Nebraska then went on to out play the Ducks in the second half, and were able to hold on, pulling off the 35-32 win, putting a dagger into the Oregon’s heart. Pierson-El returned the punt 45 yards all the way to the OR 19.
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Ozigbo spurred consecutive touchdown drives in the third quarter, carrying 11 times for 53 yards as the Huskers took their biggest lead of the day at 28-20.
OR bounced back with back-to-back scores to take a 32-28 edge, before Armstrong’s fourth-quarter heroics.
Oregon’s defense went with a new look against Nebraska.
Nebraska won despite being outgained, 479-430 by the Ducks, including a 333-220 advantage on the ground.
Nebraska needs a win to show it’s on the rise under Riley, who went 6-7 in his first season with a bunch of close losses and has pulled away in the second halves of blowout wins over Fresno State and Wyoming.
Armstrong threw for 200 yards on 17 of 33 completions, throwing for three touchdowns and rushing for 95 yards and a score.
Instead, the Ducks attempted two-point conversions after all five touchdowns, converting only the first try on an athletic dive over the goal-line by Charles Nelson for an 8-0 lead after a 20-yard touchdown by Brooks-James.
Just moments ago the senior quarterback followed the block of running back Devine Ozigbo on an OR linebacker, popped through a hole, faked out a safety and ran to the end zone from 34 yards out to give Nebraska a 35-32 lead Saturday in Lincoln.
ANN ARBOR, Mich. – De’Veon Smith gave MI the lead with a 42-yard run early in the third quarter and the No. 4 Wolverines pulled away to beat Colorado.
For the Oregon Ducks, they knew they had to come out fast, avoid getting costly penalties, and concentrate on building-up an early lead over Nebraska, while maintaining their momentum. Off of play action, Armstrong found Lincoln-native Brian Reimers in the end zone giving Nebraska its first lead of the game.
D’Onta Foreman ran for 157 yards and two touchdowns, while Chris Warren added 118 yards on the ground and two scores for the Longhorns (2-1), who were looking for their first 3-0 start since 2012. He did not attempt a point-after against the Huskers while UO tried five two-point conversions, completing one.
On the hand, even though the Ducks offense converted on several crucial third down plays, OR was only 6 for 14 on third down conversions. Kani Benoit (six carries, 100 yards, one touchdown), Taj Griffin (eight carries, 68 yards, one touchdown) and Brooks-James (seven carries, 37 yards, three touchdowns) accounted for all five of OR scores. However, the decision to continuously go for two would cost the Ducks by the end of the game. During the first quarter, Armstrong broke the Nebraska record for career passing yards, surpassing the mark set by his predecessor, Taylor Martinez, at 7,258. Although not having a run longer than 12 yards, his workmanlike effort kept the OR offense on the sideline for much of the third quarter.
The two teams exchanged unsuccessful drives in less than two minutes to set up an OR punt with just over 40 seconds left. Enter Nebraska punt returner De’Mornay Pierson-El.
Freeman, who hails from Imperial, California, burst on the scene as a true freshman, rushing for 1,365 yards – a Pac-12 true freshman record – and 18 touchdowns.
Penalties were a major factor in the game, and the Huskers won that battle against the Ducks.
Despite rushing for 336 net yards, including 97 by Prukop, the Ducks came up short on the scoreboard with only 12 points in the second half.
And to make things worse, just before the end of the half, the Ducks lost veteran offensive lineman leader Tyrell Crosby to injury.
Arizona 47, Hawaii 28 – At Tucson, Ariz., Brandon Dawkins ran for three touchdowns and passed for another and Arizona wrapped up nonconference play with a victory over Hawaii.
Hyde performance that makes Armstrong’s best games really, truly great.
“.That’s one where you say, ‘Oh no, no, no, ‘ and then ‘go, go, go”‘. Kyler Neal’s 9-yard touchdown run with 11:36 left gave the Panthers a brief lead before the Badgers defense reasserted itself. His strike over the middle to Jordan Westerkamp to keep the winning drive alive on a fourth-and-9 play was what this team has come to expect from Armstrong.
The momentum flipped in Oregon’s favor after Prukop connected with Nelson for a 25-yard gain on 3rd-and-27 from the OR 34 with just over three minutes left in the third. On their first drive in the fourth, OR ran in a touchdown from 1 yard out.
OR regained the lead early in the fourth quarter when Brooks-James had his third scoring run of the game, a 1-yarder that put the Ducks ahead 32-28 after the two-point conversion failed.
Browning finished 12 of 19 for 163 yards. It was the longest streak of its kind in NCAA history. He also caught a touchdown pass. Senior safety Nate Gerry said the defense wasn’t ready to let ghosts from last season, close losses, return.
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It’s the first time this season Nebraska has made the weekly poll, in the previous two weeks the Huskers had received votes. Kick-off between the Big Red and the Wildcats is set for 6:30 p.m. with a live telecast by BTN.
