He has coached the leading rusher, passer and receiver by yards in program history, sending all to the NFL.
Schiano served as head coach of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers for two seasons from 2012 through 2013. He then returned to the college ranks as the associate head coach and defensive coordinator at Ohio State from 2016 to 2018.
Schiano will face Nebraska for the third time as a head coach on Saturday. Schiano holds an 0-2 record against the Huskers after the Big Red picked up road wins in Piscataway in 2020 and 2022.
Schiano has faced NU three other times as the associate head coach and defensive coordinator with Ohio State from 2016 to 2018, with the Buckeyes claiming victory in all three meetings.
LAST MEETING (October 7, 2022)
Nebraska 14, Rutgers 13
Piscataway, NJ - Nebraska overcame a 13-point deficit with a pair of second-half touchdowns, as the Huskers captured a 14-13 road win at Rutgers on Friday night in Piscataway, N.J.
The win was Nebraska's first victory when trailing after three quarters since the Huskers erased a 14-point deficit in a 42-38 win at Illinois on Sept. 21, 2019. Friday night's comeback was the 24th comeback of 13 or more points in school history and the seventh in a Big Ten Conference game.
Playing in their first road game the of the season, the Huskers totaled 304 yards compared to Rutgers' 348. The Huskers had 72 yards on the ground and 232 yards through the air. Casey Thompson completed 24-of-36 passes for 232 yards, a pair of touchdowns and two interceptions. Anthony Grant had 19 carries for 47 yards, while Trey Palmer led the Husker receiving corps with four receptions for 64 yards and a touchdown. Travis Vokolek pulled in six grabs for 46 yards and a score, followed by Grant with six receptions and 34 yards.
The Husker defense put together a dominant second-half performance for the second consecutive game after allowing 263 total yards and 13 points in the first half. Nebraska forced three turnovers and limited Rutgers to just 85 yards in a scoreless second half.
Garrett Nelson led Nebraska with a career-high 11 tackles, two tackles for loss and 1.5 sacks. Nick Henrich tallied nine tackles and a tackle for loss, followed by
Marques Buford Jr.'s six tackles and five tackles and an interception from Myles Farmer.
Malcolm Hartzog and Brandon Moore each had an interception, while Ochaun Mathis posted four tackles, one tackle for loss and a sack.
Rutgers jumped ahead 7-0 with a six-play, 75-yard drive on the opening possession, capped by a 21-yard touchdown run by Noah Vedral on a scamper down the left sideline.
With just over two minutes left in the first quarter, the Scarlet Knights tacked onto the lead with a 25-yard field goal by Jude McAtamney on a drive that began on the Nebraska nine-yard line after Parker Day's 11-yard return on the blocked punt.
The Huskers threatened midway through the second quarter with a trio of pass plays. Starting on their own 25, Thompson found Marcus Washington and Palmer for gains of 15 and 20 yards, before a pass to Grant for 13 yards had Nebraska on the Rutgers 27-yard line. Nebraska's momentum was short-lived, as the Scarlet Knights picked off Thompson's pass attempt to Oliver Martin to keep the Huskers off the board.
A 58-yard field goal attempt by McAtamney as time expired in the first half fell short to keep it a 13-0 game at the break.
Nebraska took the momentum instantly in the third quarter with a nine-play, 70-yard drive that culminated with Thompson's seven-yard pass to Vokolek. It was Vokolek's first touchdown as a Husker and his first since he played for Rutgers in 2018.
The two teams exchanged drives ending in punts, before Moore picked off Evan Simon's third-down pass intended for Johnny Langan on the Nebraska 31-yard line to keep it a one-score game with 3:46 left in the third.
On the ensuing drive, Nebraska's offense stalled on the RU 27-yard line for the second time after Thompson's pass to Washington on fourth-and-one fell incomplete to keep the Rutgers lead at 13-7 with 31 seconds left in the third.
The fourth quarter began with a punt from each team, before Nebraska's defense manufactured its second interception of the night when Farmer picked off Simon's pass and returned it 17 yards to the Rutgers 27-yard line with nine minutes left in the game.
The Huskers capitalized on the RU turnover with a 27-yard strike from Thompson to Palmer on the first play to give Nebraska a 14-13 lead with 8:54 remaining.
The Scarlet Knights had one last chance at the go-ahead score, taking over at their own 20-yard line with 1:03 left without any timeouts. Rutgers appeared to have a first down on a defensive passing interference penalty against the Huskers, but the penalty was called off after a second look at the play on the official review ruled that Mathis had tipped the ball at the line of scrimmage.
On the next play, Hartzog intercepted Simons' pass with 48 seconds left on third-and-10 to clinch the road victory for the Huskers.
nebraska.rivals.com
