Saturday was a tale of two halves for the Nebraska Cornhuskers.
The first half was all about the Husker defense. Coming into the contest, Minnesota ranked first in the nation in third-down conversion rate and 12th in rushing yards per game. The Gophers proceed to go 2-of-6 on third downs and totaled minus-7 net rushing yards.
Minnesota totaled 31 yards and scored 0 points.
Gopher quarterback Tanner Morgan left the game after taking a hit by defensive lineman Ty Robinson during the last play of the first half. That left backup Athin Kaliakmanis to play the rest of the game.
After much speculation throughout the week, Chubba Purdy got the start at quarterback for Nebraska. Purdy scored on the first drive on a run, and Timmy Bleekrode converted a field goal on the next drive.
Heading into the locker room, Nebraska held a 10-0 lead.
The Huskers ran for 110 yards in the first half. Anthony Grant had 90 of them. Purdy completed 6 of 10 passes for 41 yards.
Minnesota flipped things around in the third quarter. Kaliakmanis completed 6 of 10 passes for 137 yards, and star running back Mohamed Ibrahim found his footing and ran for 56 yards and a touchdown, helping the Gophers tie the score 10-10 going into the final period.
Minnesota’s comeback, in part, had to do with the collapse of the Nebraska offense.
After scoring on their first two possessions, NU punted six times in a row. Chubba Purdy and Logan Smothers played quarterback in the third, and the offense totaled just 14 yards, all on the ground.
To start the final quarter, Minnesota quickly hit a field goal to give the Gophers a 13-10 lead.
Purdy led off in the fourth quarter but threw an interception to Gopher cornerback Terell Smith, who returned the ball to the Nebraska 33-yard line.
Minnesota took advantage, and Ibrahim found the end zone, making it 20-10.
Smothers played QB for the rest of the game. It all seemed to slip away from Nebraska until Marcus Washington made an incredible catch down the sideline inside the Minnesota 15 to set up a field goal, cutting the deficit to seven points.
The Blackshirts stopped Minnesota late in the fourth quarter giving the offense an opportunity to tie it all up with 2:25 left to go, but a missed opportunity by Smothers to run for a first down and a dropped fourth-down pass gave the ball back to the Gophers.
Minnesota walked away with a gritty 20-13 victory.
Before Saturday, Minnesota had lost its last 32 games after trailing by 10 points at any point. Ibrahim finished the game with 128 rushing yards and two TDs. The Gophers did not total one passing yard the entire fourth quarter and held the ball for 20 minutes in the second half.
Nebraska quarterbacks went 5-of-15 for 80 yards with one interception in the second half. Anthony Grant finished the game with 115 rushing yards. Marcus Washington led the receivers with 62 yards on a pair of receptions.
Interim head coach Mickey Joseph said after the game that he should have made a quarterback change sooner.
“We probably should’ve, but we figured we’d have to throw the ball downfield,” Joseph said. “When he (Purdy) wasn’t seeing it, we had to make a change, but you’re right. In this league, you can’t do that.
“You can’t have six three-and-outs in this league because they’ll eat the clock up.”
Minnesota moved to 6-3 on the season and plays Northwestern at home next week.
Nebraska lost another challenging game at home and dropped to 3-6. It won’t get any easier for the Big Red as the Huskers travel to Ann Arbor to take on the currently undefeated Michigan Wolverines.
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