Week 13 of the NCAA football season brought us another exciting game, as the now 8-3 No. 25 Minnesota Golden Gophers (2nd in Big Ten West, 5-2 Big 10) beat the now 8-3 Nebraska Cornhuskers (3rd in Big Ten West, 4-3 Big Ten). Final score: 28-25. Minnesota, with the same record, now has one more win, and one less loss in the Big Ten than Nebraska. The game was played at the Memorial Stadium in Lincoln, Nebraska and was seen on ESPN.
The scoring in the game was very frustrating for team fans as both teams scored 7 points in the 1st quarter, then Nebraska scored 14 points in the 2nd quarter, so the game went to half-time Nebraska 21 and Minnesota 7. The Gophers came back in the 3rd quarter and scored 14 points while the Cornhuskers only managed a 3 point field goal ending the 3rd quarter with Nebraska 24 and Minnesota 21. The fourth quarter was the tell-tale of the game as Nebraska was shutout, and Minnesota managed rally and score 7 points to seal the win with Minnesota 28 and 24.
The game was basically over for the Cornhuskers in the 4th quarter when their defense could not halt the Gophers from eating up the clock all the way to the game final. The Gophers were thrilled with this win, as it is their first win at Nebraska since back in 1960.
Leading offensively in the game for the Golden Gophers was QB Leidner who completed 8 of 17 passes for 135 yards. RB Cobb & QB Leidner combined for 37 carries for 191 yards with Leidner scoring 2 touchdowns and Cobb scoring 1 TD. Receivers Maye & Williams combined for 5 receptions for 95 yards. For the game, Minnesota had 23 first downs for 416 total yards, with 135 passing and 281 rushing with no turnovers, while possessing the ball for 35:03 minutes of the game.
The offensive leaders for the Cornhusker were QB Armstrong Jr., who completed 12 of 19 passes for 223 yards with 1 TD. RB Abdullah & QB Armstrong Jr. combined for 32 carries for 143 yards. Receivers Pierson & Bell combined for 5 receptions for 160 yards with Pierson scoring 1 TD. Nebraska for the game had 18 first downs for 397 total yards, with 223 passing and 174 rushing yards, with 2 turnovers. They possessed the ball for 24:57 minutes of the 60 minute game.
With the win for Minnesota, they were able to keep their chances alive in the Big 10 West, and a win in Lincoln Nebraska, is a win to be very proud of by this Golden Gopher team. In this game than ran out the clock and ended a losing streak of 20 games against Top 25 opponents. For the Cornhuskers it was not a good day as apart from losing the game, they lost their center Peleni and their star leading receiver Bell on their 1st offensive possessions of the game.
So after a very close game the Golden Gophers now 8-3 will play at the No. 16 Wisconsin Badgers now 9-2 (1st Big Ten West) as their last regular season game on Sat. the 29th of Nov. at 3:30 PM ET, and on the BTN TV. If you bet on college football at an online sportbook, then you should also know that the Cornhuskers play at the Iowa Hawkeyes now 7-4 (3rd Big Ten West) on Friday, the 28th of November at 12PM ET and on ABC & ESPN TV.