LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Dante Dowdell and Janiran Bonner scored on 1-yard runs, and Nebraska leaned on its defense on a day Dylan Raiola struggled to beat Rutgers 14-7 on Saturday.
The Cornhuskers (5-1, 2-1 Big Ten) prevailed in the hottest conditions ever for an October game at Memorial Stadium and moved within one win of becoming eligible for their first bowl since 2016.
The Scarlet Knights (4-1, 1-1), whose offense scuffled for 3 1/2 quarters, made it a one-score game with 4:08 left when Athan Kaliakmanis hit Ben Black with an 11-yard touchdown pass.
“In many ways it was a tough day,” Nebraska coach Matt Rhule said. “Credit to Rutgers, credit to Greg Schiano. They did a ton of things against us. But we didn't turn the ball over but once. We won the turnover battle. And it was as great a defensive performance as I've been around.”
Temperature at kickoff was 97 degrees with a swirling and gusty wind and both teams struggled in the passing game.
“I’ve been doing this 37 years. I’ve not been in conditions like we were today,” Schiano said. “Usually, if you have a wind like that, it’s a storm, some kind of hurricane, tropical storm.”
Raiola, Nebraska's freshman quarterback, never was able to find a rhythm. He completed just 13 of 27 passes for 134 yards, all season lows.
"Those games happen, hate to say it," Raiola said. “We won the game, which is all that matters.”
The work of the defense surely was something former Nebraska great Ndamukong Suh could appreciate. Suh, a 2009 Heisman Trophy finalist and consensus All-American before he went on to a long NFL career, was on hand for his Nebraska Athletics Hall of Fame induction.
Suh led the Huskers out of the tunnel before the game and then watched the Blackshirts sack Kaliakmanis four times, limit the nation's third-leading rusher, Kyle Monangai, to 78 yards on 19 carries and hold Rutgers to 264 total yards. Kaliakmanis was 15 of 37 for 136 yards, and he was intercepted twice. The Huskers also kept Rutgers out of the end zone 6 times on plays from inside the 2.
“Nothing short of elite,” cornerback Marques Buford Jr. said.
Rutgers had great chances to score but couldn't until late. The Scarlet Knights' second blocked punt of the game set them up at the Nebraska 2, but the Huskers held them out of the end zone on three straight plays after Monangai appeared to score but was marked short of the goal line with no challenge from Schiano. He said he didn't want to use a timeout to challenge the mark because it was reviewed at the replay center in Chicago and he was told it would stand.
Later, Buford slipped in coverage, leaving Black wide open to run under Kaliakmanis' deep ball along the sideline. But the ball bounced off the side of Black's helmet and to the turf.
“They’re a hard, physical team up front,” defensive lineman Ty Robinson said. “I just think our roster decided to play a little harder.”
THE TAKEAWAY
Rutgers: The Scarlet Knights' identity has been the run game, and they might have given up on it too soon. They rushed for 70 yards on their first two possessions going into the wind, and Monangai broke off three runs of at least 14 yards. When Rutgers tried to go back to the run, there wasn't much there, and it finished with 78 yards rushing for the game.
Nebraska: As great as the defense played, the Huskers go into their open date with concerns on offense. Raiola was just 2 of 9 for 14 yards in the second half, and the run game averaged 2.3 yards per carry largely because of Raiola getting sacked four times.
BUSCHINI BOUNCES BACK
It was a rough day for Nebraska's punter for three quarters. He had two punts blocked and moved gingerly the rest of the game after being shaken up on the first one.
But in the fourth quarter, Buschini made one of the plays of the game when he received the snap, took a step and pulled up and threw a pass Isaiah Neyor turned into a 30-yard gain. The Huskers ended up punting, and Buschini got off a 41-yarder that pinned Rutgers at its 5. His last one went 69 yards and forced Rutgers to start its final possession at its 11 with 2:28 left.
UP NEXT
Rutgers: Hosts Wisconsin.
Nebraska: Open date before visiting No. 23 Indiana on Oct. 19.
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Rutgers' Eric Rogers, right, breaks up a pass intended for Nebraska's Jahmal Banks in the end zone during the first half of an NCAA college football game Saturday, Oct. 5, 2024, in Lincoln, Neb. (AP Photo/Rebecca S. Gratz)
CAMARILLO, Calif. (AP) — Southern California firefighters made progress against a wildfire that has destroyed 132 structures, mostly homes, and that was fanned by fierce wind gusts that began easing Friday, allowing some people to return to sort through the charred remains of their homes.
Maryanne Belote returned to her hillside neighborhood in Camarillo, a city northwest of Los Angeles, after making a harrowing escape with her cat, her dog and her horses as the blaze raged in the area. The only thing standing was a rock wall she built.
“If I hadn’t gotten the horses, I would have been devastated but I have my family and I have my animals so, I’m OK. I will rebuild,” she said standing outside the remains of her home of 50 years while her dog stayed in her car.
The Mountain Fire started Wednesday morning in Ventura County and had grown to 32 square miles (about 83 square kilometers). It was 7% contained Friday morning.
Some 10,000 people remained under evacuation orders Friday morning as the fire continued to threaten about 3,500 structures in suburban neighborhoods, ranches and agricultural areas around Camarillo in Ventura County.
At least 88 additional structures were damaged in addition to the 132 destroyed. Officials did not specify whether they had been burned or affected by water or smoke damage. The cause of the fire has not been determined.
Ten people suffered smoke inhalation or other non-life-threatening injuries, Ventura County Sheriff James Fryhoff said.
Crews working in steep terrain with support from water-dropping helicopters were focusing on protecting homes on hillsides along the fire's northeast edge near the city of Santa Paula, home to more than 30,000 people, county fire officials said.
Officials in several Southern California counties urged residents to be on watch for fast-spreading blazes, power outages and downed trees during the latest round of notorious Santa Ana winds, including in a rural area of northern San Diego County where a brush fire prompted mandatory evacuations Friday afternoon.
Santa Anas are dry, warm and gusty northeast winds that blow from the interior of Southern California toward the coast and offshore, moving in the opposite direction of the normal onshore flow that carries moist air from the Pacific. They typically occur during the fall months and continue through winter and into early spring.
The red flag warnings, indicating conditions for high fire danger, expired in most of the area Thursday, except in the Santa Susana Mountains where the warnings expired Friday morning when winds began diminishing.
The Santa Anas are expected to return early-to-midweek next week, said Ariel Cohen, a National Weather Service’s meteorologist in Oxnard,
An air quality alert for harmful fine particle pollution was in effect from Friday morning until Saturday afternoon due to smoke from the wildfires.
More than a dozen school districts and campuses in Ventura County were closed Friday due to impacts from the fires, according to the county’s Office of Education.
The Mountain Fire was burning in a region that has seen some of California’s most destructive fires over the years. The fire swiftly grew from less than half a square mile (about 1.2 square kilometers) to more than 16 square miles (41 square kilometers) in little more than five hours on Wednesday.
Gov. Gavin Newsom has proclaimed a state of emergency in Ventura County.
California utilities began powering down equipment during high winds and extreme fire danger after a series of massive and deadly wildfires in recent years were sparked by electrical lines and other infrastructure.
The wildfires burned in the same areas of other recent destructive infernos, including the 2018 Woolsey Fire, which killed three people and destroyed 1,600 homes near Los Angeles, and the 2017 Thomas Fire, which burned more than a thousand homes and other structures in Ventura and Santa Barbara counties. Southern California Edison has paid tens of millions of dollars to settle claims after its equipment was blamed for both blazes.
Rodriguez reported from Los Angeles. Jaimie Ding and Stefanie Dazio in Los Angeles, Ethan Swope in Camarillo, Eugene Garcia in Santa Paula and Amy Taxin in Orange County, California, Kathy McCormack in Concord, New Hampshire, Sarah Brumfield in Washington, D.C., and Hannah Schoenbaum in Salt Lake City contributed.
Firefighters gather at a home destroyed by the Mountain Fire in Camarillo, Calif., on Friday, Nov. 8, 2024. (AP Photo/Noah Berger)
Joey Parish visits his home, Friday, Nov. 8, 2024, which was destroyed by the Mountain Fire in Camarillo, Calif. (AP Photo/Noah Berger)
Firefighters gather at a home destroyed by the Mountain Fire in Camarillo, Calif., on Friday, Nov. 8, 2024. (AP Photo/Noah Berger)
Joey Parish phones his wife, Friday, Nov. 8, 2024, while standing in front of his home, which was destroyed by the Mountain Fire in Camarillo, Calif. (AP Photo/Noah Berger)
Fawn Parish hugs battalion chief Robert Welsbie, Friday, Nov. 8, 2024, as his firefighters help sift through rubble at her home, which was destroyed by the Mountain Fire in Camarillo, Calif., (AP Photo/Noah Berger)
Joey Parish walks through his home, Friday, Nov. 8, 2024, which was destroyed by the Mountain Fire in Camarillo, Calif. (AP Photo/Noah Berger)
A chimney stands at a home destroyed by the Mountain Fire in Camarillo, Calif., on Friday, Nov. 8, 2024. (AP Photo/Noah Berger)
This satellite image released by Maxar Technologies shows the flames surrounding a house near Moorpark, Calif., on Thursday Nov. 7, 2024. (Satellite image ©2024 Maxar Technologies via AP)
This satellite image released by Maxar Technologies shows fire-ravaged houses in Camarillo, Calif., on Thursday Nov. 7, 2024. (Satellite image ©2024 Maxar Technologies via AP)
This satellite image released by Maxar Technologies shows houses in Camarillo, Calif., before being damaged by the fire, on Thursday Nov. 7, 2024. (Satellite image ©2024 Maxar Technologies via AP)
This combo of two satellite images released by Maxar Technologies shows houses before and after being fire-ravaged in Camarillo, Calif., Thursday Nov. 7, 2024. (Satellite image ©2024 Maxar Technologies via AP)
A firefighter prepares to douse flames while battling the Mountain Fire on Wednesday, Nov. 6, 2024, in Santa Paula, Calif. (AP Photo/Noah Berger)
A firefighter battling the Mountain Fire watches flames from a firing operation burn off vegetation around Swanhill Farms in Moorpark, Calif., on Thursday, Nov. 7, 2024. (AP Photo/Noah Berger)
Todd Howard sifts through the remains of his parents' fire-ravaged property after the Mountain Fire swept through, Thursday, Nov. 7, 2024, in Camarillo, Calif. (AP Photo/Ethan Swope)
Marvin Meador walks on the remains of his fire-ravaged property after the Mountain Fire swept through, Thursday, Nov. 7, 2024, in Camarillo, Calif. (AP Photo/Ethan Swope)
A helicopter drops water as the Mountain Fire burns along South Mountain Rd. on Thursday, Nov. 7, 2024, in Santa Paula, Calif. (AP Photo/Noah Berger)
A helicopter drops water while battling the Mountain Fire along Waters Road in Moorpark, Calif., on Thursday, Nov. 7, 2024. (AP Photo/Noah Berger)
Jaime Hernandez sprays water to defend his home while battling approaching flames from the Mountain Fire near Moorpark, Calif., on Thursday, Nov. 7, 2024. Hernandez has been staying behind to fight multiple wildfires since 1988. (Stephen Lam/San Francisco Chronicle via AP)
Firefighters and sheriff's deputies push a vintage car away from a burning home as the Mountain Fire burns in Camarillo, Calif., on Wednesday, Nov. 6, 2024. (AP Photo/Noah Berger)
Horses gallop in an enclosure at Swanhill Farms as the Mountain Fire burns in Moorpark, Calif., on Thursday, Nov. 7, 2024. (AP Photo/Noah Berger)
Kelly Barton, left, is hugged by a family friend after arriving at her parents' fire-ravaged property in the aftermath of the Mountain Fire, Thursday, Nov. 7, 2024, in Camarillo, Calif. (AP Photo/Ethan Swope)
Todd Howard, left, sifts through the remains of his parents' fire-ravaged property with the help of firefighters after the Mountain Fire swept through, Thursday, Nov. 7, 2024, in Camarillo, Calif. (AP Photo/Ethan Swope)
A firefighter walks through smoke while battling the Mountain Fire on Thursday, Nov. 7, 2024, in Santa Paula, Calif. (AP Photo/Noah Berger)
Inmate firefighters battle the Mountain Fire at Swanhill Farms in Moorpark, Calif., on Thursday, Nov. 7, 2024. (AP Photo/Noah Berger)
Flames from the Mountain Fire leap along a hillside as a horse stands in an enclosure at Swanhill Farms in Moorpark, Calif., on Thursday, Nov. 7, 2024. (AP Photo/Noah Berger)