Rutgers Football scores seven points on the road to the Nebraska Cornhuskers 14 points on a hot and blustery afternoon in Lincoln, Nebraska. Athan Kaliakmanis led the Scarlet Knights in the passing game with 186-yards, touchdown and two interceptions, while Kyle Monangai did the work with his legs, carrying the ball 19 times for 78 yards.
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FIRST HALF RECAP....
The first half was a wild one amid the weather conditions. On the opening drive, the Scarlet Knights forced a punt that was partially deflected by Flip Dixon and gave them possession at their own 34. They marched down the field on the back of Monangai, eventually stalling short of the red zone. Head Coach Greg Schiano dialed up a fake punt with key special-teamer Timmy Ward that was sniffed out and stopped short by the Cornhuskers' defense.
Nebraska immediately marched down the field and kicked off the scoring courtesy of a 1-yard touchdown run by Dante Dowdell.
The inability to convert in key spots doomed the Scarlet Knights all day long, as they were able to move the ball into Nebraska territory, but were unable to convert for much of the game.
In the second quarter, the Scarlet Knights had a drive stall on the fringe of field goal range, but Jai Patel's 52-yard attempt clanged off the right upright to keep them off the scoreboard.
Kaliakmanis continued to struggle in the second quarter in particular, as Nebraska defensive coordinator Tony White's differing looks threw off the entire flow of the Scarlet Knights' offense. The Minnesota transfer signal-caller threw two interceptions - one on a fourth and three at the Nebraska 36 and another near midfield - throwing the ball off-platform and across his body. Nebraska sandwiched the two picks with another touchdown, this one off a jet sweep from wide receiver Janiran Bonner.
The defecit also appeared to throw off offensive coordinator Kirk Ciarrocca's playcalling, as the run game was slowly phased out to try to get back into the game. After running for 70 yards in the first quarter as a team, the Scarlet Knights ran for just two in the second quarter, on only six attempts. Kaliakmanis finished the first half completing just six of his 15 pass attempts for 73 yards and the two interceptions.
Rutgers struggled situationally as well, going just 1-for-8 on third downs in the opening 30 minutes, and committing two false starts in key moments. The Scarlet Knights also failed both fourth-down attempts, while Nebraska converted on both of theirs.
SECOND HALF....
The struggles continued throughout the second half, as the Scarlet Knights went for a quick seven plays for 30-yards before punting it again.
However the defense and special teams stepped up a bit to not only force a Nebraska punt, but they actually got the punt block which you will see below, which was returned deep into Nebraska territory.
The Scarlet Knights started the drive on the NEB2, but once again the Scarlet Knights offense stalled and wasn't able to even get the two yards to score. They ended up going for it on fourth and two, but the combination of a questionable play call to the outside along with a poor throw caused yet another turnover on downs.
After that, Rutgers would go three plays for -16 yards partially in thanks to a illegal man down field and a false start, before punting yet again. Nebraska would get it back and run 10 plays, including a fake punt for 30 yard gain, but again would proceed to punt.
Then when all hope was just about lost for the Scarlet Knights, Kaliakmanis hit true freshman Ben Black for a 43-yard bomb to get back into opponent territory. However the bad news here is he would get another shot for a big play shortly after, but dropped a wide open pass, which would have resulted in a touchdown. Thus we have yet another punt, this time from the NEB45.
Nebraska would proceed to go three and out, forcing the eighth punt between the two programs over the past nine drives.
Rutgers got the ball back with 7:48 left in the game and took it nine plays for 50 yards down the field for their first score of the day after Ben Black hauls in a tipped pass for the 11-yard touchdown, bringing the score 14-7 with just 4:08 on the clock.
After that, there was a hit on a defenseless player as Dino Kaliakmanis hit the Cornhuskers kick returner and it resulted in a 15-yard penalty. Originally it was ruled as targeting, but after review that was taken back.
The Rutgers defense steps up big time, stopping the run twice before Kyonte Hamilton beat the center for the sack thus forcing yet another punt and giving Greg Schiano's led Scarlet Knights another chance.
Rutgers got the ball on their own 31-yard line and after an incompletion and two short runs, they converted the fourth down conversion before Athan Kaliakmanis got pressured on multiple plays and eventually turning it over on downs with an incompletion.
RFOOTBALL PLAY OF THE GAME....
Jamier Wright-Collins bursts up the middle and blocks a Nebraska punt that is taken deep into the red zone.
UP NEXT....
Rutgers will be back in action next Saturday, October 12th, as they host the Wisconsin Badgers at SHI Stadium. The game will kick off at noon EST and will be broadcast on either FOX or on the Big Ten Network.
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