Blackshirts lead Nebraska to first winning season since 2016 as Huskers take down Boston College

Mark Fischer,

LINCOLN, Neb. (KLKN) – The Nebraska football team finished the 2024 campaign with its first winning season since 2016, beating Boston College 20-15 in the Pinstripe Bowl at Yankee Stadium in New York.

The story of this game was defense. The Blackshirts held Boston College to 47 yards on the ground with an 0-for-4 mark on fourth down.

Dylan Raiola completed 23 of his 31 passes for 228 yards, a touchdown and an interception.

Jahmal Banks led the Huskers through the air with 79 yards on four catches. Emmett Johnson racked up 28 yards and a touchdown.

E. Johnson also led the Huskers on the ground with 68 yards. Rahmir Johnson also racked up 60 yards and a touchdown in his return to New York.

Grayson James finished the game completing 25 of his 40 passes for 296 yards. The leading receiver for Boston College was Lewis Bond with 96 yards.

James McDonald and Turbo Richard each had a rushing touchdown for the Golden Eagles, but Grayson James led the team in rushing with 22 yards.

Nebraska is now 27-27 all-time in bowl games.
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Fourth Quarter

The theme of this game has been Nebraska getting stops on fourth down.

Nebraska got another one on fourth and goal to start the fourth quarter, giving the ball back to the offense.

BC’s offense finally got on the board in the fourth quarter. Turbo Richard ran the ball in from 1-yard out to cut into Nebraska’s lead. A missed two-point conversion made the score 20-8.

On the very next drive, Boston College blocked Nebraska’s punt and returned it to the 1-yard line. On the next play, Jordan McDonald punched it in to make the score 20-15.

Nebraska was able to run the clock out on the last drive of the game.

Third Quarter

The Nebraska defense got a quick stop to start the second half. On Nebraska’s first offensive drive, they tried to get cute.

A fake punt on fourth down saw punter Brian Buschini throw a 15-yard pass to safety Isaac Gifford for the first down.

E. Johnson got a big run following the fake punt, setting up a goal-to-go situation. Banks dropped a pass in the end zone on third and goal and the field goal team trotted out.

Buschini took the snap and tried to run the ball into the end zone, but got stuffed in the backfield, giving the ball back to BC.

But the Blackshirts stepped up again. Senior linebacker John Bullock forced a fumble that was recovered by Elijah Jeudy, giving the offense great field position.

Raiola was able to find E. Johnson out of the backfield for a 13-yard touchdown pass, giving Nebraska a 20-2 lead.


At the end of the first half, Nebraska is beating Boston College 13-2.

The story of the first half was Nebraska’s defense. Aside from a few big plays, the Blackshirts have given up 197 total yards and zero points.

BC’s strength on offense is its run game, but Nebraska has only allowed 40 rushing yards on 17 attempts.

Dylan Raiola finished the first half completing 11 of his 16 passes for 132 yards and an interception.

Jahmal Banks led all receivers with 59 yards on three catches, while Rahmir Johnson led Nebraska on the ground with 39 yards and a touchdown.

Boston College will start the second half with the ball.

Second Quarter

On the first play of the second quarter, Rahmir Johnson took the handoff and ran 4 yards to the end zone, giving Nebraska a 7-0 lead.

The Blackshirts stepped up again, stopping the Golden Eagles on fourth down to give the ball back to the offense with eight minutes left in the second quarter.

On the very next play, running back Emmett Johnson fumbled the ball for Nebraska’s second turnover of the game.

But the defense had something to say about that. The Blackshirts stopped BC on fourth down once again, giving the offense another shot.

A long R. Johnson run set up a 2-yard touchdown rush from redshirt freshman Kwinten Ives. BC blocked the extra point and took it all the way to the house, making the score 13-2 Nebraska.

To end the first half, the Blackshirts got another big stop on fourth and short to keep BC off the board.

First Quarter

The Huskers started with the ball and made quick work of the Boston College defense. As the Huskers got deep into BC territory, Dylan Raiola floated an interception to KP Price at the 10-yard line.

Boston College took the ball nearly 75 yards down the field, but a sack on third down from Ty Robinson stalled BC’s drive.

With the messy field conditions, BC kicker Liam Connor missed a 43-yard field goal to give the ball back to Nebraska.

Nebraska currently has First and Goal from BC’s 4-yard line to end the first quarter

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ORIGINAL ARTICLE: The Nebraska football team will make its return to the postseason Saturday to take on Boston College in the Pinstripe Bowl at Yankee Stadium.

The Huskers and the Golden Eagles will kickoff at 11 a.m. on ABC.

Nebraska boasts one of the richest bowl game traditions in college football history.

The Huskers own a 26-27 all-time record in bowl games, including 29 appearances in BCS Bowl Games.

The last time Nebraska took on an ACC foe in a bowl game, the Huskers took down Clemson 26-21 in the 2009 Gator Bowl.

This is the first ever matchup between Nebraska and Boston College.

Scouting Boston College

Boston College is coming off a 34-23 victory over Pittsburgh in its final game of the season. The Golden Eagles won three of their final four games, featuring wins over Syracuse and North Carolina.

The Eagles are 15-13 all-time in bowl games, with a win over SMU in the Fenway Bowl in 2023.

ACC Defensive Player of the Year Donovan Ezeiruaku led all FBS programs with 16.5 sacks in the regular season. His 30 career sacks is the most in BC history.

In the last four games, running back Kye Robichaux has rushed for 442 yards and six touchdowns, averaging 4.8 yards per carry.

Transfer quarterback Grayson James will be the starter for the Eagles after replacing Thomas Castellanos. Castellanos was benched early in the year and recently transferred to Florida State.

In the final game of the year, James set career-highs in completions, passing yards and passing touchdowns. He went 20-for-28 with 253 yards and two touchdowns.

Boston College is a run-first offense, averaging 176 yards on the ground per game. BC has run the ball 503 times this season, marking a 1.44 run-to-pass ratio. The Eagles are the only team in the ACC with four running backs tallying more than 250 yards this season.

Today’s Numbers

2016: Today marks Nebraska’s first bowl game appearance since 2016. The last time Nebraska was in a bowl game, they took a 38-24 loss to Tennessee in the Music City Bowl.

Score Predictions

Nate Johnson: Huskers win, 24-17

Jake Homan: Huskers win, 23-20

Mark Fischer: Huskers win, 31-10

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