{"id":65560,"date":"2024-10-04T18:00:54","date_gmt":"2024-10-04T22:00:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/?p=65560"},"modified":"2024-10-04T16:43:30","modified_gmt":"2024-10-04T20:43:30","slug":"keys-to-the-game-how-can-nebraska-beat-rutgers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/2024\/10\/04\/keys-to-the-game-how-can-nebraska-beat-rutgers\/","title":{"rendered":"Keys To The Game: How Can Nebraska Beat Rutgers?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Matt Rhule’s 4-1 Cornhuskers play host to Greg Schiano’s undefeated Scarlet Knights squad this weekend.\u00a0 What are the keys that will allow Nebraska to beat Rutgers inside Memorial Stadium? Let’s break it down.<\/p>\n

Win Special Teams<\/h3>\n

Nebraska’s special teams was disastrous against the Purdue Boilermakers. On the team’s opening drive, redshirt freshman kicker John Hohl<\/a> missed a 42-yard field goal. This would have given the Huskers an early lead in the contest. Instead, he would struggle from distance throughout most of the game. His other two attempts would have bad snaps by punter Brian Buschini. This allowed the Boilermakers to easily block the Cornhuskers’ kicks. It’s a recipe that\u00a0 \u00a0Rutgers will look to use in Saturday’s matchup. There’s proof that the Scarlet Knights can seize this opportunity.\u00a0 Last week against Washington,\u00a0 the Scarlet Knights defense was able to make junior kicker Grady Gross<\/a> miss on several field goal attempts.\u00a0 This emboldened RU’s offense to continue marching down the field.\u00a0 But it almost wasn’t enough. Gross had the opportunity to send the game into overtime in New Jersey. Instead, the Arizona native’s 55-yard try sailed wide right. Will a similar outcome happen if they stick with Hohl?\u00a0 \u00a0Or will Tristan Alvano<\/a> come back from injury to save the day?<\/p>\n

Read more about Nebraska’s special teams issues in Which Nebraska Players Stood Out In The Win Against Purdue<\/a><\/p>\n

Stop The Run<\/h3>\n

Tony White’s Blackshirts will have a tough test ahead of them. Senior running back Kyle Monangai<\/a> has become a true threat in the Scarlet Knight’s offense. In four games, the New Jersey native already has 589 rushing yards and six touchdowns. Can Nebraska’s veteran defensive line put together another solid performance against the run? They showed glimpses of dominance against the Boilermakers. On just 13 carries, junior running back Devin Mockobee<\/a> only gained 41 yards. Illinois transfer Reggie Love III<\/a> wasn’t much better either. In his limited appearance against Nebraska, he gained 33 yards. If the team can contain Monangai, Nebraska can beat Rutgers.\u00a0 If they don’t White’s defense is in for another repeat of Illinois.<\/p>\n

Rattle The QB<\/h3>\n

In his freshman season with the Cornhuskers, quarterback Dylan Raiola<\/a> has been flawless under center. The former five-star prospect has already thrown for 1,224 yards and six touchdowns. He’s also made sure to keep the turnovers to a minimum. Through five games, he only has two interceptions. Athan Kaliakmanis<\/a> has also been efficient as well. In his short time at Rutgers, he’s thrown for seven touchdowns and one interception. Last week, Washington’s defense helped his case. In that game, he threw for 115 yards and one touchdown against the Huskies.\u00a0 Nebraska’s defense won’t be so forgiving. Sophomore defensive lineman James Williams<\/a> had two sacks, and senior linebacker John Bullock<\/a> had a pick-six. Watch for these two players to attempt to disrupt Kaliakmanis’s passes. Senior Ty Robinson<\/a> should also generate heavy pressure. The defensive lineman was able to sack quarterback Hudson Card once.\u00a0 Can he do it again against Kaliakmanis?\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Ty Robinson came through for another B1G sack for the Huskers \ud83d\ude24#B1GFootball<\/a> x @HuskerFootball<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/ZmgvTGUjyx<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Big Ten Football (@B1Gfootball) September 28, 2024<\/a><\/p>\n

Play Mistake Free Football<\/h3>\n

After a mistake-filled matchup against Purdue, it’s clear that Nebraska has to address its penalty problem. On Thursday, head coach Matt Rhule said that the Cornhuskers are “107th out of 134 teams” in the category. Meanwhile, Rutgers is averaging only four penalties a game. It’s a concerning statistic. But don’t sound the alarm bells quite yet. Raiola’s accuracy with the football has allowed wide receivers Jahmal Banks<\/a> and Isaiah Neyor<\/a> to cover up for NU’s offensive line penalties. But if the line ends up backing the offense up on second and third down, Raiola will have a long night ahead of him.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Nebraska
Photo courtesy: Marc Lebryk-Imagn Images<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Matt Rhule’s 4-1 Cornhuskers play host to Greg Schiano’s undefeated Scarlet Knights squad this weekend.\u00a0 What are the keys that will allow Nebraska to beat Rutgers inside Memorial Stadium? Let’s break it down. Win Special Teams Nebraska’s special teams was disastrous against the Purdue Boilermakers. On the team’s opening drive, redshirt freshman kicker John Hohl […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4440,"featured_media":65712,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"1","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[2,5],"tags":[7983,614,351,511,455],"class_list":["post-65560","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-featured","category-bigten","tag-big-ten-football","tag-greg-schiano","tag-matt-rhule","tag-nebraska-cornhuskers","tag-rutgers-scarlet-knights"],"modified_by":"Tony Siracusa, CFB Managing Editor","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/65560","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4440"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=65560"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/65560\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/65712"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=65560"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=65560"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=65560"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}