Nebraska Hangs On Against Wyoming 37-34

The Nebraska Cornhuskers started off their season trying hard not to lose against the pesky Wyoming Cowboys, much to the disgust of over 90,000 Husker fans who came to see Nebraska's new stadium expansion along with a good old-fashioned start of the year beat down.

"Pesky?"

Yes, pesky. Scrappy, annoying, troublesome, even, vexing Wyoming Cowboys. Everything fits after this game.

Wyoming was supposed to go away late and lose by a large margin, but they wouldn't co-operate with that concept, coming back on two Nebraska turnovers to score 13 points in the fourth quarter and terrify every Husker fan alive. Jalen Claiborne scored on a 29-yard pass with 6:02 left in the fourth quarter, and then Robert Herron scored on a 47-yard pass with 1:32 remaining. Both plays were the result of short drives, with Claiborne's pass coming on a two-play drive that took 24 seconds, and Herron's touchdown coming on a three-play drive that lasted 29 seconds.

The Huskers Blackshirt defense gave up a ton of yardage (602 total), allowing Cowboy quarterback Brett Smith to complete 29 passes on 43 attempts for 383 yards and four touchdowns. Dominic Rufran caught caught 11 passes for 120 yards, and running back Shaun Wick rushed for 101.

Nebraska's offense did its damage as well with running backs Ameer Abdullah and Imani Cross all ending up with over 100 yards rushing. Abdullah had 19 rushes for 114 yards, while Cross had 13 carries for 105 and two touchdowns. Quarterback Taylor Martinez was decent enough, throwing for 155 yards and three touchdowns, completing 17 of 22 attempts. Martinez ran for 80 yards on 16 attempts. His sole interception came late, though, feeding Wyoming's comeback.

The Husker defense was awful, although there were some bright spots. Defensive backs Ciante Evans and Stanley Jean-Baptiste both had interceptions with Jean-Baptiste returning his 42 yards, eliminating a red zone threat by Wyoming.