Nebraska didn’t know it was officially going to have Tommy Armstrong back under center as the starting quarterback until Saturday morning. But what the Huskers did know was the senior was going to give them everything he had if he did play.

Despite missing nearly all week of practice while recovering from a head injury he suffered last week at Ohio State, Armstrong had one of his better all-around performances of the season when his team needed him the most.

Armstrong ended up completing 19-of-27 passes for 217 yards and two touchdowns while rushing nine times for 61 yards and another score.

As importantly as anything, he didn’t turn the ball over and seemed to come up with his biggest plays in the most crucial situations. His final play was a 13-yard run for the eventually game-winning touchdown, which he managed to execute despite injuring his hamstring in the process.

After the game Armstrong was asked how he was feeling, not only with his hamstring but also the ankle injury he suffered in the first half.

“I’m good,” Armstrong said.

Does Armstrong think he will play next week vs. Maryland?

"No doubt. No doubt,” he said. “Definitely for my last home game here, I won’t be sitting out for that, I promise you."

As well as Armstrong played when he was able to be on the field, this game was going to come down to whether Nebraska’s defense could hold up for a full four quarters.

While there were some uneasy moments on Saturday night, the Blackshirts definitely rose to the occasion.

The Huskers held Minnesota to just 265 yards of total offense and only 85 rushing yards on 34 carries. Coming into the game, the Golden Gophers ranked fourth in the Big Ten and 36th nationally in rushing offense at 210.3 yards per game.

The biggest stand of all came on the final series of the game. Minnesota had marched 56 yards on seven plays and had a first-and-10 from the NU 17-yard line with just under two minutes remaining.

Minnesota QB Mitch Leidner fired a pass over the middle towards the goal line, but safety Kieron Williams hauled in the game-winning interception off of a deflection.

Bend but don’t break has been Nebraska’s defensive formula for success all season, and that held true once again on Saturday night.

With Armstrong banged up, it didn’t make much sense at all that senior running back Terrell Newby, Nebraska’s leading rusher on the season, only carried the ball two times for 10 yards in the first half.

That’s why when Mike Riley and his staff met during halftime to go over the game plan for the second half, getting No. 34 more involved was as big of a priority as any.

Newby ended up rushing five times for 15 yards in the third quarter but added a 31-yard touchdown reception. He then came up huge in the final quarter, racking up nine rushes for 60 yards.

Newby ended up with 16 attempts for a game-high 85 yards along with his touchdown catch, and he boosted his team-best rushing totals to 727 yards on 149 carries for the season.

Nebraska got a huge addition to an offensive line that has been beat up all season when sophomore Jerald Foster returned to make his first career start at left guard.

Foster was originally slated to be a starter before suffering a torn MCL during fall camp. His speedy recovery helped him rejoin the team in practice this week, and he surprised many by getting the nod on the starting line in his first game back.

Yes, the running game struggled for three quarters and Minnesota was able to get heavy pressure on Armstrong and Ryker Fyfe with their blitzes, but the combination of Foster and Nick Gates on the left side of the line gave NU some serious attitude.

As those two continue to rebuild that chemistry they had back in camp, Nebraska’s offense should continue to benefit in a big way.

As good as the win felt for Nebraska, there’s no denying the game probably shouldn’t have been quite as close as it ended up being.

The Huskers shot themselves in the foot time and again on Saturday night, including committing eight penalties for 81 yards. That marked their second-highest penalty total this season (nine vs. Indiana) and their second-most penalty yardage (93 vs. Wyoming).

It wasn’t just the number of flags for NU, either. Two of those penalties came on Minnesota’s opening drive, as a illegal participation on a fourth-down punt and then a defensive pass interference on a third and long helped the Gophers take an early 7-0 lead.

On offense, two unsportsmanlike conduct penalties helped kill promising drives. The first came when De’Mornay Pierson-El was flagged after long Armstrong run that should have set up first and 10 at the Minnesota 22. Instead Nebraska got first and 25 at the 37 and eventually had to settle for a field goal.

The second came when Cethan Carter was flagged (albeit on a questionable flop by a UM defender) to turn a second and 3 at the NU 46 into a second and 18, which led to a punt.

On top of that, Nebraska had two procedure penalties by skill position players (Pierson-El and Carter again). Those types of frustrating mental lapses simply cannot happen if the Huskers want to take the next step as a program.

Special teams coach Bruce Read has gotten as much criticism as any coach on Nebraska’s staff over the past two seasons, but the issues the Huskers had on special teams on Saturday made it hard to argue.

Along with the inexplicable 12-men on the field that turned a punt into a Minnesota first down, NU also saw a punt by Caleb Lightbourn travel backwards for a net of minus-two yards in the second quarter.

Pierson-El and the punt return game struggled to get much going either, mustering a loss of one yard on three total return attempts.

The third element of the game can’t continue to be such a liability for the Huskers, and that starts at the top.

If Nebraska wasn’t giving Minnesota first downs with bad penalties, more often than not the Golden Gophers were moving the chains on third down.

In all, Minnesota ended up converting 8-of-16 third downs and were also a perfect 1-for-1 on fourth down conversions.

Had the Blackshirts been able to finish a few of those drives when they had the chance, it’s likely that this game would have been over much earlier the final minutes.

Nebraska has been trying to incorporate the screen pass into its offense for nearly two full seasons now, and the results we saw from the plays against Minnesota show exactly why.

While the Gophers were attacking with heavy blitz pressures on nearly every single play, the Huskers were able to counter with a couple huge gains off screen passes over the top of the rush.

The highlight was the touchdown to Newby, as Armstrong hung back in the face of the blitz and then delivered a perfect touch pass to Newby, who had nothing but open field in front of him.

Armstrong has struggled making that kind of throw throughout his career, but tonight showed just how valuable of a weapon that play can be for this team when executed correctly.

A big reason for optimism that Nebraska could get things back on track after two straight losses was the fact that it would be playing Minnesota at home and at night.

As history shows, that combination has been deadly for NU’s opponents for decades.

Saturday’s victory marked the Huskers’ 19th straight win in home night games, with the last loss coming against Missouri back in 2008.

In fact, Nebraska improved to 45-5 all-time in home night games at Memorial Stadium, including a perfect 6-0 mark at night against Big Ten foes.

Nebraska’s chances of winning the Big Ten West and playing for a conference championship took a big hit following its loss at Wisconsin. They were pummeled even more after last week’s blowout at Ohio State.

But by knocking off Minnesota - which came into the game part of a three-way tie record-wise with NU and the Badgers - the Huskers made it a potential two-horse race with UW over the final two weeks.

Nebraska still has to take care of its own business against Maryland and Iowa - which just upset No. 3 Michigan on Saturday night - to even have a chance at going to Indianapolis.

If the Huskers can win out, though, Wisconsin still has to play Minnesota in the final week of the season.

It’s still a major up-hill battle, but the door is still open for NU to potentially win its first division title since 2012.