The Bad Boy Mowers Pinstripe Bowl creates intriguing matchups every year and 2024 was no different as Nebraska and Boston College collided at Yankee Stadium. The matchup was the first time the teams had ever met, and a lot was at stake for the teams.

Boston College was looking for their first-ever win in the Pinstripe Bowl as they came into the game dropping their previous two appearances. Nebraska was returning to the Bronx as they took down Miami in 1962 in the Gotham Bowl at the old Yankee Stadium.

Behind a balanced offensive attack and a stout defense, Nebraska defeated Boston College, 20-15, to win the 2024 Bad Boy Mowers Pinstripe Bowl in front of 30,062 fans at Yankee Stadium.

After a promising opening drive for Nebraska, featuring a dazzling one-handed 29-yard catch by Jahmal Banks, quarterback Dylan Raiola attempted to throw the ball away. Instead, KP Price picked it off deep in BC territory to give possession to the Eagles. After two plays of -2 yards, Turbo Richard took a screen pass in the endzone 50 yards to get the Eagles out of the shadow of the Cornhusker endzone.

After two first downs, Grayson James was sacked by Ty Robinson on a third-and-7 to force Boston College to attempt a field goal. Liam Connor could not convert the 43-yard field goal and the game remained scoreless at the halfway mark of the first quarter. Nebraska got back possession and went on a 15-play, 75-yard drive that ate up over six-and-a-half minutes that went into the second quarter. The drive was capped off by a four-yard run by Rahmir Johnson to put the Huskers up 7-0. The touchdown was Johnson’s first rushing touchdown since 2021.

Despite the rainy, cold weather in the Bronx, both teams showed off their passing games. Both quarterbacks combined for over 280 yards passing in the first half. James picked up 42 yards in the air as the Eagles once again drove into Nebraska territory. The Eagles were again unable to get any points, as James could only pick up eight yards on a fourth-and-14 as the Cornhuskers got possession back with 8:08 left in the first quarter.

Emmett Johnson fumbled on the first play from scrimmage, and BC’s Josiah Griffin recovered, giving the Eagles excellent field position. The Eagles went four-and-out as the Cornhuskers started right where they started on their last possession. Nebraska capitalized as they drove 67 yards in seven plays as Kwinten Ives powered in a two-yard run to give the Cornhuskers a 13-0 lead. Ashton McShane blocked and returned the extra point to the end zone to give BC two points and make their deficit 13-2.

Boston College continued its trend of driving downfield but, this time, moved the ball inside Nebraska’s 20-yard line as it went for its first offensive points of the game. It got as far as the nine-yard line but was once again stopped on fourth down as Nebraska took an 11-point lead into the half.

Nebraska got the ball to start the second half but was stopped on third down. They dug into their bag of tricks on fourth down as punter Brian Buschini faked the punt and floated a pass to Isaac Gifford to pick up eight yards and a first down. From there, the Cornhuskers drove the ball to the BC eight-yard line, where they attempted another trick play on a fake field goal but, this time, they were stopped as the Eagles took over deep in their own territory.

Boston College’s struggles on offense continued as James, who faced pressure all game, was hit and forced to fumble by John Bullock. Elijah Jeudy recovered the fumble, and the Cornhuskers were back in business at midfield. Nebraska went seven plays, and Raiola threw his first touchdown to Emmett Johnson out of the backfield for a 13-yard touchdown reception and a 20-2 Cornhusker lead.

After a 12-play, 70-yard drive, the Eagles went for it on fourth down for the fourth time as they stood just two yards from the end zone. James’ pass fell incomplete as Boston College again did not convert on fourth down as they could not convert.

“Look, we went for it on fourth down a few times. I decided to do that," said Boston College head coach Bill O'Brien. "We were having trouble kicking the ball. I didn’t wanna kick it. We were in that area where you’re either gonna punt it from the plus-50 – which we could’ve done, but we’re not great at that – or try to kick a 50-yard field goal, which we’re definitely not ready to do that. I went for it on fourth down and probably put the defense in a couple tough positions."

After a Nebraska punt, the Boston College offense finally got the ball in the end zone as Richard ran it in from one yard out and the Eagles made it 20-8 after they were unsuccessful on the two-point conversion. As Nebraska got the ball back looking to run some clock, they were forced to punt, but the kick was blocked by Victor Nelson, who recovered and ran to the Nebraska two-yard line by Omar Thornton. It took one play for Boston College to score as Jordan McDonald ran it in to make it a 20-15 game with 4:18 remaining in regulation.

Nebraska got the ball back and looked to ice the game. After a 15-yard pass to Thomas Fidone II, Raiola ran for seven yards but was hit late by Carter Davis, which gave Nebraska a free 15 yards. The Cornhuskers faced a fourth-and-1 with a chance to run the clock and they converted as Rahmir Johnson for 11 yards to provide Nebraska with a new set of downs as they ran out the clock for their 27th bowl win in school history.

Rahmir Johnson, a Harlem, N.Y. native, was named Pinstripe Bowl MVP, finishing with 69 total yards and a rushing touchdown. He played the game in front of family and friends as he was an important part of the win for Nebraska.

"Yeah, it was real special," said Johnson. "Every time I was looking up in the crowd and seeing who all I see, I saw my old youth football team, the Harlem Jets in the corner, I saw my family in the end zone where I scored at."

Raiola finished with 228 yards through the air and one touchdown, setting a Nebraska freshman record with 2,823 passing yards for the season.

"Yeah, I think it was just send these guys out on a high note. Personally, I wanted this one for Rahmir, like what he said he'd been through," said Raiola. "It's just a tight-knit group, and it kind of sucks it's our last game together, but that's life, and we'll be champions forever now.

The Cornhusker defense picked up three sacks and seven tackles for a loss as they held Boston College to less than two yards per rushing attempt and created two turnovers.

"At the end of the day, Boston College did a nice job with some screens. They hit us on some screens that really hurt us," said Ruhle. "But for the most part, I thought the defense played really, really well. Down there we were trying to make them force -- they only kicked four field goals coming into this game this season, and then they obviously missed the first one. So we felt pretty good about our opportunity to, hey, they're not going to kick a field goal, it's going to be four downs. Kind of knew how to address it, and John (Butler, defensive coordinator) did a really good job.

James threw for 296 yards for Boston College, but the Eagles were held to just 47 yards on the ground as they played without their First-Team All-ACC tackle, Ozzy Trapilo. Daveon Crouch led BC with 14 tackles, with nine of them being solo. The Eagles also played without ACC Defensive Player of the Year Donovan Ezeiruaku, Sr.