It took a gutty performance from Tommy Armstrong and a last-minute interception for Nebraska overcome a flurry of self-inflicted mistakes, but in the end the Huskers got the job done with a 24-17 victory over Minnesota on Saturday night.
Nebraska struggled with costly penalties on both sides of the ball and saw their senior starting quarterback leave the game late in the third quarter with a hamstring injury.
But a touchdown run on Armstrong’s final play and a goal-line interception by Kieron Williams with 1:29 remaining were enough to seal the victory.
With the win, NU improves to 8-2 overall and 5-2 in Big Ten play, and more importantly keeps its slim hopes of a West Division title alive for another week.
Nebraska’s defense did itself no favors on the opening drive of the game, as it kept the Gophers on the field with an illegal participation penalty on what would have been a fourth-down punt and then a pass inference call on a third down.
Those self-inflicted mistakes were all Minnesota needed to march the ball 75 yards on 14 plays over a span of 7:33 and take a 7-0 lead on a one-yard touchdown run by Rodney Smith.
Armstrong and the offense quickly got going on their first drive of the night, and a 19-yard run by Armstrong looked to have set up a first-and-10 at the Minnesota 22-yard line. After the run, though, De’Mornay Pierson-El was flagged for unsportsmanlike conduct, moving the ball back to the 37.
As a result the Huskers had to settle for a 46-yard field goal by junior kicker Drew Brown that made it 7-3 with 2:42 left in the first quarter.
The Blackshirts settled in and forced a three and out on the next series, and NU’s offense quickly responded with a 21-yard run by Armstrong on the first play. Then, facing a fourth-and-2 from the UM 35, Armstrong hit Tre Bryant out of the backfield in the flat, and the freshman running back took it 35 yards to the house to make it 10-3.
That score would hold until late in the second quarter, when a 31-yard run by Smith set up first-and-goal at the NU 3. It took the Gophers four more downs to finally reach the end zone, when Leidner muscled his way in on a sneak from one yard out to reclaim the lead at 14-10 with 4:54 left in the half.
Another crucial mistake by Nebraska led to more points for Minnesota to close out the first half. This one came from punter Caleb Lightbourn, who somehow managed a punt of minus-2 yards to give the Gophers the ball at the NU 42 with 1:40 left.
Minnesota churned out the rest of the clock and set up Emmit Carpenter for a 42-yard field goal as time expired to take a 17-10 lead into halftime.
Nebraska’s offense had to get something going into the second half, and it got exactly what it needed with a textbook scoring drive to open the third quarter. After three third-down conversions, Armstrong hit Terrell Newby on a perfectly set up screen pass, and Newby took it from there for a 31-yard touchdown.
The Huskers had another scary moment when Armstrong suffered an ankle injury after converting a third-and-1 sneak with just under five minutes left in the third quarter. He had to be helped off the field, and senior Ryker Fyfe took over to finish the drive - which ended in a punt.
Armstrong was able to return to the game on the next drive, and he picked up right where he left off before his injury. A 29-yard pass to Pierson-El and then a 16-yard connection with Alonzo Moore on a third-and-11 moved NU deep into Gopher territory.
The Huskers elected to of for it on a fourth-and-1 at the UM 16 and converted on a three-yard run by Newby. Then, with 7:17 left to go in the game, Armstrong ran it in from 13 yards out to give Nebraska a 24-17 lead.
Just when it looked like Minnesota was on the verge of driving 73 yards for the tying touchdown, Leidner threw a pass over the middle that was tipped by safety Aaron Williams and floated in the arms of Kieron Williams for the biggest play of the night.
The Huskers return to action next week when they play host to Maryland on Saturday. Kickoff time and TV info have not yet been announced for that game.
