Nebraska beats Boston College to win 14th Pinstripe Bowl at Yankee Stadium

Pinstripe Bowl executive director Mark Holtzman turned to his right and extended a standing invitation to the University of Nebraska.

It was about 10:45 Saturday morning and Holtzman was sitting on the dais with the dignitaries from the midwestern school, their counterparts from Boston College and Yankees president Randy Levine.

All were in the Yankee Stadium news conference room before the 14th Pinstripe Bowl, and Holtzman, in acknowledging that this was the first time that the Yankees and Nebraska found themselves working together, rolled out the welcome mat.

“It’s really a pleasure to have you here,” Holtzman said. “I wish you guys all the luck in the world today and hopefully we’ll have a long, successful relationship and this is only the first of many times that we’ll have Nebraska here at Yankee Stadium.”

A little more than six hours later, after the Cornhuskers completed their 20-15 win over Boston College in front of 30,062 hardy souls at a cold, rainy Yankee Stadium, Nebraska coach Matt Rhule made it clear that his program will welcome return trips to the ballpark in the Bronx.

“This will be a week full of memories for our guys,” Rhule said. “Amazing.”

Nebraska quarterback Dylan Raiola went 23-for-31 passing for 228 yards and a touchdown as the Cornhuskers hung on to win the 14th Pinstripe Bowl.

It is the first bowl victory since 2015 for Nebraska (7-6).

“We haven’t ended many seasons with a win in a while,” Rhule said. “It was an experience that we needed.”

While Nebraska felt good about itself, Boston College’s 31st bowl appearance could have gone better.

Among the reasons the Eagles fell to 0-3 in their Pinstripe Bowl appearances was that Boston College (7-6) went 0-for-4 on fourth-down conversion attempts against the Cornhuskers. To add insult to injury, Nebraska was 3-for-4 on fourth-down conversions.

“We went for it on fourth down a few times,” Eagles coach Bill O’Brien said. “I went for it on fourth down and probably put the defense in a couple tough positions.”

Both teams had promising opening drives that stalled. Eagles kicker Liam Connor’s 43-yard field-goal attempt with 6:28 left in the first quarter was wide left. The missed kick was an unfortunate capstone to a drive that began at the Boston College 7-yard line after KP Price picked off Raiola 3:24 into the game.

The Cornhuskers took a 7-0 lead on Rahmir Johnson’s 4-yard touchdown run four seconds into the second quarter.

Nebraska extended its lead to 13-0 on Kwinten Ives’ 2-yard touchdown run with 3:32 left in the half. John Hohl’s extra-point attempt was blocked by Max Tucker and returned 88 yards by Ashton McShane for the defensive PAT to cut the deficit to 13-2.

Johnson, who was named the game’s MVP, rushed for 60 yards on 10 attempts in his final college game.

“It was really special,” said Johnson, who grew up in Harlem. “It meant a lot.”

Emmitt Johnson’s 13-yard touchdown catch with 3:02 left in the third quarter stretched Nebraska’s advantage to 20-2.

“There’s a lot to improve on,” O’Brien said. “We lost.”

Turbo Richards’ 1-yard touchdown plunge with 6:11 left in the game cut the deficit to 20-8. The Eagles attempted a two-point conversion, but Grayson James’ shovel pass to Kamari Morales ended with the Boston College tight end being tackled short of the goal line by Nash Hutmacher and Vincent Shavers Jr. James threw for 301 yards.

On Nebraska’s ensuing possession, the Cornhuskers went three-and-out, and Brian Buschini’s punt was blocked by Victor Nelson Jr. and returned to the 2-yard line by Omar Thornton. Jordan McDonald’s 2-yard touchdown run one play later brought the Eagles within five at 20-15.

“Special teams, we need a complete and total overhaul,” Rhule said. “We have to be better at that.”

Nebraska was able to win its first-ever matchup against Boston College by running the final 4:11 off the clock.

“We’re going to win the game,” Raiola said when asked what he and his offensive teammates told each other on the last drive. “That’s exactly what we did.”