How nice that it’s Nebraska now coming up short on the scoreboard.
ESPN predicted last week the Cornhuskers had a 72 percent chance of defeating the Golden Gophers in Lincoln. It sounded like more frustration was ahead for long suffering Gophers fans, but that’s not what happened yesterday when Minnesota stormed from behind to play physical football and win 28-24.
Yes, the Gophers defeated the Cornhuskers in Minneapolis last year but one win in 53 years doesn’t heal the wounds from all the humiliations and close losses to “Big Red.” Oh, how we have suffered and for awhile yesterday it looked like it would be more of the same instead of a second consecutive win in the series that dates back to 1900.
Nebraska, trailing by four points, was driving down the field late in the fourth quarter when quarterback Tommy Armstrong completed a pass to De’Mornay Pierson-El inside the Minnesota five-yard line. At first the play looked like it would set up the winning touchdown but instead Gophers defensive back Briean Boddy-Calhoun ripped the ball out of Pierson-El’s hands and took possession.
With 1:19 remaining in the fourth quarter the Gophers ran out the clock and secured their first consecutive wins against Nebraska since 1952 and 1954. The win made Minnesota 8-3 overall and 5-2 in the Big Ten, and what the conference record means is the Gophers can go to Madison next Saturday controlling their own fate to win the West Division championship. A Gophers’ victory over the Badgers, 9-2 and 6-1, will send coach Jerry Kill’s team to the Big Ten championship game in Indianapolis next month to play the East Division champion.
In the first half yesterday it appeared unlikely the Gophers would need to bother thinking about travel plans to Indy. The Huskers, with some good luck and even better play, led 21-7 at halftime. With the scored tied 7-7 in the second quarter, Nebraska’s Armstrong was within inches of illegally running beyond the line of scrimmage as he launched an 18-yard pass to Pierson-El who placed the ball over the goal line by a corn silk. Pierson-El also fumbled the football in the end zone on the same play but because the ball first broke the plane of the goal line, the Huskers had a touchdown.
Later in the second quarter Nebraska blocked a Minnesota field goal attempt. Give the Cornhuskers credit for making the play but how often do you see the ball scooped up and run back for a score? That’s what Nebraska’s Nate Gerry did on an 85-yard run that at one point had him in a posse of teammates thick enough the Gophers couldn’t bring him to the ground.
Those two scores looked like the kind of stuff that has had Gophers fans gulping Maalox for years. But momentum changed a bit on Nebraska’s closing drive of the first half. Pierson-El (there’s that guy again) fumbled the ball at Minnesota’s 11-yard line after a pass reception. Gophers defensive back Damarius Travis recovered the fumble.
The recovery stopped a field goal or touchdown that could have put Nebraska ahead 24-7 or 28-7 at halftime. Instead the Gophers came out in the third quarter and scored on their opening drive. They added a second third quarter score while holding the Cornhuskers to a field goal during the period which ended with Nebraska leading 24-21.
The improbable fourth quarter comeback was led by Mitch Leidner who answered his critics yesterday. Leidner completed eight of 17 passes for 135 yards. None of the throws was more important than a 38 yard completion to KJ Maye. That put the ball on the Nebraska 25-yard line. Five plays later Leidner ran two yards to put the Gophers ahead to stay, 28-24. He led Minnesota’s rushers with 111 yards.
The win pumped life into the spirits of Gophers fans who experienced the pain from decades of demoralizing losses to the Cornhuskers. After the 1960 national champion Gophers team defeated Nebraska in Lincoln the Cornhuskers won 16 consecutive games before last year’s victory by Minnesota.
For so many years the end result was always disappointing for Minnesota fans—and often disgusting. Students of Gophers football history can recall close losses in the 1960s when Minnesota lost three games by a total of only 15 points. A key play here, better luck there, or a friendly call from the “zebras” could have been the difference for the Gophers.
While those games were close, they were also frustrating defeats. And then there were the humiliations—the bulldozing of the Gophers from 1969-2012. During that period Nebraska outscored Minnesota 568 to 86!
No game hurt more than the infamous 84-13 pounding at the Metrodome in 1983. Yeah, the 71 point margin is painful but the tale that has circulated for years makes the hurt for Gophers fans even deeper. In the second half the Huskers were way ahead but their starters were still on the field. Nebraska’s coaches were thinking about sending in the reserves but a Cornhusker player reported the Gophers were “talking trash.”
If this were peewee football the mercy rule would have applied, but the Cornhuskers coaches decided if the Gophers were going to be lippy they still hadn’t learned their lesson. The Huskers’ starters were sent back on the field. Let the beat down continue.
After two consecutive wins, it’s probably greedy to dream about a day when the Gophers could give the Huskers a 71 point lesson. But, hey, yesterday a lot of Minnesota fans became bigger believers in this program than at any time since the 1960s.
Too bad the teams don’t play for a rivalry trophy. There’s enough history and emotion to inspire a trophy going to the winner of the series that was played as a nonconference regional rivalry until 2011 when Nebraska joined the Big Ten.
A sledgehammer might be an appropriate trophy. And just in case you’re counting—the Gophers lead the series 31-22-2.