Nebraska vs. Minnesota 2017 live stream: Time, TV schedule, and how to watch online

With a head coach still fighting for his job, Mike Riley and the Nebraska Cornhuskers are on the road in Week 11 to take on first-year head coach P.J. Fleck and the Minnesota Golden Gophers, Saturday at noon ET on FS1 (live stream).

These two Big Ten teams are coming off fresh losses and will try and battle it out for pride — as hopes of Big Ten honors and a decent bowl game seem less and less likely. Offenses that continue to be turnover-prone and defenses that can’t seem to stop even the simplest run should make for an eventful, mistake-filled afternoon.

The run defense was a disaster. It was a combination of poor gap control and even worse tackling. As a team, the Wolverines rushed for 394 yards when you don’t subtract the -23 yards that Michigan quarterback Brandon Peters contributed from a coupleof sacks.

Mike Riley came to Nebraska looking for “one last adventure,” but I’m not sure that “adventure” is the right word for what this has become. Nebraska football is adrift. Lost. Frankly, Husker fans can’t even tell if we’re in the middle of the ocean, a forest or a desert. All we know is that we don’t recognize where we’re at, and we don’t see any way out.

In the first half, the Gophers’ offense looked more settled than in any week other than Illinois. That does not mean that they played well, merely that they began to look like a more coherent offense.

Heading into this matchup, both Nebraska and Minnesota are fresh off losses and both boast a measly 4-5 record for the season. The only difference is the Cornhuskers rank third in the Big Ten West, while the Gophers claim sixth.

Success in college football always starts at the top. Nebraska is in its third season under Riley, and with the removal of the school’s athletic director earlier in the season, it’s expected that Riley is next on the chopping block come January. While he’s done little to right the ship — especially with a program accustomed to competing at high levels — the Cornhuskers will be in an equally precarious situation hiring their second head coach in less than five years.

On the other sideline, Fleck is still in his first season holding the reins, and while things have not looked great, there’s still a bit more room for growth that the program and its fans are willing to put up with before pulling out the pitchforks. Granted, that patience is wearing thin, with Minnesota 0-9 in trophy games since late-2014.

Riley needs the Cornhuskers to win this game in a really bad way — not just to keep his current job, but to ensure he’ll be able to get another one after this year. I think Nebraska squeaks one out late in the game, but beginning to end, the matchup will be hair-pullingly frustrating.