On Senior Day in Lincoln, the No. 25 Minnesota Golden Gophers weathered an early storm and scored a late touchdown to upset the host No. 23 Nebraska Cornhuskers, 28-24.
Minnesota vs. Nebraska final score: 3 things we learned from the Gophers’ 28-24 rally victory
The Huskers struck first, but short-handed Nebraska couldn’t hold on for the win.
Nebraska was wracked by injuries virtually all day; center Mark Pelini went out on the first play of the game with a leg injury, then later in the drive star wide receiver Kenny Bell was lost for the day with an apparent head or neck injury after a 73-yard catch and run. Nebraska still scored on that drive -- getting the 73 yards from Bell before he was hurt helped, obviously -- and the Huskers pushed the score to 21-7 on a blocked field goal returned 85 yards near the end of the first half.
Minnesota took over in the second half, though, even as star running back David Cobb was lost to a hamstring injury in the third quarter. quarterback Mitch Leidner led the Gophers on a 21-3 spree in the second half, culminating in a 2-yard keeper with 3:25 left that gave Minnesota a lead it would not relinquish.
Nebraska made things interesting on its final drive, but on a particularly brutal, game-clinching turnover, Huskers WR De'Mornay Pierson-El was stripped at the 5-yard line (on a play that wouldn't have stood anyway; he ran out of bounds on his pattern before coming back in for the catch) and it was over.
Minnesota pushes its record to an astonishing 8-3 while Nebraska falls to the same record.
Three things we learned
1. Minnesota is awfully resilient. Minnesota was down 24-14 in the second half, but just as the Gophers absorbed some early body blows against Ohio State and kept things close last week, the Golden Gophers scored the last 14 points of the game and generated a game-clinching turnover inside its 5-yard line in the closing minutes to escape Lincoln with the victory.
2. The Big Ten probably comes down to one game. With the win, Minnesota is now 5-2 in the Big Ten with Wisconsin looming at 5-1 and Iowa at 4-2. As long as Wisconsin (a 9.5-point favorite) wins in Iowa City, Minnesota and Wisconsin will finish off the season playing for the Big Ten West title and a trip to Indianapolis to face Ohio State for the conference championship. An Iowa win today complicates things, but it still might not eliminate either Minnesota or Wisconsin from the mix. It’s a long story.
3. This one’s not on Tommy Armstrong. Nebraska’s signal-caller has a long way to go, but even with his top receiver going out in the first series and his senior center getting one snap of play, Armstrong finished with 12-for-19 passing for 223 yards and 45 more rushing yards. He made some great runs and great throws, and his future remains bright.
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