NEBRASKA 28 (3-5, 3-5), RUTGERS 21 (3-6, 3-6)
SHI STADIUM • PISCATAWAY, N.J.
DECEMBER 18, 2020
PISCATAWAY, N.J. – Playing its ninth game in nine weeks, Rutgers football (3-6, 3-6) lost to Nebraska (3-5, 3-5), 28-21, on Friday night at SHI Stadium. Defensive back Christian Izien was involved in gaining four turnovers, including two interceptions, while wide receiver Aron Cruickshank recorded his second kick return for a touchdown on the season.
Friday night's game marked the latest home contest on the calendar in program history, while the 25 degrees at the start of the game was the coldest kickoff for RU this century.
FIRST QUARTER
Defense ruled the first 15 minutes of the game, as Rutgers caused its first of three first-half turnovers on the opening possession. With Nebraska driving, linebacker Tyreek Maddox-Williams jarred the ball free from quarterback Adrian Martinez, which was scooped up by Izien. On the next play, quarterback Artur Sitkowski found wide receiver Bo Melton for a 50-yard connection, which eventually set up Valentino Ambrosio for a 36-yard field goal to give the Scarlet Knights a 3-0 lead with 8:55 left in the quarter.
RU's defense would come up big two possessions later, as Izien recovered another Martinez fumble – this one caused by defensive back
Naijee Jones – at the 4:03 mark in the first. The score would remain 3-0 in favor of Rutgers heading into the second quarter.
SECOND QUARTER
Starting in enemy territory to begin the second quarter, Ambrosio converted another field goal attempt – this one from 42-yards out – to extend Rutgers' lead to 6-0 with just over 13 minutes left in the half. A 43-yard run by Nebraska's Dedrick Mills setup the Huskers at the Scarlet Knights' two-yard line, which was followed by a one-yard touchdown run by Wan'Dale Robinson to give the visitors a 7-6 lead with 10 minutes to go.
Punter
Adam Korsak moved the chains for Rutgers on its following possession. With fourth-and-14 from the Scarlet Knights own 32-yard-line, Korsak took a fake punt 17 yards for a first down, marking the first rushing attempt of his collegiate career.
Nebraska regained possession and threatened to score again before Izien picked off Martinez with one hand in the back of the end zone to give Rutgers the ball with five minutes left in the half. It was the third interception for Izien in as many games, as the New York, native also produced takeaways against Penn State (Dec. 4) and at Maryland (Dec. 11).
Izien's interception set up Rutgers' longest scoring drive of the night – a seven-play, 80-yard scoring run capped by a tough 33-yard touchdown run on a fourth down from running back
Isaih Pacheco. Sitkowski tossed a two-point conversion to Melton to make it a 14-7 game, as RU held Nebraska off the board for the duration of the half.
THIRD QUARTER
Nebraska scored first in the second half, as Martinez took a keeper 41-yards to tie the score at 14-14. But Rutgers would answer right back thanks to Big Ten Return Specialist of the Year
Aron Cruickshank. The speedster registered his second kick return for a touchdown on the season, this one for 98 yards, to regain the lead for Rutgers, as the home squad led 21-14 with 8:53 to go in the quarter.
With the Cornhuskers looking to respond, Izien came up with another interception to give RU the ball right back. It was the first time an RU player had multiple interceptions in a game since Saquan Hampton picked off Wisconsin twice on the road in 2018.
However, Nebraska was able to find the end zone on the following possession, as Martinez found Robinson for a 14-yard touchdown pass to tie the game at 21-21. The score would hold for the remainder of the quarter.
FOURTH QUARTER
Nebraska would move in front for good midway through the fourth quarter, as Martinez capped a nine-play, 92-yard drive with a one-yard touchdown plunge to push the Cornhuskers ahead, 28-21, for the game's final margin.
NOTES
- Rutgers played its ninth Big Ten game in nine weeks, its first such streak of consecutive conference games in as many weeks in program history. The Scarlet Knights are set to be just one of two teams in the league to play its full schedule.
- Rutgers forced four turnovers to increase its total to 19 on the season, 10 more than the nine collected in Big Ten play last season. Friday marked the second time this season gaining at least four takeaways in a game. The 19 takeaways were the most in a season for RU since 2012.
- Rutgers finished Big Ten play with an average of 26.7 points and 339.1 yards of total offense per game, both team highs since joining the conference. The Scarlet Knights scored at least 20 points in eight games this year after reaching the mark 12 times in the first 52 Big Ten games.
- WR Aron Cruickshank recorded his second kickoff return of the season for a touchdown and fourth of his career. The 98-yard return tied for the seventh-longest in program history.
- DB Christian Izien became the first Scarlet Knight with an interception in three consecutive games since Courtney Greene in 2008. Izien recorded four interceptions in his last three games after having none in his previous 21 games played.
- RB Isaih Pacheco scored his 13th career rushing touchdown.
- PK Valentino Ambrosio made both field goal attempts to improve to 9-for-11 on the season.
- P Adam Korsak pinned four punts at 10 or better with an average of 43.4 yards on five attempts. Rutgers ended with a net punt of 42.3 yards, breaking the school record for the third-straight season. Korsak added a 17-yard rush for a first down.
- DB Amir Byrd saw his first action to make it 15 Scarlet Knights who made their collegiate debut in 2020. DL Mayan Ahanotu made his first start as the ninth Scarlet Knight to do so this year.
- The game-time temperature of 25 degrees marked the first time in the 20s for a Rutgers game since 28 degrees at Connecticut in 2013.
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