Nebraska narrowly extends streak of scoring points to 337 games

Check out the Nebraska interim head coach’s full news conference following the Huskers’ loss to Michigan on Saturday.

ANN ARBOR, Michigan — The streak lives on. Barely.

Nebraska scored points for a 337th consecutive game Saturday in the 34-3 loss to Michigan, extending what is the fifth-longest active FBS streak and seventh longest in college football history. Florida has the ongoing active and all-time lead, entering the day by avoiding a shutout in 432 straight contests.

The Huskers’ mark appeared in jeopardy from the start, with backup quarterbacks Chubba Purdy and Logan Smothers leading a banged-up offense against the country’s No. 3 scoring defense (12.1 points per game) amid snow flurries on the road.

But NU scored on its fifth possession, a 12-play, 55-yard drive begun by Purdy and ended by Smothers after the starter injured his right ankle on an awkward slide. Timmy Bleekrode connected on a high-arcing 37-yard field goal that barely passed beyond the crossbar to make the score 14-3.

It was the only drive other than the first for NU that reached Michigan territory — that one ended at the MU 41 with a punt into the end zone.

The Nebraska scoring streak has had a few other close calls through the years, most recently single touchdowns against both Minnesota and Ohio State in 2019. It mustered just lone field goals in a 62-3 loss to OSU in 2016 and 30-3 defeat to Oklahoma in 2004.

That OU loss was the most dramatic: a 48-yard run by fullback Steve Kriewald set up a 39-yard David Dyches field goal as time expired.