Oct. 25, 2014
By Tom Luicci
ScarletKnights.com
LINCOLN, Neb. - Rutgers is the latest team able to attest that the substance to Ameer Abdullah's Heisman Trophy campaign far exceeds the hype.
Nebraska's star running back, among the leaders for the college football's most prestigious individual award, bolstered his candidacy by totaling 341 all-purpose yards today as the No. 16-ranked Cornhuskers claimed a 42-24 victory over Rutgers before a crowd of 91,088 at Memorial Stadium.
Nebraska improved to 7-1 overall and 3-1 in the Big Ten. The Scarlet Knights fell to 5-3 and 1-3 in conference play.
A 5-9 senior, Abdullah rushed for 225 yards (his fourth 200-yard rushing game this season) and three touchdowns on 19 carries, caught two passes for 26 yards and had 90 yards on two kickoff returns.
Though he didn't score in the third quarter, he was the catalyst for two key Nebraska touchdown drives that kept Rutgers at bay.
His 49-yard run was the jump start to a 72-yard touchdown drive that gave the Cornhuskers a 28-7 third-quarter lead, with Rutgers able to answer with Kyle Federico's 41-yard field goal to make it 28-10.
His ensuing 76-yard kickoff return set up quarterback Tommy Armstrong's second touchdown pass of the game to push Nebraska's advantage to 35-10.
But Rutgers would have another response. Forced to go the entire second half with backup quarterback Chris Laviano after Gary Nova was injured when he was hit by 300-pound defensive tackle Maliek Collins on the next to last play of the first half, the Scarlet Knights kept battling.
When Armstrong mishandled a snap that was recovered by Rutgers' Quanzell Lambert at the Nebraska 21 yard line, Laviano and the offense were able to turn that into Desmon Peoples' three-yard touchdown run just before the end of the third quarter. That had the Scarlet Knights within 35-17.
Abdullah, who entered the game as the nation's No. 3 rusher, negated that with a 23-yard touchdown run with 8:07 to play to make it 42-17.
Laviano, in his first extensive action, provided a spark in the running game, scrambling on one play for 46 yards. He wound up as Rutgers' leading rusher with 54 yards on five carries, although true freshman running back Robert Martin flashed promise. In the most extensive action of his career, Martin rushed for 32 yards and his first college touchdown (a four-yard run with 5:11 to play).
Wide receiver Leonte Carroo provided the other major offensive highlights, finishing with with five catches for 127 yards and one touchdown, a 71-yard score. It marked his fourth 100-yard receiving game this season and the sixth of his career.
Nova left the game having gone 8-of-19 for 156 yards with one touchdown pass and one interception.
But Abdullah was almost always the single response Nebraska had to all of Rutgers' offensive highlights, and he asserted himself almost immediately as Nebraska moved out to a 21-7 halftime lead.
Kept quiet in the first quarter, when he was limited to 19 yards on five carries by the Rutgers defense, Abdullah flashed his big-play ability with second quarter scoring runs of 53 and 48 yards. He finished the first half with149 rushing yards on 16 carries.
Rutgers' best answer to him, and with the running game unable to generate any consistent yardage, was Nova's 71-yard touchdown pass to Carroo. At the time, that forced a 7-7 tie, with Nebraska having scored first on Armstrong's 16-yard touchdown run.
Nova, able to sidestep defensive end Randy Gregory, bought time by rolling right before finding Carroo. The touchdown was his 15th career receiving score, leaving him five shy of the school record.
But Nova was done for the day after Collins twisted him to the ground after pressuring an incompletion just 31 seconds before halftime.
Prior to that the entire second quarter was dominated by Abdullah.
He answered the Carroo touchdown immediately, racing 53 yards for a touchdown. A series later, he boosted the Cornhuskers' lead to 21-7 on a 48-yard scoring run.
Rutgers had other first-half chances, getting an Anthony Cioffi interception in the second quarter, but failed to convert. A 50-yard field goal try by Kyle Federico late in the second quarter was blocked by Randy Gregory, and the early struggles in the running game - 29 net yards on 20 carries in the first half - prevented Rutgers' offense from getting fully untracked early on against Nebraska.
