Things went from bad to worse on Saturday at SHI Stadium, as Rutgers football was shut out for the first time since a 22-0 loss to Iowa in 2023. This game felt infinitely worse, as the Scarlet Knights were outgained 429 to 143 and had 42 passing yards to go with two interceptions between Sean Ashenfelder and AJ Surace. The run game was largely shut down as well, while Anthony Colandrea burned Rutgers with his arm and legs.
With Ashenfelder making his first collegiate start due to Surace being a game-time
decision Surace was inserted into the game roughly midway through the second quarter, despite playingwith three broken ribs according to Schiano. Things only went downhill from there, as Rutgers showed no signs of life on offense the rest of the way.
Offense Sputters With Ashenfelder’s Early Exit
The offense was off to a respectable start with Ashenfelder at the helm, stringing together a couple of first downs and getting into Nebraska territory before a three-yard loss forced Rutgers to punt on its opening series.
On the second drive, Clay Thevenin had a 21-yard rush up the middle to jump start the drive, but the run was promptly shut down, forcing a pass on third and long that saw Ashenfelder promptly get sacked.
On the third drive, Ashenfelder found Dyzier Carter for a first down as the Knights’ defense had forced a Nebraska punt to keep the game at 7-0. On the next play, Ashenfelder was sacked for a loss of five yards, lost the ball, and was injured for the game after taking a hard hit.
Rutgers found themselves lucky to be down just 14-0 at the break, and caught a huge break in the third With a reverse sweep drawn up for Carter going for 17 yards and an 18-yard rush by Antwan Raymond up the middle, it looked like the Scarlet Knights might be able to cut into the Huskers’ lead with a game-changing touchdown
Instead, Surace was intercepted on a throw to the sideline intended for Raymond, who was covered tightly by the cornerback before safety Caleb Benning came over to make the easy interception for NU. The remaining Rutgers drives went for a punt, turnover on downs, punt (three-and-out with zero yards gained), another poor interception, punt (with LB John Insigna and Aiden Gibson gaining seven yards on three rush plays), and a meaningless carry from Ja’Shon Benjamin to end of the game with Nebraska unable to kneel out the victory.
Sean Ashenfelder went 3-4 for 18 yards while picking up 10 yards on five carries (long of 12 yards, but sack yardage affected the total). In two and a half quarters, AJ Surace completed four of 12 passes for a grand total of 24 yards and two interceptions, misfiring on his targets and throwing two awful interceptions with no TDs.
The run game did not fare too much better, with Clay Thevenin picking up 43 yards on 10 carries with a long of 21 and Antwan Raymond being limited to 21 yards on 13 carries and a long of 18. Rutgers mustered 101 yards on the ground, just 42 through the air, and were held off the scoreboard entirely on a cold Piscataway afternoon.
Huskers Offense Roars Against Rutgers For 31
The change at offensive coordinator for the Cornhuskers seemed to pay off against the Scarlet Knights, although how much of that has to do with opponent quality remains to be seen.
Anthony Colandrea completed 15 of 22 passes for 188 yards and two touchdowns with no interceptions, while freshman running back Jamal Rule had 22 carries for 103 yards. Colandrea also had nine rushes for 66 yards and a touchdown, averaging 7.3 yards per carry as the defense continued to struggle against mobile quarterbacks.
Rutgers was punished by Nebraska’s tight ends, as Carter Nelson led the Huskers with 53 yards on just two catches. One of them went for 40 yards while the other was a 13-yard passing score. Right behind him was standout tight end Luke Lindenmeyer, who had three receptions for 52 yards and the game’s first touchdown.
The Scarlet Knights were gashed in zone coverage, per usual, allowing much of the damage through the air to come on plays of 10 yards or more. On top of allowing 192 yards receiving, Rutgers gave up 237 ground yards to the tune of 5.5 yards per carry.
Injuries continued to mount for Rutgers, and Tariq Hayer was once again ejected for targeting, leaving the Knights without their top three safeties (Sanders, Joines, Hayer) against Penn State. Rutgers was held without a sack, although three defenders (Anderson, Allison, Gnago) notched a tackle for loss, as did Sekou Kromah and Malachi Davis (combined TFL).
None of those meant particularly much except Allison’s tackle behind the line on Jamal Rule. Allison has largely looked overmatched even more than many of the Knights’ defenders, but his big run stop gave the offense life on the plus side of the field.
With the offense completely incapable down their starting quarterback, wide receiver, left guard, and right tackle, the defense kept the Huskers in reasonable check in the first half, but much like Wisconsin, they allowed Nebraska to easily pull away in the second half.
Special Teams and Additional Thoughts
I haven’t taken the time to discuss the game’s third phase in recent analysis articles, but it is certainly worth noting that Rutgers continues to refuse to return kickoffs and punts despite the offense being anemic. One might think that it would be worth at least attempting some
Rutgers has yet to block a kick or punt this season, and we have hardly seen the services of Dane Pizzaro at kicker with the offense playing this poorly. Schiano often elected to go for it early on rather than taking points, and at this point of the season, there have not been many field goals or extra points.
The one positive lately has been the play of punter Jakob Anderson, who averaged 41.6 yards on seven punts. He had 291 yards, which more than doubled the offensive output for Rutgers, while pinning the Huskers inside the 20-yard line on three occassions.
Rutgers continues to drop like flies on the field, losing more and more players on defense to join the long list on offense as this miserable season enters its final two gaes. One other positive recent development has been the use of tight end Logan Blake, who caught a team-high three passes for 10 yards, two of them being safety blanket dump-off throws against the Huskers’ ferocious defense.
The fan turnout is often criticized, but from my experience in the stands, many Rutgers fans have continued to show up for this team. There is always a sideline full of our diehards, a student section that is usually passionat, full, and early as any, and a visiting sideline that shows up in large numbers (which I personally do not mind provided Rutgers fans have the rest of the stadium.
But with Schiano confirmed to return and the team not giving a lot of reasons for optimism, even the home sideline was covered in Huskers’ red. The student section was largely empty and emptied further, and the announced turnoutwas 36,425, a new low for a Big Ten game in Schiano’s second stint.
With Maryland coming off its second straight victory after making a coaching change, Purdue having two Big Ten wins, and Michigan State knocking off Michigan 15-6, Rutgers sits at the bottom of the conference standings in both overall and conference record, with no sign they will be able to win either of their final two games.
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