OPPONENT PREVIEW

Rutgers brings a 5-2 record into its first-ever trip to Lincoln today. In their inaugural year as a member of the , the Scarlet Knights are 1-2 in league play. Rutgers has fared well in close games this season. Four of its five wins have come by 13 or fewer points, including a two-point win over Michigan and a three-point win at Washington State. The Scarlet Knights have also suffered a three-point loss at Penn State. Rutgers is led offensively by senior quarterback Gary Nova, one of the nation’s most prolific passers. Nova has Nebraska Cornhuskers Rutgers Scarlet Knights thrown for 1,793 yards this (6-1, 2-1 Big Ten) (5-2, 1-2 Big Ten) Rutgers Facts fall, and is third nationally with Location: New Brunswick, N.J. an average of 16.3 yards per Statistical Comparison Nickname: Scarlet Knights pass completion. Nova also Category (per game) NEB RUT Big Ten Big Ten Natl. Natl. Enrollment: 65,000 ranks 12th nationally in passing Rushing Offense 293.6 157.7 2nd 9th 6th 72nd Color: Scarlet efficiency. He has thrown for Passing Offense 229.7 257.3 8th 5th 70th 47th Conference: Big Ten more than 8,000 yards and Total Offense 523.3 415.0 3rd 6th 14th 63rd Stadium: High Point Solutions Stadium 64 in his career, Scoring Offense 41.0 27.7 3rd 10th 11th 79th Capacity: 52,454 but Nova has also tossed 47 Rushing Defense 121.0 162.0 5th 10th 27th 67th Series Record: Nebraska leads, 1-0 interceptions, the third-highest Pass Efficiency Defense 99.63 135.84 1st 13th 8th 87th total among all active FBS Head Coach: Kyle Flood Pass Defense 217.6 261.6 9th 13th 49th 98th quarterbacks. Alma Mater (Year): Iona (1993) Total Defense 338.6 423.6 6th 10th 28th 82nd Record at Rutgers: 20-13 (third season) Leonte Carroo has been Nova’s top target, catching 34 Scoring Defense 19.9 26.6 3rd 11th 18th 65th Career Record: 20-13 (third season) Net Punting 38.6 29.3 4th 10th 45th 73rd Record vs. Nebraska: 0-0 passes for 648 yards and five touchdowns. Andrew Turzilli has Punt Returns 14.2 9.0 3rd 9th 17th 53rd proven to be a deep threat, as Kickoff Returns 18.7 20.3 13th 10th 109th 73rd Rutgers Schedule he is averaging 41.9 yards per Turnover Margin 0.1 -0.6 6th 12th 55th 101st Aug. 28 at Washington State W, 41-38 catch on his seven receptions, Sacks 2.3 3.4 9th 2nd 56th 14th Sept. 6 Howard W, 38-25 including catches of Tackles For Loss 6.9 6.3 2nd 9th 30th 51st Sept. 13 Penn State L, 10-13 80 and 93 yards. Sacks Allowed 1.1 1.7 3rd 5th 18th 43rd Sept. 20 at Navy W, 31-24 In addition to averaging 257.3 Sept. 27 Tulane W, 31-6 passing yards per game, the Oct. 4 at Michigan W, 26-24 Scarlet Knights are averaging Rutgers Statistical Leaders Oct. 18 at No. 13 Ohio State L, 17-56 157.7 rushing yards per game. Rushing G Att. Yards YPC TD Avg./G Oct. 25 at Nebraska 11 a.m. Desmon Peoples paces the Desmon Peoples, RB 7 97 409 4.2 2 58.4 Nov. 1 Wisconsin 11 a.m. rushing attack with 409 rushing Paul James, RB 4 63 363 5.8 5 90.8 Nov. 15 Indiana TBA yards. Rutgers has thrown for Justin Goodwin, RB 5 57 261 4.6 1 52.2 Nov. 22 at Michigan State TBA 13 touchdowns and rushed for Nov. 29 at TBA 11 scores this season, while Passing Comp. Att. Pct. Int. Yards TD averaging 27.7 points per game. Gary Nova, QB 110 178 61.8 8 1,793 13 Defensively, Rutgers boasts Chris Laviano, QB 2 4 50.0 0 10 0 one of the nation’s best pass rushes. The Scarlet Knights rank 14th nationally with an average of 3.4 sacks per game. Kemoko Turay is third in the Big Ten with 5.5 sacks. Receiving G No. Yards Avg. TD Avg./G Rutgers is allowing 26.6 points per game this fall. The Scarlet Knights allow an average Leonte Carroo, WR 7 34 648 19.1 5 92.6 of 162.0 rushing yards per game and 261.6 passing yards per contest. Janarion Grant, WR 7 16 185 11.6 0 26.4 Rutgers has also blocked five kicks this season, including three field goals and two John Tsimis, WR 7 12 134 11.2 3 19.1 punts. Turay owns a nation-leading three blocked kicks by himself. Tyler Kroft, TE 7 10 109 10.9 0 15.6 Series History Justin Goodwin, RB 5 9 57 6.3 0 11.4 Nebraska and Rutgers have met only once previously, a 28-0 Husker victory at the Polo Grounds in New York City on Nov. 2, 1920. The game was played on Election Day, Tackles G UT AT TT TFL Sacks when Warren G. Harding won the presidency. Steve Longa, LB 7 27 19 46 3.5 2.0 Gareef Glashen, DB 7 30 8 38 1.5 0.0 Rutgers Head Coach Kyle Flood Quentin Gause, LB 7 28 9 37 5.0 1.0 Kyle Flood is in his third season at Rutgers, where he has led the Scarlet Knights to a Lorenzo Waters, DB 7 25 8 33 4.0 2.0 20-13 record. The only coach in school history to lead Rutgers to a bowl game in each Kevin Snyder, LB 6 23 9 32 1.5 1.5 of his first two seasons on the sideline, Flood has the Scarlet Knights poised for a third consecutive bowl appearance this season. Punt Returns No. Yards Avg. TD Long Flood took Rutgers to the Pinstripe Bowl last season, where the Scarlet Knights Janarion Grant, WR 2 14 7.0 0 7 lost to 20th-ranked Notre Dame to finish with a 6-7 record. Flood opened his tenure at Rutgers with seven straight wins while leading Rutgers to a 9-4 record in his first season Field Goals Att. Made Pct. Blkd. Long in 2012, when he was named the Big East Coach of the Year. Kyle Federico, K 9 11 81.8 0 45 Flood served as a Rutgers assistant for seven seasons before being promoted to head coach. Previously, he coached the offensive lines at (2002-05) and Punts No. Yards Avg. Blkd. Long Hofstra (1997-2001). His first collegiate coaching job was as the offensive line coach at Long Island - C.W. Post in 1995 and 1996. Flood began his coaching career in the Tim Gleeson, P 22 895 40.7 0 57 prep ranks, spending two seasons at St. Francis Preparatory High School. Joey Roth, P 9 335 37.2 0 51

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