Nebraska @ Rutgers preview

Last Meeting ( Oct 25, 2014 ) Rutgers 24, Nebraska 42

Nebraska can’t seem to avoid dramatic finishes, which is a far cry from anything Rutgers has produced since posting its only Big Ten win of the season in the middle of last month. Fresh off their biggest and most unlikely victory of the year, the Cornhuskers look to string together back-to-back wins for the first time this season when they visit the reeling Scarlet Knights on Saturday.

Getting the benefit of a controversial call on receiver Brandon Reilly’s 30-yard game-winning touchdown catch with 17 seconds left, Nebraska scored 13 points over the final 1:47 to upset then-No. 6 Michigan State 39-38 last weekend. "Was it justice? I don't know. … The kids earned this win tonight. It's just like every game and the games that we lost that came down to the wire; those things are so haunting,” coach Mike Riley said. His squad became only the second FBS team since 2006 to lose four games in which the opponent scored the winning points in the final 10 seconds or overtime. The story has been much different for Rutgers since winning at Indiana 55-52 on Oct. 17, dropping three in a row by a combined score of 146-33 to Ohio State, Wisconsin and Michigan. The Scarlet Knights hope to avenge a 42-24 setback in Lincoln last year, which was the first meeting between the schools since 1920.
TV: 3:30 p.m. ET, Big Ten Network. LINE: Nebraska -9.5

ABOUT NEBRASKA (4-6, 2-4 Big Ten): Tommy Armstrong Jr. returned from a one-game absence and threw for 320 yards, including 91 on four plays in 38 seconds on the Cornhuskers’ pivotal drive to cap a 19-point fourth quarter in which he accounted for three of his four touchdowns. Jordan Westerkamp, who tied a Nebraska record with his fourth 100-yard receiving game of the season, is 142 yards from breaking Nate Swift’s single-season mark of 941 yards. Reilly has emerged as the big-play opposite Westerkamp and is averaging 20.3 yards per reception, which is on pace to rank as the second-best average in school history for players with at least 30 receptions.
ABOUT RUTGERS (3-6, 1-5): Despite missing four full games – including the last two due to an ankle injury – Leonte Carroo still leads the conference with nine receiving touchdowns and is expected to play this weekend. The return of Carroo should be of some comfort to Chris Laviano, who is third in the Big Ten in completion percentage (61.9) and still has the support of coach Kyle Flood in light of the team’s offensive struggles. "He's been tested by three of the best defenses in the country and his ability to operate the offense; he's doing a good job with that,” Flood told NJ.com. “Chris is our starting quarterback going forward; I think the experience of the last three weeks is going to serve him very well."

EXTRA POINTS
1. This game will mark Nebraska’s first trip to Rutgers and is the Cornhuskers’ first trip to the state of New Jersey since 1994.
2. Carroo needs one more receiving touchdown to tie the school record for most in a season. 3. Armstrong is tied for first in school history with nine career 300-yard total offense games and 11 career 250-yard passing games.

PREDICTION: Nebraska 41, Rutgers 28