Hello darkness, my old friend. Rutgers is back at the bottom of the league after losing to Nebraska this past Saturday 27-17.
What hurt Rutgers the most offensively was not having playmaker, perhaps their only one, Janarion Grant. He was hurt last week against Morgan State and did not suit up against Rutgers. The Scarlet Knights had leads of 7-0 and 10-7 in this one though. They just couldn’t seal the deal and are now on a 15 game conference losing streak.
Rutgers also could not stop the run in this one, allowing Nebraska to nearly rush for 200 yards. Their third down efficiency was atrocious, going 3-for-12. There seems to be some incremental improvements though for this team. They did hold Nebraska to only 109 yards passing, even though the Huskers are not a passing team. Forgive me trying to look for positives on a team that desperately needs them. Rutgers hosts Ohio State next Saturday night in what figures to be a lopsided affair.
It was a week of turmoil for Nebraska as they lost to Northern Illinois last week and then the school fired athletic director Shawn Eichorst, the man who hired coach Mike Riley. If Riley’s seat was not already hot, it is now scorching.
A 27-17 win over Rutgers is certainly not enough to cool that hot seat. Outside of a miracle run to the Big Ten championship, Riley will most likely not return next season so he’s now a lame duck coach.
Quarterback Tanner Lee threw another pick-six, a week after Northern Illinois had two of them. Riley stuck with Lee and he did end the day with two touchdown passes. Running back Devine Ozigbo had a solid day with 101 yards on the ground. However it seems right now the Huskers lack any kind of identity. They’ll have one less day to prepare this week as they play at Illinois this Friday night.
Illinois had the week off to prepare for their Friday night showdown against Nebraska. It’s certainly a winnable game considering the Huskers current troubles. Can defensive minded Lovie Smith have his team ready to go? The loser of this game can pretty much kiss any hope of a Big Ten West title goodbye.