Huskers fall short in 28-24 loss to Minnesota

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Nebraska had its chances, but with both pride and the game on the line, it couldn't come up with the big plays when it needed them the most in Saturday's 28-24 loss to Minnesota.

After leading 21-7 at halftime, the Huskers' ended up getting out-scored 21-3 in the second half and fumbled away a chance for a comeback deep in Gopher territory in the final minutes, dropping their record to 8-3 overall and 4-3 in the Big Ten conference. The loss officially eliminated NU from contention for the West Division championship.

Quarterback Tommy Armstrong threw for 223 yards and a touchdown and Ameer Abdullah ran for 98 yards and a score, but it wasn't enough to overcome two costly turnovers and a Minnesota offense that ground out 281 rushing yards on 53 carries.

"I'm obviously disappointed, and I feel sorry for the seniors, but like I just told the team, we lost because we didn't deserved to win," head coach Bo Pelini said. "We didn't play well enough. We had too many busts, our execution was subpar. Our tackling was horrendous, and too much leaky yardage. We beat ourselves in a lot of instances."

It couldn't have been a much better and yet much worse start for Nebraska on its opening drive. On just the second play of the game, NU lost senior center Mark Pelini for the day to a lower leg injury. Two plays later, Armstrong then hit senior wide out Kenny Bell for a 73-yard gain down to the Minnesota six. The pass marked NU's longest play from scrimmage this season.

However, Bell suffered a concussion on the tackle and was done for the remainder of the game. Abdullah ended up scoring from two yards out to give the Huskers an early 7-0 lead, but it definitely came a price. Minnesota wasted no time answering the call, as it marched 71 yards on nine plays and tied the game up on a one-yard quarterback sneak by Mitch Leidner.

Nebraska managed to force a punt on UM's next drive and got the ball back at the Gopher 49. Facing a third-and-10 at the Minnesota 18, Armstrong rolled to his right and found receiver De'Mornay Pierson-El over the middle, and the freshman fought through a tackle and stretched the ball over the goal line to put the Huskers up again 14-7 with 11 minutes left in the half.

The Gophers appeared on their way to tying it back up on another long, time-consuming drive, as they started from their own 12 and muscled it all the way to the NU 13. Nebraska's defense held firm and forced a 30-yard field goal attempt, but then Randy Gregory blocked Ryan Santoso's kick and Nathan Gerry scooped it up and returned it 85 yards for a touchdown to increase the lead to 21-7 with five minutes to go before halftime.

The Huskers nearly added a few more points in the final minutes of the half when they drove from their own nine into Minnesota territory. Armstrong found Pierson-El over the middle for what would have been a 25-yard gain well within field goal range, but Pierson-El fumbled the ball after the catch and UM recovered and returned it to their 35 with 21 seconds left.

Minnesota nearly turned the giveaway into a field goal of its own, but Gregory sacked Leidner to run out the clock and send NU into halftime up with a 14-point lead. Nebraska led despite nearly being doubled up in time of possession (19:07-10:53) and getting out-gained 233-192 in total offense in the first half.

That good luck wouldn't last much longer once the third quarter got under way. Armstrong was sacked twice on a quick three-and-out to open the second half, and Minnesota stormed right down the field and scored on a 17-yard touchdown run by running back David Cobb less than four minutes into the quarter.

Nebraska was able to answer with a 30-yard field goal by Drew Brown to push the lead up to 24-14 with 7:19 left in the third, but Minnesota came right back and punched it into the end zone again, this time on a 19-yard run by Rodrick Williams on fourth-and-1 to bring it to 24-21 going into the fourth and final quarter.

The Gophers eventually took their fist lead of the day on yet another power drive with some timely shots through the air mixed in, this time going 85 yards on nine plays to go up 27-24 on a three-yard keeper by Leidner with 3:25 to play.

It looked like the Huskers had one more magical rally left in the tank when they quickly drove the ball into UM territory with just over a minute to go in the game, but a 28-yard pass from Armstrong to Pierson-El (which would have been nullified anyway since Pierson-El was ruled out of bounds prior to the pass) was spoiled when Pierson-El again coughed it up at the two-yard line and the Gophers pounced on it.

Minnesota simply ran out the clock from there to improve to 8-3 overall and 5-2 in conference play, remaining alive and well in the hunt for a trip to the Big Ten title.

Nebraska will close out the regular season on Friday next week in its annual post-Thanksgiving showdown with Iowa in Iowa City. Kickoff is set for 11 a.m. CT.

"They're good kids who want to win, and they're going to play hard and fight," Pelini said. "But we've got play smarter and execute at a higher level or we'll get the same result. We've got a good football team we've got to go play."

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