Final take: Huskers regain their swagger after win over Gophers

After losing the last 2 weeks at Wisconsin and Ohio State, Nebraska needed to remember what it feels like to finish off an opponent and win a game.

That's exactly what happened in Saturday's 24-17 win over Minnesota (7-3, 4-3), as the Huskers (8-2, 5-2) looked more like the team we saw start the year 7-0, and not the team we saw lose 62-3 last week in Columbus.

NU needed to get their swagger back, and they accomplished that on offense scoring points on 4-of-8 true offensive possessions, while holding the Gophers to just 265 yards of total offense.

"Well I think that the biggest hurdle that we had to overcome was the mental part of absolutely getting beat like we did a week ago," head coach Mike Riley said. "I think its very important to state that. That is absolutely the biggest hurdle. I was worried that this team, who had won four in a row; we came off of two losses - one a real-bad loss.

"It should be pointed out that that combination doesn't feel really comfortable except with this team. I really had faith that this team would come back and play, and they did."

And it all started with quarterback Tommy Armstrong, who arguably had one of his more gusty performances finishing 19-of-27 passing and accounting for 278 of NU's 374 yards of total offense.

It was classic Armstrong, who left Saturday's game in the third quarter with an ankle injury, only to come back in and score the game-winning touchdown and leave again with a hamstring injury. This all on the heels of leaving last week's game at Ohio State on a stretcher with a head injury.

"Coming off of two tough losses against Wisconsin and Ohio State, it was tough for our guys but our team had been through so much adversity, so we were not going to let two losses bring us down," senior wide receiver Jordan Westerkamp said. "We knew a great opponent with Minnesota was coming in here tonight and they were going to give us their all, but it was great to come out with a win."

Now Nebraska has another great opportunity in front of them next week to pick up their 9th win of the season against a Maryland team that's loss 5 of it's last 6 games and has been outscored 121-6 the last 2 weeks against Michigan and Ohio State.

"I mean anytime you get a win is awesome," senior linebacker Josh Banderas said. "And I only have one game left at home. I saw the team bounce back to show who we really were. (We) had two rough weeks and there are some things we wish we could take back but it’s all in the past. Tonight we put it on the grass and we grew a lot."

Now on to the breakdown...

***It's amazing how fast sophomore offensive lineman Jerald Foster recovered from his right MCL tear he suffered in August. If you would've told me he'd be starting on Nov. 12, less than 3 months after the injury I would've said you are crazy.

***Tonight was the first time in a while you saw all of Nebraska's top five wide receivers on the field at one time healthy and making plays together. That sure made a difference for Armstrong.

***Senior linebacker Josh Banderas continues his impressive stretch of football. The Lincoln native led the Blackshirts with 11 total tackles and two tackles for loss. The last month has been the best stretch of football in his career.

***The work John Parrella has done getting defensive tackles Kevin Maurice, Mick Stoltenberg and Carlos Davis to where they are at right now is arguably one of the best coaching jobs on the staff this season. They have turned what was once a question going into the season into a real strength.

***As long as Nebraska takes care of business against Maryland next week, it's hard to see them falling any lower than the Outback Bowl on Jan. 2. However, Iowa's win over Michigan on Saturday sure shakes things up going forward. A Penn State vs. Wisconsin championship game could happen if Ohio State beats Michigan. A lot is still going to shake out these next 2 weeks. All the Huskers can do is win and better their final position.

Rushing offense: B-

It was a puzzling first half game plan where Nebraska's running backs had just two total carries for 10 yards and there were only eight rushing attempts overall. However, the Huskers were able to find a much more efficient ground game in the second half to finish with 157 yards on 32 carries averaging 4.9 yards per carry. The total snaps in this game were just 60, and when you take away the Huskers victory formation at the end, they had just eight true possessions. The yards per carry average tonight was the most important number.

Passing offense: A

This was one of the more efficient passing games we've seen out of quarterback Tommy Armstrong. He finished 19-of-27 for 217 yards and two touchdowns. Most importantly he didn't throw an interception and he was very efficient on his third down throws. Jordan Westerkamp, Alonzo Moore and De'Mornay Pierson-El all came up big tonight for Armstrong. The screen game was also clutch, as Terrell Newby hauled in a 31 yard TD and running back Tre Bryant added another score on a wheel route.

Rushing defense: A

The Huskers completely manhandled the Gophers up front. Minnesota's two highly touted running backs Rodney Smith and Shannon Brooks finished with just 70 yards on 26 carries. For Minnesota to win this game they needed those guys to have a big night, and the Blackshirts completely took them out of the game.

Passing defense: B-

The Huskers allowed Minnesota QB Mitch Leidner to execute on some key third down throws, as Drew Wolitarsky had eight catches for 90 yards proving to be a tough match-up for most of the night. The key though is when it mattered Nebraska came up with the game's only turnover, as junior safety Kieron Williams came up with an interception off Leinder to ice the game.

Special teams: D

Nebraska got a costly penalty with 12 men on the field on Minnesota's first punt. This set up the Gophers first touchdown drive and after the game head coach Mike Riley was furious about the mistake. Punter Caleb Lightbourn had a -2 yard punt which was basically a turnover. That allowed the Gophers to add a field goal right before halftime. Special teams single handily set up 10 of Minnesota's 17 points on Saturday. Drew Brown helped NU's cause by kicking a 47-yard field goal and the coverage teams did a solid job.

Sean Callahan can be reached at sean@huskeronline.com and he can be heard each day at 6:45 am and 5:05 pm on Big Red Radio 1110 KFAB in Omaha during the football season. He can also be seen on KETV Channel 7 in Omaha during the fall and each week he appears on NET's Big Red Wrap-Up Tuesday's at 7 pm.