The Huskers appear to be without punter William Przystup. Not only will the Huskers be replacing their punter, but he is also Connor Culp’s holder - hopefully that does not cause any issues. Tyler Crawford is expected to handle punting duties today.
Thirty-three players are being held out by Minnesota. They will be without two of their starting offensive lineman, and are down to two eligible tight ends, and four defensive tackles. Will there be some openings to #RunTheDamnBall?
Outstanding running back Mohamed Ibrahim and quarterback Tanner Morgan are available for the Gophers.
Brendan Jaimes is making his school-record 40th start (offensive line) on Senior Day. How awesome for him!
The Huskers won the toss and elected to receive. They will be moving into the a strong north wind.
First Quarter
The Huskers came out in a two tight end set, but rather than run the ball, Adrian threw a swing pass to Wan’dale that was fumbled, recovered by Wan’dale and lost nine yards. It was reviewed and upheld. The second and 19 play was a run up the middle that went nowhere followed by another (sigh) swing pass. Fourth and sixteen. Punt.
Marquel Dismuke buried the returner with perfect timing after the catch.
A penalty on the Blackshirts (Cam Taylor-Britt) moved the Gophers out past midfield. Mo Ibrahim has been bottled up thus far by the defensive line. On third and 10, Morgan got hit as he threw which caused the ball to flutter, incomplete.
The punt was downed inside the five yard line. Adrian Martinez corralled the high snap and Dedrick Mills found a bit of daylight. A Martinez run on third and three moved the Huskers out to the 20. Luke McCaffrey came into the game while Martinez was being looked at on the sideline (left hand) and promptly overthrew one receiver (incomplete), overthrew another (intercepted).
The Husker defense forced a fourth and one at the 25 yard line. Minnesota went into wildcat and...touchdown for Ibrahim who slid, hit the sideline fence and appears to be gimpy.
The extra point hit the upright but was good.
Minnesota 7 Nebraska 0
Now, that we’ve got them where we want them...
The Gophers supposedly have a bad run defense, but Nebraska’s offense seems determined to help them out by being even worse. To be fair, Wan’dale was held on the third down pass with no call - which is why the Martinez pass looked so far off target. But, the Huskers should not be in a third and long positions against a bad run defense that is extremely shorthanded.
The Gophers got great field position on the eight yard punt.
The Gopher offense has everything working and moved inside the red zone quickly.
Minnesota went back to the wildcat on third and one, but Caleb Tannor snuffed it for a loss. The Gopher field goal was good.
Minnesota 10 Nebraska 0
As the Husker offense comes back out, all Nebraska fans are thinking...
The first quarter mercifully ends.
Second Quarter
Wan’dale opens the quarter with a bang (47 yard run - pushing his blockers out of his way)! Nebraska is in the red zone.
Two plays later...Austin Allen touchdown!!
Who was worried? You worried? Me, I wasn’t worried (yeah, right).
Minnesota 10 Nebraska 7
PJ Fleck had to burn two timeouts to prevent delay of game penalties. This leaves him with no timeouts after burning a defensive timeout when a linebacker was split out wide covering Wan’dale (I would have loved to see how that play would have turned out).
Nebraska has been trying to use some tempo while the Gophers are using as much of the play clock as possible. After a lapse where Chris Autumn-Bell was left wide open the Blackshirts showed good pursuit to force a third down...where they promptly left Autumn-Bell wide open again.
I’m sure there is a reason Nebraska is playing zone rather than manning Taylor-Britt up on Autumn-Bell, but I’m not smart enough to know what that is.
Fourth and eight...incomplete. Husker ball!
Jack Stoll made a first down catch and followed it with an eight yard catch - great to see the senior back on the field on senior day! Adrian slightly overthrew Wan’dale who was being covered by a linebacker (that would have been a touchdown).
Decrick Mills breaks one inside the 10 yard line. First and goal. Great to see another senior starting to gain his footing.
ADRIAN MARTINEZ TOUCHDOWN!
Nebraska 14 Minnesota 10
Minnesota answered with a Cam Wiley 61 yard run into the red zone (13 yard line). Marquel Dismuke made the SHOESTRING tackle to save the touchdown.
A near-interception at the goal line (Deontai Wiliams I think) led to third and 14. A Cam Taylor-Britt hit on Tanner Morgan that looked like targeting was not called on the field but was reviewed. They did determine it was targeting and #5 was ejected. There is no way CTB is a dirty player, but by rule, that was targeting. First down Minnesota.
Touchdown Gophers.
Minnesota 17 Nebraska 14
Alante Brown returned the kickoff to the 24. Kade Warner made a short catch (a dangerous floating pass when Martinez was hit in the pocket) followed by a Martinez run. The swing pass to Rahmir Johnson went backwards bringing up second and 14 with 37 seconds left. Martinez has been favoring his right arm more than any Husker fan would like. A Wyatt Liewer catch in the middle of the field kept the clock running which was followed by an overthrow of an open Oliver Martin. At fourth and 10, the Huskers had to punt, giving Minnesota eight seconds. (They took a knee).
Halftime
Third Quarter
The Gophers started with poor field position (for once) with a bobbled kickoff return (13 yard line). Quinton Newsome is in the game for Cam Taylor-Britt.
JoJo Domann got beat on a vertical route, but arrived just in time to knock the home run ball away (whew), keeping the Gophers on their side of the field. On fourth and two, Minnesota elected to punt. Oliver Martin waved for the fair catch.
Nebraska’s offense came out in quick strike mode with Wan’dale, Levi Falck and a few others making plays. To my eyes, Adrian is hurting, but mustering every ounce of will he has. He deserves huge props Husker fans. The drive stalled near the red zone and Culp missed the field goal.
Minnesota 17 Nebraska 14
On the ensuing Gopher drive, the run game wasn’t finding much success but their slant passes continued to gain ground. I think they continue to run the ball because... who cares as long as the keep on doing it.
Casey Rogers knocked down the third down slant pass.
The Husker offense responded with a three and out.
The Nebraska secondary continues to play zone. It continues to get picked apart at times.
Nick Henrich pulled down Morgan on a draw as the Gophers moved well past midfield. the Blackshirts stopped the third and four play, bringing up fourth and three . PJ Fleck elected to go for it at the Husker 36. Pheldarius Payne knocked the pass down. The Blakshirts have been blocking more shots than Nebrasketball.
So, what does the Husker offense do?!? Two quick incompletions and a fumble. The Gophers recovered the Martinez fumble on the Husker side of the field.
Fourth Quarter
I still don’t understand why the Husker defense is playing zone when Minnesota only has one viable receiving option. The Gophers are in the red zone and looked like they were in for the touchdown but the call on the field was short. Rather than wait for a review, the Gophers did a quick snap. On third and goal (at the one) the play was ruled short. The fourth down play found paydirt.
Minnesota 24 Nebraska 10
I generally like to give some level of play-by-play in these recaps, mostly to get players tagged in these articles.
I’m done. The playcalling is not ideal and I don’t want to remember this pile of dog doo.
With nine minutes left, Minnesota has the ball and a 10 point lead.
BLACKSHIRTS.
Husker ball at the 50.
Haha! They described Austin Allen as speedy and athletic rather than tall.
Fourth down. Connor Culp comes out for the 37 yard field goal. Good.
OH WAIT, MINNESOTA WAS OFFSIDES. FIRST DOWN NEBRASKA.
Other teams can make mistakes?
The TV guys are debating whether Nebraska is smart to accept the penalty and take the points off the board?!? Yes! I take the three chances at the end zone before I kick another field goal. Really guys?
A holding call on Ethan Piper (ticky tacky call - okay really bad call) negated a Martinez touchdown run. Huskers settle for a field goal.
Minnesota 24 Nebraska 17
There are less than five minutes left in the game.
There are less than four minutes left in the game.
There are less than three minutes left in the game.
(Minnesota still has the ball)
Red zone.
There are less than two minutes left in the game.
First down by Ibrahim. He went down deliberately because Nebraska can’t stop the clock anymore.
Minnesota wins.