NEW YORK – Nebraska persevered and got the job done Saturday.

The Huskers traveled to New York City to play Boston College in the Bad Boy Mowers Pinstripe Bowl and will fly home with a 20-15 win.

It wasn’t pretty – does that ever happen with this program? — when NU led 20-2 with three minutes left in the third quarter but allowed BC to score two touchdowns in the final 6:11 of the game.

NU finishes its 2024 season with a record of 7-6 (3-6 in Big Ten). That’s the most wins since the team went 9-4 in 2016. It is also the first bowl win for the Huskers since the team defeated UCLA 37-29 in the Foster Farms Bowl in 2015.

Here are three key stats that stood out in NU’s win over the Eagles.

One of the top statistics that usually comes with winning football is making the most of your trips to the red zone. On Saturday, the Husker offense was good enough when it reached BC’s 20-yard line.

NU finished the game by scoring points on three of its four opportunities in the red zone, and all of them were touchdowns. All three of NU’s scoring drives that reached the red zone also lasted at least seven plays, giving the Huskers some drives at Yankee Stadium.

The only red zone appearance that did not end in a score was a fake field goal in which punter/holder Brian Buschini attempted to return the ball on a fourth-and-goal from the BC 8-yard line out to play. That didn’t work as Buschini got 1 yard to seal a turnover on downs.

NU’s offense turned the ball over twice in the game, both of which came in the first half thanks to an interception by Dylan Raiola and a lost fumble by Emmett Johnson.

Those could have been serious mistakes, but they weren’t, as defensive coordinator John Butler’s defense, which featured several young players getting opportunities, stood firm after every turnover.

The Huskers did not allow BC to score points from those turnovers. NU may have buckled down – the Huskers allowed BC to convert 5 of 10 third downs in the first half – but the real breakthrough didn’t come until late in the game, when the Eagles scored their first touchdown at 6:11 of the fourth quarter .

Yes, there were occasional misses and sloppy play on a wet and slippery field. But the Huskers flew around like a team that had fun on the town for a week before flipping a switch and winning a football game, just like Matt Rhule wanted.

Nothing against BC quarterback Grayson James. He played as best he could and made some good shots while being pressured by NU’s defense all day.

But if BC wanted to win this game, it had to have an effective running game. That didn’t happen – BC would have liked to see Ozzy Trapilo, a first-team All-ACC decommitment, at right tackle as the Husker defense held the Eagles’ rushing attack to just 47 total yards and in the limited to 40 yards in the first half. That rushing total rises to 64 yards when subtracting the NU defense’s 17 sack yards.

BC entered the game with a top-50 rush offense nationally, allowing 176 yards per game, good for 46th in the country.

The defense that played for NU today – guys like Ty Robinson, Nash Hutmacher, Cam Lenhardt, Elijah Jeudy, Keona Davis, MJ Sherman, Willis McGahee and Co. – held up well to BC’s offensive line and tight ends Linebackers Behind They, like Javin Wright, Vincent Shavers Jr. and John Bullock, told them to clean up, which they did.

The Wright-Shavers-Bullock trio combined for 18 tackles, 3.5 tackles for loss and two sacks.

>> GET FULL ACCESS with an annual or monthly subscription for less than $10/month

>> NEW SUBSCRIBERS get 30 days FREE

>> pFind out about the current topics in our INSIDER’S BOARD

>> Follow us on Twitter (@NebraskaRivals)

>> Follow us on Instagram (@nebraskarivals)

>> Subscribe to the Inside Nebraska YouTube channel for FREE