Nebraska: 2025 College Basketball Crown Champions

 

LAS VEGAS -- Senior Brice Williams scored 21 points to set the single-season scoring record for Nebraska and the Cornhuskers rallied past UCF for a 77-66 victory in the championship game of the College Basketball Crown at T-Mobile Arena on Sunday.

Williams made 6 of 14 shots with three 3-pointers and 6 of 8 free throws for Nebraska (21-14). He scored 713 points this season -- five more than James Palmer Jr. had in the 2018-19 season.

Connor Essegian sank 8 of 16 shots with four 3-pointers, also scoring 21 for the Cornhuskers. Juwan Gary had 20 points on 8-for-15 shooting, adding eight rebounds.

Jordan Ivy-Curry came off the bench to score a season-high 29 for the Knights (20-17). He made 12 of 22 shots -- 3 of 9 from beyond the arc. Nils Machowski totaled 13 points and six rebounds. Moustapha Thiam had 11 rebounds to go with nine points.

Williams hit two 3-pointers to help Nebraska jump in front 15-9 in the first eight minutes. The Cornhuskers led by as many as 12 and played with the lead until Darius Johnson sank two free throws to tie it at 33 with 1:46 left before halftime. Gary made two free throws to end a nearly four-minute scoring drought for Nebraska, but Dallan Coleman answered with a second-chance layup to forge a 35-35 tie at the break.

The Knights scored the first 14 points of the second half -- capped by a 3-pointer from Tyler Hendricks -- to move in front for the first time since they led 3-0. Nebraska's first basket didn't come until the 14:36 mark when Gary had a layup. He scored nine in an 11-0 run to cut the deficit to three. Essegian hit back-to-back 3-pointers to tie it at 52. Andrew Morgan followed with two straight dunks and the Cornhuskers never trailed over the final 9:48.

Williams also set Nebraska's single-game scoring record this season with 43 points in a 116-114 double-overtime road loss to Ohio State on March 4.

Nebraska: 2024 Pinstripe Bowl Champions

 

NEW YORK -- — Dylan Raiola passed for 228 yards and a touchdown as Nebraska built an 18-point lead through three quarters and hung on to beat Boston College 20-15 Saturday for its first bowl victory since 2015.

After Nebraska built a 13-2 lead in the first half on scoring runs by Rahmir Johnson and Kwinten Ives, Raiola hit Emmett Johnson with a 13-yard TD pass on fourth down with 3:02 remaining in the third quarter for a 20-2 edge and the Cornhuskers (7-6) held on for the win.

Raiola completed 23 of 31 passes in front of a sizable Nebraska crowd that celebrated the team’s first bowl win since topping UCLA in the 2015 Foster Farms Bowl and first winning season since 2016.

“The biggest thing is that finally they can walk off the field and say ’Hey we got it done,'” Nebraska coach Matt Rhule said. “We’ll have a lot of momentum heading into the offseason.”

Raiola completed passes to 10 receivers, including Jahmal Banks, who finished with four receptions for 79 yards.

“He’s gotten so much better as the year’s gone on in terms of the speed, movement and those things,” Rhule said of Raiola.

Rahmir Johnson and Ives scored on short TD runs in the second period, and Nebraska’s defense set up the critical score in the third.

Emmett Johnson scored on fourth-and-3 play for a 20-2 lead. That score came after John Bullock sacked Boston College quarterback Grayson James, forcing a fumble that was recovered by Elijah Jeudy at midfield.

James finished 25 of 40 for 296 yards as Boston College (7-6) fell to 0-3 in Pinstripe Bowl games.

The Eagles got past midfield on five of their first seven drives, but committed two turnovers and failed to convert four fourth downs, including two inside the 10-yard line. Boston College finally cashed with 6:11 left in the fourth when Turbo Richard scored on a 1-yard run, but the two-point conversion failed. BC made it a one-score game on Jordan McDonald’s 2-yard run, a play after getting possession on a blocked punt.

"I thought we were productive, but we couldn’t score,” Boston College coach Bill O’Brien said. “So that’s a problem because you have to score to win.”

After a scoreless opening quarter, Rahmir Johnson easily scored on a 4-yard run on the first play of the second period. After BC turned it over on downs twice in Nebraska territory, the Cornhusker’s took a 13-0 lead on Ives’ 2-yard run that was set up by Rahmir Johnson’s 22-yard run.

The Eagles picked up their only points of the first half when Ashton McShane blocked John Hohl’s extra point and returned it for two points.

Takeaways

Nebraska: Rahmir Johnson was named MVP in his final game at Nebraska to cap an emotional season in which he lost his mother in November. Johnson finished with 10 carries for 60 yards and the Cornhuskers totaled 127 yards on the ground and 363 yards overall. “Even with news like that, I still want to play for these guys," Johnson said. “And that's just the type of person I am.”

Boston College: Without ACC sacks leader DE Donovan Ezeiruaku, the Eagles could not get Nebraska and had to burn their final two timeouts after getting within 20-15.

Up next

Nebraska opens its 2025 season against Cincinnati on Aug. 30. Boston College takes on Fordham on Aug. 30 to open its season and will welcome Alabama transfer Dylan Longeran into its quarterback mix.

Nebraska Cornhuskers: 2015 Foster Farms Bowl Champions

SANTA CLARA, Calif. (AP) — Tommy Armstrong Jr. threw a touchdown pass and ran for another score to help Nebraska cap a losing season by beating UCLA 37-29 in the Foster Farms Bowl on Saturday night.

The Cornhuskers (6-7) scored 30 straight points after falling behind 21-7 early to overpower the Bruins (8-5) and provide a happy ending to coach Mike Riley’s first season.

Stanley Morgan Jr. gave Nebraska the lead for good with a one-handed, 22-yard catch in the third quarter and Imani Cross, Terrell Newby and Andy Janovich all ran for scores for the Cornhuskers.
Armstrong completed 12 of 19 passes for 174 yards and ran for 76 more to lead the way for Nebraska, which had a season high with 326 yards rushing.

Josh Rosen threw for 319 yards and two touchdowns for the Bruins. They ended what had once been a promising season with losses to Southern California and in the bowl game.

Nebraska: 2014 Gator Bowl Champions

JACKSONVILLE (AP) — Tommy Armstrong Jr. connected with Quincy Enunwa for two touchdowns, including a 99-yarder in the third quarter, and Nebraska held on to beat No. 24 Georgia 24-19 in the rain-soaked Gator Bowl on Wednesday.

Playing in their 50th bowl, the Cornhuskers (9-4) ended a four-game losing streak against teams from the Southeastern Conference. The streak included a 45-31 loss to Georgia in the Capital One Bowl last season.

The rematch was much different.

Nebraska did a solid job against running back Todd Gurley, who ran for 125 yards and a touchdown last year. Gurley finished with 86 yards on the ground.

Gurley was more effective in the passing game, catching seven passes for 97 yards and a score. His 25-yard score on the first play of the fourth quarter cut Nebraska's lead to 24-19.

But the Huskers stopped Georgia (8-5) twice on fourth down in the closing minutes. Rantavious Wooten and Arthur Lynch dropped fourth-down passes that ended drives in the red zone.

Those drops were indicative of the entire game for Georgia. The Bulldogs moved inside the 25-yard line seven times, but settled for four field goals.

Despite those, Georgia had a chance late.

Wooten dropped a fourth-and-2 pass at the 10-yard line with 4:42 remaining. Georgia got the ball back with 3:18 to play and marched toward the end zone. But Lynch couldn't haul in a fourth-and-3 pass that would have moved the chains with about 25 seconds remaining.

Nebraska ran out the clock from there.

The Huskers pulled ahead 24-12 late in the third on the longest play in Gator Bowl history.

Armstrong dropped back on a third-and-14 play at the 1 and heaved the ball as far as he could to Enunwa, who was streaking wide open down the left sideline. Georgia cornerback Shaq Wiggins let Enunwa go, but got no safety help deep. Quincy Mauger had a chance to tackle Enunwa, but bounced off him just past midfield.

Enunwa coasted the rest of the way.

Enunwa finished with four receptions for 129 yards. He also broke a school with 12 touchdown receptions, eclipsing the mark of 11 set by Johnny Rodgers in 1971.

Armstrong, filling in for injured starter Taylor Martinez, completed 6 of 14 passes for 163 yards. He also had a 5-yard TD pass to Enunwa in the second quarter.

Ameer Abdullah ran 27 times for 122 yards and a score. It was his 11th 100-yard game of the season.

Nebraska finished with 307 yards, 109 fewer than Georgia.

Turnovers were the difference.

Nebraska turned two of them into two touchdowns. Reggie Davis muffed a punt deep in Georgia territory in the second quarter and Nebraska scored two plays later.

The Huskers also turned Hutson Mason's lone interception into points. Mason overthrew Chris Conley near the sideline. Josh Mitchell picked it off, setting up Abdullah's TD run.

Mason, making his second straight start in place of injured starter Aaron Murray, completed 21 of 39 passes for 320 yards, with a touchdown and an interception.

Notre Dame and Boston College, where is your God now? Ohohohohohohoooh...

And Nebraska too, I might add. And Arizona State. The Fighting Irish were leveled by Navy, 46-44, The Cornhuskers played their best game of the season, a 72-36 drubbing to Kansas. And Boston College's angels lost their wings, falling gracelessly to Florida State, 27-17. And the Sun Devils were ambushed by some Ducks from Eugene.

Meanwhile, my favorite teams were doing decently. My high school football team destroyed Wilson's homecoming, 41-0. My women's soccer team defeated Cal Poly 3-1 after playing some more uninspiring faggotry against those hated Zots. The men's water polo team actually got a win in a while against Pepperdine. The women's volleyball team disposed of Fullerton, Bakersfield, and Northridge in successive sweeps. And the men's ice hockey team took care of Arizona State's DII side in a 5-2 win on Friday. I have yet to see results from my rugby team, and the result today in ice hockey. Also, some more games are in order, with a soccer match against the Gauchos and a water polo matinee against Pomona-Pitzer.

And also, what the hell is with this message I'm seeing when I'm labeling my posts?

ERROR

Must be at most 200 characters

Up it to 1,000, you oppressors running Blogger! 200 is for grade school blogging n00bs.

The Warrior football team was off this week. And I can't believe my eyes: Long Beach City actually had a victory today in football defeating those patsies from Golden West. Stuff-all.