The Wildcats once again have an easy non-conference schedule, but it leaves little room for error and puts pressure to win quality games in the Big Ten.
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Nebraska (3-5, 1-3 Big Ten) has five losses by a total of 13 points in what is trending toward the program’s worst season since Bill Callahan’s 2007 team went 5-7.
“Having miscues out wide, up front, or in the backfield – you just can’t do that”, Armstrong said.
Thorson completed just four passes for 16 yards in the first half, but he finished with 177 passing yards and a touchdown pass. He rushed for 106 yards in the first half and finished with 126 yards on the ground. The Wildcats didn’t do a lot offensively early but led 17-12 at half.
Nebraska defensive end Ross Dzuris (88) sacks Northwestern quarterback Clayton Thorson (18) during the first half of an NCAA college football game in Lincoln, Neb., Saturday, October 24, 2015. Northwestern was undefeated and nationally ranked, but then got blown out by two top tier teams in a row and now the Wildcats stand at 5-2 for the year.
Nebraska (3-5, 1-3) fell for the fifth time this season with a 30-28 defeat to Northwestern. The Huskers’ five losses have come by a staggering 13 combined points. “We can either give up or we can keep riding this season out and keep working together”.
Northwestern answered with an 18-yard field goal by Mitchell on its only drive of the third quarter to take a 20-19 lead to the final quarter.
The defense was particularly effective in containing Nebraska quarterback Tommy Armstrong Jr, limiting him to a 50 percent completion rate and one touchdown on 291 yards.
In a choppy, back-and-forth game, Nebraska took a 3-0 lead on Brown’s 43-yard field goal with 10:26 left in the first quarter. The young signal caller orchestrated a magnificent 77-yard TD drive, in which he went 4-6 for 66 yards, ending in a lovely 37-yard TD pass to the always-reliable senior Dan Vitale.
It is that each player and coach continues to have agency and – still – can not channel it into the plays that need to be made: first-down conversions when it’s second-and-1, pulling in the ball in the end zone when it slaps against both of your palms, tackles in the open field when it’s you and a cornerback behind you and he’s being blocked.
“Losing to Iowa was a tough loss”, Lowery said. “We responded well in terms of work ethic and attitude”.
“Myself included, we just had drops”, Westerkamp said.
Northwestern gets a week off before hosting Penn State on November. 7.
“We’ve got a big month ahead of us”.
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“This is a huge, huge home-field advantage”, Northwestern Coach Pat Fitzgerald said. Nebraska has found it. The run defense will swarm around Jackson, Thorson won’t be effective enough, and the Huskers will come up with a nice win.
