This was a game where Nebraska took an early lead and never looked back, despite the comeback attempts by the newcomer to the league in Rutgers. Whenever they have the lead and Ameer Abdullah to run the ball, the Huskers are always going to be a difficult matchup. But this is going to be one of many times for these two teams to meet up now that they are both fairly new to the Big 10.
This matchup got started when Rutgers won the coin toss and chose to receive. They even got the ball all the way to the Cornhuskers 31 yard line with a fourth down and 1. But the blackshirt defense was able to stop Desmon Peoples for no gain on fourth down and the Huskers had the ball for the first time in the game. Nebraska moved the ball down the field relatively easily, and scored their first touchdown on a Tommy Armstrong Jr. 16 yard rush. Nebraska would never trail in this game.
The next few drives ended with some excitement as Gary Nova had a pass intercepted by Huskers defensive back Nate Gerry who would return it just shy of midfield. Nebraska ended up getting the ball outside the red zone and then would miss a 42 yard field goal by Drew Brown. Rutgers would not wait to strike from there. On third and 6, Gary Nova found Leonte Carroo for a 71 yard touchdown reception. Rutgers was able to tie the game up at 7 all.
Nebraska would not take much time at all to get their lead rebuilt. They had the ball for 4 plays on their next drive and got 67 yards in 1 minute and 31 seconds. This is primarily due to the fact that Ameer Abdullah would get a 53 yard rushing touchdown. On the next drive for Nebraska they took 2 plays to go 64 yards and that took 26 seconds. This time Ameer Abdullah scored from 48 yards out on another rushing play. That would finish the first half scoring as there were a few punts and Tommy Armstrong Jr. threw one interception that ended up leaving Rutgers without any points. 21-7 was a comfortable margin heading into halftime.
The Cornhuskers would start with the ball in the second half, and they kicked their offense into gear right away. On the first play from scrimmage in the second half, Ameer Abdullah took off for another long rush, going for 49 yards and getting the ball deep into Scarlet Knight territory. A few plays later Tommy Armstrong Jr. would find Sam Cotton for a 8 yard touchdown. This gave the Cornhuskers a 28-7 lead. Rutgers would respond by having Kyle Frederico hit a 41 yard field goal on their ensuing possession, but Nebraska would only add to their lead as Ameer Abdullah returned the kickoff 76 yards to the Rutgers 24 yard line. Only a few plays were needed as the Cornhuskers would score on another passing touchdown from Tommy Armstrong Jr. would find Jordan Westerkamp for a 4 yard touchdown. Leading 35-10, the Huskers would actually start limited some of the carries for Ameer Abdullah and instead let Imani Cross and Terrell Newby get some touches.
Unfortunately for the Huskers, Tommy Armstrong Jr. would fumble on the Huskers next possession and Rutgers would recover at the 21 yard line. Then, with just a few seconds left in the third quarter, Desmon Peoples would rush for a touchdown for the Scarlet Knights to cut the lead to 17-35 going into the fourth quarter. After a few punts, the Huskers would score for the last time when Ameer Abdullah would get a 23 yard rushing touchdown with just over 8 minutes remaining. Rutgers would get down the field and Robert Martin rushed for a touchdown to get to the final score of 24-42. The Huskers would recover the onside kick and then the Huskers would just feed the ball to Terrell Newby to run out the clock as they continued to get first downs.
This victory puts the Cornhuskers to 7-1 overall record and 3-1 in the Big 10. Ameer Abdullah set a Cornhuskers school record and is now the season leader in all purpose yards with a total of 341 yards. He is now second in Big 10 history for career all purpose yards considering he just passed Archie Griffin and is now only 825 yards behind Ron Dayne with at least 6 games to go since the Huskers will certainly be going to a bowl game. Kenny Bell also set a Cornhusker career record moving into first place for receptions with 167. Next Saturday, November 1st, the Huskers will play at home against the Purdue Boilermakers. Rutgers, after back to back losses will have to face the Wisconsin Badgers back in New Jersey next week. The Big 10 is still a conference to look as they head into the final month of the season, because Nebraska in the West, and in the Big 10 East there are Michigan State and Ohio State all with just one loss as the push for the college football playoff continues.