On a cold, gloomy Saturday afternoon in New York City, Boston College (7-5) and Nebraska (6-6) faced off in the 14th annual Bad Boy Mowers Pinstripe Bowl at Yankee Stadium.
Nebraska won the coin toss and elected to receive the ball. On their first drive, the Cornhuskers drove down the field. Dylan Raiola threw a 29-yard pass to Jahmal Banks to put Nebraska in the red zone. The Eagles defense came up big with a red zone interception from KP Price. The Cornhuskers defense had a response of their own. After allowing a 50-yard play to Turbo Richard, Nebraska kept Boston College off the board after a 43-yard field goal attempt by Liam Connor missed wide left.
On Nebraska’s next offensive drive, Raiola and company were stringing together the first downs as they made their way down the field. Rahmir Johnson finished the 15-play, 75-yard drive with a 4-yard touchdown rush.
On Boston College’s next offensive drive, they started stringing together a few first downs, but the Eagles couldn’t find the endzone and turned the ball over on downs.
With under five minutes left in the half, Nebraska’s offense found its footing again after an offsides call at fourth and three on the Boston College defense gave them the first down. After that penalty, Raiola threw an 18-yard pass to Banks. Then it was Johnson who rushed for 22 yards. Kwinten Ives finished off the drive with a two-yard rushing touchdown. On the extra point attempt, the special teams for the Eagles blocked the kick and Max Tucker got his team’s first points of the game with the defensive conversion.
Boston College had one last drive of the half but failed to convert as they turned the ball over on downs for the third time in the first half.
The Eagles received the ball to start the second half and were looking to get on the board early, but did just the opposite of that. It was a quick three and out for Boston College, giving Nebraska a chance to blow this game out early in the second half. It looked as if three and out would be the same fate for the Cornhuskers, but they pulled out the fake punt on fourth down, which they converted for the first down. Thanks to a 34-yard gain by Johnson, Nebraska again found itself in the red zone. This time, the Eagles held them off the board as the Cornhuskers tried the fake play on the field goal attempt, but this time, they were unsuccessful.
Boston College would get down the field again, but the Nebraska defense stopped them again, this time with the forced fumble recovery by Elijah Jeudy. Raiola and company again work down the field and cash in on a 13-yard reception to Emmett Johnson. On the next drive, the Eagles would turn the ball over again, this time on downs.
Despite the vast amount of turnovers, the Eagles were determined not to go down without a fight. The fourth quarter saw the Boston College offense come to life. It started with the 21-yard reception to Lewis Bond. On that same drive, the Eagles would get their first touchdown on a 1-yard run from Turbo Richard but failed to convert on the two-point conversion. Another opportunity came from the offense when Victor Nelson blocked a Nebraska punt and Tim Hayes recovered the ball to Nebraska’s 2-yard line. The next play Jordan McDonald ran into the endzone.
Despite their best efforts, the Eagles’ push was too little and too late, as a Johnson fourth-down conversion secured the Cornhuskers’ first bowl game victory since 2015.
The MVP of the Pinstripe Bowl was Nebraska running back Rahmir Johnson, who ran for 60 yards and scored a touchdown.
Nebraska Head Coach Matt Rhule on the implications of today’s win for his program:
“I think for us it’s a little bit more in that you know you haven’t ended many seasons on a win, you know you haven’t ended many seasons on a win and to go to a bowl game. You have to get used to going to the postseason. We want to go to the college football playoff, we want to win national championships, but playing that last game, going back out on a Tuesday, we came into New York City, you know, we had no distractions. No one was late to anything or missing anything. All those things are how you win in my mind moving forward, so it was an experience we needed and we played a lot of young players.”
Nebraska running back Rahmir Johnson on his experience winning a bowl game in his hometown:
“It was real special. Every time I was just looking up in the crowd, seeing who I was seeing. I saw my old youth football team the Harlem Jets in the corner, I saw my family in the end zone where I scored. It just meant a lot. I mean, for me, I played my last game in the city against the team which was my first offer and to go out with a dub I mean it’s special. Like Kyle said, we worked six years to get to this point and I’m glad we left the field as a winner and I’m glad we paved the way for the future.”
Boston College Head Coach Bill O’Brien on what today’s game taught him about his team:
“There were a lot of guys who played today who hadn’t played that much and I really respected the effort that they played with. You had guys like Kevin Cline, Ryan Mickow, Dwayne Allick had to go to center. Then there were guys on defense that played a lot, Ashton McShane played a lot today. Cam Martinez played a lot. I thought those guys fought, man, I got a lot of respect for this football team. I think we have a bright future in Boston College.”
Boston College Quarterback Grayson James on what they’re taking from this game into the off-season:
“We’ve got a big, big off season in front of us, you know, we did some good things this year. Saw a lot of good things from a lot of guys, young guys as well out there today, so there’s a lot to look forward to. Potential can be a dangerous word, but I like where this team looks like we’re going forward, a lot of guys that are coming in, a lot of guys that we have already as well. It’s positive looking forward for us.”
