Nebraska v Rutgers: Battling to Keep Bowl Hopes Alive
The Nebraska Cornhuskers (4-6) and Rutgers Scarlet Knights (3-6) will both look to keep their bowl hopes alive Saturday afternoon in Piscataway. Rutgers is coming into the ball game with a three-game losing streak in which they have been outscored 146-33. Nebraska meanwhile, is coming off its best performance of the season when the Huskers upset #7 Michigan State 39-38. Here are the position matchups and key storylines heading into Saturday’s contest.
POSITION MATCHUPS
Quarterbacks
Sophomore Chris Laviano is coming off a rough three-game stretch, as he has completed just 41.6% of his passes for 245 yards and three interceptions. Laviano has shown flashes earlier in the season, most notably a 386-yard, three-touchdown performance in a win against Indiana, but he is really struggling from a confidence standpoint. Nebraska’s Tommy Armstrong came back from a turf toe injury that forced him to miss the Purdue game and gave a gutsy performance against a stout Michigan State defense. Armstrong threw for 320 yards and two touchdowns while also rushing fro two scores against the Spartans, and led a 91-yard drive to take the lead against MSU with just 17 seconds remaining in the game. The only question with Armstrong is if the junior can remain consistent and build off of his impressive performance.
Edge: Nebraska
Running Backs
Rutgers boasts a solid three-man running back rotation of Robert Martin, Josh Hicks, and Paul James. All three backs have rushed for over 350 yards on the season and all average over five yards per carry for the Scarlet Knights. Martin leads the way with 582 rushing yards and four touchdowns. Nebraska’s running back rotation has been shuffled constantly throughout the season, and the rushing attack has suffered because of it. Junior Terrell Newby leads the way with 705 rushing yards and five touchdowns, but he has been hampered by an ankle injury and has played sparingly the past two weeks. Senior Imani Cross stepped up for Nebraska last week with 98 rushing yards and a touchdown on 18 carries against Michigan State as Nebraska showed a new commitment to the inside running game.
Slight Edge: Rutgers
Wide Receivers/Tight Ends
Everything hinges on Rutger’s Leonte Carroo here. The senior wide receiver is arguably the best receiver in the Big 10, as he has 527 receiving yards and nine touchdowns despite only playing three full games due to injury or suspensions. Carroo makes this offense much more dynamic just by his presence, and he has been sorely missed these past two games. Joining Carroo at the receiver position is the trio of juniors Andre Patton, Carlton Agudosi, and Janarion Grant. All three are solid receivers, but none of them are the type of athlete that Carroo is, and all three have struggled mightily during his absence. Nebraska’s receivers are coming off a tremendous performance in which they combined for 18 catches and 322 yards against the Spartans. Junior Jordan Westerkamp leads the way for Nebraska with 801 receiving yards and six touchdowns, as there is a very real possibility that he will become Nebraska’s first ever 1,000-yard receiver. Former walk on Brandon Reilly continued his breakout junior season with a three-catch, 97-yard performance while catching the game winning touchdown against Michigan State. Rounding out the receiver rotation is junior Alonzo Moore, who gutted out an impressive performance against Michigan State despite having a shoulder injury, and freshman Stanley Morgan, who continues to impress despite limited snaps.
Edge: Nebraska (But if Carroo plays, it will become even)
Offensive Line
Rutgers offensive line has struggled mightily the past three games, as the Scarlet Knights have averaged just 3.2 yards per carry and have allowed seven sacks. Nebraska’s offensive line was reshuffled after a dismal performance against the Purdue Boilermakers, with senior Zach Sterup replacing Chongo Kondolo at right guard. The line responded with its best performance of the season against Michigan State, paving the way for 179 rushing yards on 5.0 yards per carry while not allowing a sack to Michigan State’s vaunted defensive line.
Edge: Nebraska
Defensive Line
Rutgers has been gashed in the run game the past three games, with the Scarlet Knights allowing 213.3 rushing yards per game against Ohio State, Wisconsin, and Michigan. Rutgers has also failed to consistently get to the quarterback, notching zero sacks the past three games. Sophomore Kemoko Turay is the most talented of the Knights Defensive linemen, but he has struggled this season, notching just seven tackles and two sacks on the season. Nebraska has remained solid against the run this season but continues to struggle to get to the quarterback without blitzing. The duo of Maliek Collins and Vincent Valentine leads the way for the Huskers, though freshman Freedom Akinmoladun leads the team in sacks with 4.5 on the season.
Edge: Nebraska
Linebackers
Nebraska’s linebackers are coming off one of their best performances of the season against Michigan State, as the linebackers were solid against the run and shut down Michigan State tight end Josiah Price in the passing game. True freshman Dedrick Young has been a real bright spot for the Nebraska team this season, as the Peoria, Arizona native leads the Husker linebackers with 49 tackles on the season. Junior Josh Banderas is right behind Young with 47 tackles, and he was all over the field against the Spartans last Saturday. Rutgers is led by junior Steve Longa, who leads the Big 10 with 99 tackles on the season. Joining Longa is senior Keiwan Lewis (46 tackles, 2 int’s), and Quentin Gause (76 tackles).
Slight Edge: Rutgers
Secondary
Junior Nate Gerry silenced a lot of his critics with an incredible performance against Michigan State in which he led the Huskers with 14 tackles and two pass deflections. Gerry currently leads Nebraska with 64 tackles on the season. Gerry is joined at safety by senior Byerson Cockrell, who returned to action after missing the Purdue game due to a death in the family. Nebraska’s cornerback trio of Johnathan Rose, Chris Jones, and Joshua Kalu had one of their better performances of the season last Saturday, but they still allowed Connor Cook to throw for 348 yards against them. Rutgers is almost as bad against the pass as Nebraska is (Rutgers is 123rd in the nation, Nebraska is 125th), so I’m expecting to see a lot of passing yards put up next Saturday. Junior Anthony Cioffi leads the way with 39 tackles and three interceptions, while the trio of freshmen lining up next to him (Kiy Hester, Isaiah Wharton, Blessuan Austin) have all shown flashes but have also had major struggles throughout the season.
Even
Special Teams
Drew Brown continued his solid sophomore season by hitting two 40+ yard field goals against the Spartans. Brown has now made 9 of 11 field goals in Big 10 play and 17 of 23 on the season. Sam Foltz had a quiet night against Michigan State, punting just twice the entire night. Foltz remains an impressive weapon at Punter for Nebraska, as he is averaging 44.8 yards per punt on the season. Senior Kyle Federico was one of the few bright spots for Rutgers against Michigan, as he was 3 for 3 on field goals against the Wolverines with a long of 32 yards, he is now 9 of 12 on field goals this season. Senior Joey Roth has been a decent punter for the Scarlet Knights this season, averaging 39 yards per punt. Rutgers gets the edge mainly due to the dynamic presence of Janarion Grant at Kick Returner, where the junior earned Big 10 special teams player of the week honors against Michigan.
Edge: Rutgers
Final Conclusion
Nebraska is coming off a victory over a Big 10 foe in which the offense looked tremendous. Rutgers is coming into the game on a losing streak in which they have looked overmatched by better competition. If this sounds familiar to Husker fans its because its happened before this season, when Nebraska faced a reeling Northwestern team and lost 30-28. I don’t think Nebraska will make that mistake again, as they have more talent and momentum than Rutgers and have the added motivation of needing to win out to guarantee a bowl berth. Rutgers will stay in the game early, but Nebraska will pull away late due to Tommy Armstrong’s passing ability.
Nebraska: 45
Rutgers: 24
KEY STORYLINES
Will Nebraska stick with their newfound run game?
Mike Riley must like watching the St. Louis Rams, because he basically copied their running scheme. The Rams have Gurley attack the interior of defenses and then counter that by using Tavon Austin on jet sweeps, Nebraska did the same against Michigan State with Imani Cross and Andy Janovich pounding the inside and Brandon Reilly and Alonzo Moore attacking the edges on jet sweeps. This new running scheme led to the Huskers rushing for 179 yards against a very good Michigan State front seven. Riley and Langsdorf love to tinker with their run game, evidenced by the three different starters through 10 games, but they should avoid trying to fix what isn’t broken against a vulnerable Rutgers defensive line.
Can Westerkamp become the best in Husker history?
Jordan Westerkamp cemented his status as one of the best receivers in Nebraska history last Saturday, as the junior torched Michigan State for 143 receiving yards and one touchdown against the Spartans. Westerkamp now has 58 catches for 801 yards and six touchdowns on the season, meaning that he is just 5 catches and 142 yards away from becoming Nebraska’s single season receptions and receiving yards leader. Rutgers has one of the worst secondary’s in the nation, so there is a very real chance that Westerkamp could set the single season receiving record this Saturday.
Can the Husker’s front four get some pressure?
Nebraska is one of the best run defenses in the country this season, ranking 4th in the Big 10 and 14th in the nation against the run, allowing just 111.9 rushing yards per game. As good as Maliek Collins, Vincent Valentine, Jack Gangwish, and Ross Dzuris have been against the run, they have gotten almost no pressure on the quarterback this season, as the four have combined for just 6.5 sacks on the season. Nebraska will need to get some pressure on Chris Laviano this Saturday, as the sophomore can be effective when given time to throw the football.
Let Me Clear My Throat
Who would think that a dance song from 1996 by a guy named DJ Kool would make the entire state of Nebraska lose their minds? After time expired on Nebraska’s upset victory, the PA announcer played DJ Kool’s songs on the loudspeaker, and Husker nation responded with pure joy and exhilaration that had been missing for most of the season. That song has now become the celebratory anthem for the Husker football team and will probably remain their song for the future. It reminds me of when Nebraska Basketball adopted “party up” by DMX when they began making their run to the NCAA tournament in 2013.
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