Matt Rhule reveals the most important factor that led Nebraska to win in Pinstripe Bowl

To cap off his second season as the head coach of the Nebraska Cornhuskers, Matt Rhule won the Pinstripe Bowl. It was the school’s first bowl win since 2015 and came in a game that Rhule knows just as easily could have gone the other way.

Following the game, Rhule explained that beating Boston College in the Pinstripe Bowl came down to a few different factors. The most important of those was overcoming early turnovers.

“Yeah, I mean, I think in a game where you turn the ball over twice, you’re probably not going to win the game in the first half,” Matt Rhule said. “But the times where we didn’t turn the ball over, we scored the other two drives. I thought we were able to up front, they weren’t really able to give any pressure. We were able to protect, we were able to get the ball out. The field was wet down the one end, so we weren’t ever able to win on the deep ball. We started hitting some crossers. I thought the defense played really well. We couldn’t really get off the field on 3rd down. Credit to their quarterback, they had a good plan.”

Nebraska ultimately beat Boston College 20-15. They were able to do that despite losing the turnover battle and converting just three of 11 third-down conversion attempts. Despite those issues, as Matt Rhule noted, the offense was able to turn things around quickly.

“But we made some key 4th down stops, and we made the plays you need to made. We had the sack fumble, the 4th down stops. We were in significant control of the game, and obviously, they came back,” Rhule said. “And I was fired up for our offense. It was the first time the offense took the ball and said enough is enough and went down the field. Dylan [Raiola] pulled the ball twice on that drive, which is what quarterbacks are supposed to do. They’re supposed to go make game-winning plays.”

Throughout the game, Nebraska played incredibly well on the defense side of the ball. In fact, the Cornhuskers defense only gave up two scores in the game. A blocked extra point returned for two points accounted for the rest of the Eagles’ scoring. On top of that solid defensive effort, Matt Rhule was proud of how his team was able to play physically.

“And then we ran power. Ty Robinson, D-tackle, goes over there, old-school football,” Rhule said. “I hope Nebraska fans are fired up. We won the game in the I-formation. Ran power and we made a great play. We made the plays you need to make to win the game. Obviously, a lot to probably correct, but it was the last game of the year, so I can enjoy it.”

Now, Nebraska will roll into the offseason, looking to build on the Pinstripe Bowl win and winning season ahead of the 2025 campaign.