The Morning After: Northwestern

Dirk Chatelain, Omaha World-Herald: His arm’s strong, but his legs make him special.

Look past the fluke fumbles at the goal-line Saturday. Ignore the pedestrian point total. This was Nebraska’s best offensive performance of the season — one of the best of the Riley era. The reason? For the second straight week, the Huskers unleashed the quarterback run game and Armstrong ran wild.

He rushed for a career-high 132 yards on 13 carries, demonstrating his full potential and showcasing a phase of the offense that gets more intriguing by the week.

Against Oregon, Armstrong had runs of 11, 11, 13, 18 and 34 yards. Against Northwestern, Tommy dashed for 12, 12, 17, 17, 20 and 37 yards. I don’t think NU wins either game without No. 4’s legs.

“Tommy Armstrong just being Tommy Armstrong,” receiver Stanley Morgan Jr. said. “That’s all that is.”

Steve Sipple, Lincoln Journal-Star: Armstrong finds a groove on uneven night for Huskers

The Nebraska quarterback was better than good in his team's 24-13 triumph against Northwestern before 40,284 spectators at Ryan Field, more than half of them wearing red.

Armstrong has settled into a bit of a groove, as has Nebraska. The Huskers are 4-0 this season and 7-1 since that godawful loss last season at Purdue.

A 6-foot-1, 220-pound senior, Armstrong was a stabilizing force in this game. He also was a play-maker.

In many ways, he was the difference.

Teddy Greenstein, Chicago Tribune: Northwestern coach decries mistakes after 24-13 loss to Nebraska

How many ginormous breaks would Northwestern have needed to beat Nebraska on Saturday night?

Twice Nebraska fumbled at the 1-yard-line — and yet the Cornhuskers still had an easy 24-13 victory.

"Any time you recover fumbles (that deep), you feel good, don't you?" Northwestern coach Pat Fitzgerald said. "The stars are lining up; you feel this will be our night. And then two third-and-1 penalties, a missed extra point, missed field goal … it's disappointing. Disappointing."

Fitzgerald was steamed about a plethora of mistakes that left his team 1-3 after its Big Ten opener.

InsideNU: Wildcats give up over 550 yards, lose 24-13

Tommy Armstrong Jr. was unstoppable in this game. The senior finished with 246 passing yards and one score and added 132 yards on the ground. He was sharp on his passes and looked as shifty and athletic as ever when running the ball.

Tom Shatel, Omaha WH: What a difference a year makes, these Huskers are finding ways to win

I’m not sure what’s ahead, with Indiana, Wisconsin, Iowa and all the rest. I don’t know what Oregon losing at home to Colorado means in evaluating NU.

What I know is, this is a different Nebraska team this season. We saw it the first three weeks. And again Saturday night.

It’s as clear as Armstrong’s footwork.

Sure, the senior still has his wild and crazy moments, off the back foot, across the body while running, etc. But those have been the exception and not the rule in 2016.

Armstrong has shown growth as a senior, and the critics who said it was too late to change, well, they’re praising the changes.