He even had one punt that netted 77 yards. Nebraska also must overcome a prolonged absence from receiver/returner De’Mornay Pierson-El, who will be out until at least October with a foot injury.
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Mangum didn’t exactly come from nowhere.
Washington State’s Gabe Marks caught a 5-yard touchdown pass from Falk to tie the score at 17-17 with 9:11 left.
Quarterback: Tommy Armstrong was no where near as ideal as Magnum was, but you could see that, at least in this first game, he’s picked up Mike Riley’s offense fairly well. Keep your eyes on Dadi Nicolas and Ken Ekanem, who combined for 18.5 sacks and 33 tackles for a loss past year , the most productive combo in the ACC. The secondary has some holes to fill, but freak athletes like Kendall Fuller play at an All-American level. But the Tigers got a quick 17-yard pass that put them at the 26-yard line with 2 seconds remaining. “I was just proud of the way he was able to lead our team on the big stage, in an historic stadium, finding a way to pull it out”.
In relief of Hill after the injury, Mangum finished the game with 112 yards on 7-of-12 passing with one touchdown, which was the Hail Mary that won the game. Kansas somehow found itself in a 31-7 hole and after a substantial comeback to actually give them a chance they wound up losing the game on a fumbled snap-spike that was nearly too brutal to be real.
It was just what they needed after back-to-back 5-7 finishes, a run that followed five straight bowl appearances.
ARMSTRONG’S ARM: Armstrong is a 53-percent career passer who has thrown 31 TDs against 20 interceptions in 22 games, and he struggled the first couple weeks of preseason practice.
A few minutes after the Bulldogs scored their final touchdown, coach Mark Richt walked over to the officials to discuss game conditions, and the decision was made to end it. There was a 76-minute lightning delay in the third quarter. On second down, he again had to scramble but this time only got six yards before going out of bounds. It led to another Samson field goal to reduce the lead to just one. Nebraska amassed 126 yards on the ground, though no back went over 50 yards individually. But when Sam Foltz went down – a legal hit, as D.J. Foster blocked BYU’s Grant Jones into Foltz – the resulting uproar from the crowd finally sparked some life into the crowd, which hadn’t had much to cheer about.
Two seasons ago, it was Nebraska defeating Northwestern on a miraculous last-second Hail Mary in Lincoln.
Cougars backup quarterback Tanner Mangum connected with wide receiver Mitch Mathews as time expired to secure the win.
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Nebraska Defensive Coordinator Mark Banker says the game should have never reached that point. Coach Bronco Mendenhall said Hill fractured a foot on a 21-yard touchdown run in the first half. This is not going to sit well with the fan base.
