Northwestern University Athletics
Saturday, October 24
Lincoln, Neb.
11 a.m.
Northwestern
6-2 , 2-2
30
at
28
Nebraska
3-5 , 1-3
1st
2nd
3rd
4th
F
Northwestern
7
10
3
10
30
Nebraska
5
7
7
9
28
Team Stats
NU
NEB
Total Yards
333
373
Pass Yards
177
291
Rushing Yards
156
82
Penalty Yards
58
64
1st Downs
15
22
3rd Downs
5
9
4th Downs
0
1
TOP
21:02
38:58
1st Quarter
NU 0, NEB 3
NEB - Brown, Drew 43 yd field goal 9 plays, 26 yards, TOP 3:24
NU 7, NEB 3
NU - Thorson, C. 1 yd run (Mitchell, Jack kick), 4 plays, 70 yards, TOP 1:35
NU 7, NEB 5
NEB - TEAM 4 yd safety
2nd Quarter
NU 14, NEB 5
NU - VanHoose, Nick 72 yd interception (Mitchell, Jack kick)
NU 14, NEB 12
NEB - Reilly, Brandon 10 yd pass from Armstrong Jr. (Brown, Drew kick) 13 plays, 75 yards, TOP 6:10
NU 17, NEB 12
NU - Mitchell, Jack 28 yd field goal 6 plays, 61 yards, TOP 1:02
3rd Quarter
NU 17, NEB 19
NEB - Armstrong Jr. 4 yd run (Brown, Drew kick), 15 plays, 75 yards, TOP 6:01
NU 20, NEB 19
NU - Mitchell, Jack 18 yd field goal 10 plays, 61 yards, TOP 3:34
4th Quarter
NU 20, NEB 22
NEB - Brown, Drew 48 yd field goal 11 plays, 45 yards, TOP 5:18
NU 27, NEB 22
NU - Vitale, Dan 37 yd pass from Thorson, C. (Mitchell, Jack kick) 9 plays, 77 yards, TOP 2:34
NU 30, NEB 22
NU - Mitchell, Jack 27 yd field goal 5 plays, 31 yards, TOP 1:15
NU 30, NEB 28
NEB - Armstrong Jr. 3 yd run (Armstrong Jr. passfailed), 8 plays, 75 yards, TOP 3:04
Game Leaders
CMP
13
TD
1
YDS
177
INT
0
Players Mentioned
WR
/ Football
SB
/ Football
RB
/ Football
WR
/ Football
DL
/ Football
WR
/ Football
PK
/ Football
WR
/ FootballQB
/ Football
CB
/ Football
RB
/ Football
SB
/ Football
LB
/ Football#B1GCats Are Bowl Eligible With 30-28 Win at Nebraska
10/24/2015 2:51:00 PM | Football
Wildcats win for the second time in three trips to Lincoln
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Watch: Fitzgerald Press Conference | Student-Athlete Press Conference
Notes | Quotes | Photo Gallery | .PDF Stats
LINCOLN, Neb. -- Northwestern earned its second win in three trips to Lincoln, Nebraska, Saturday in a 30-28 decision that made the Wildcats bowl eligible with a 6-2 record in the 2015 season.
The NU victory saw Clayton Thorson rush for 126 yards and defensive end Dean Lowry tally 10 tackles including SIX tackles for loss, a Northwestern record that ranks sixth in Big Ten single-game history.
Northwestern held a slim 17-12 lead at the half, then came out on top during an entertaining back-and-forth second half that featured four lead changes. In addition to Lowry's big day, Anthony Walker had a game-high 13 tackles for the Wildcats defense and Nick VanHoose added a pick-six interception return.
Northwestern now heads into its bye week before returning home for two games at Ryan Field beginning Nov. 7 against Penn State before Purdue comes to Evanston for Senior Day on Nov. 14. Tickets are available now!
GET YOUR TICKETS FOR THE FINAL HOMESTAND OF 2015 NOW!
The Cornhuskers opened the scoring in the first quarter Saturday when Drew Brown nailed a 43-yard field goal to give them a 3-0 lead.
Northwestern quickly flipped the deficit, however. On the first play of the next drive the redshirt freshman Thorson scrambled a season-high 68 yards to the Nebraska 2-yard line. He would keep it himself two players later for his fifth touchdown of the season and a 7-3 Wildcats lead.
Nebraska recorded a safety on a four-yard sack of Thorson with 5:19 left in the first to cut the lead to 7-5 through one quarter.
The Wildcats' defense stifled the Huskers' offense for much of the first half and eventually came through with a big play of their own when VanHoose took advantage of a mistake by Tommy Armstrong Jr., stepping in front of a pass on third-and-four for his sixth-career interception. He raced 72 yards down the sideline for his first-career Pick-Six to give Chicago's Big Ten Team a 14-5 lead.
Nebraska responded with a 13-play, 75-yard scoring drive that was capped on a 10-yard pitch-and-catch from Armstrong Jr., to Brandon Reilly to cut the lead to 14-12, but the 'Cats again responded.
With just a little over a minute left in the first half, Thorson hit senior Dan Vitale on back-to-back throws for a first down and then weaved his way through the defense for a 42-yard run up the middle of the field. The 'Cats took one shot to the end zone on a corner throw to senior Christian Jones, but would settle for a 28-yard field goal by junior Jack Mitchell to take a 17-12 lead into the break.
The Huskers opened the third quarter with an impressive 15-play, 75-yard drive to reclaim the lead in what would be a see-saw half of football. A 30-yard completion on third-and-13 kept the drive alive early and after what appeared to be a third down stop by the Wildcats, the sideline was called for an interference penalty. Armstrong Jr., eventually kept the ball on an option play to the left side and scored from four yards out to give the Huskers a 19-17 lead.
A 30-yard kick return by senior Miles Shuler set up Thorson and company with great field position on the ensuing kickoff. Thorson hit sophomore Garrett Dickerson for 14 yards and later scampered 15 yards for a first down. He found junior Mike McHugh for 22 yards to the Nebraska 7-yard-line and sophomore Justin Jackson appeared to score two plays later, but the call was reviewed and overturned. Northwestern would settle for an 18-yard field goal by Mitchell to reclaim the lead, 20-19.
The Huskers responded once again, kicking a 48-yard field goal on the first play of the fourth quarter to go up 22-20. Dean Lowry forced the attempt with a sack -- his fifth tackle for loss in the contest.
Following a couple of punts, Northwestern put together its best drive of the game, getting first down catches from Austin Carr and Solomon Vault, a first down run by Jackson then a 37-yard touchdown strike from Thorson to Vitale to put Northwestern back on top, 27-22, with 9:53 to go in the game.
NU's defense followed with a shutdown inning that included Lowry's SIXTH tackle for loss in the game, then the Wildcats drove down into the red zone once again before Mitchell drilled his third field goal to make it a 30-22 score.
That score proved to be huge when Nebraska connected on a deep fourth-and-six pass on its next drive to get inside the five-yard-line, from where the Huskers would scramble in for a touchdown. The two-point conversion throw was knocked loose, keeping NU on top, 30-28, with just over four minutes to go.
From there, Jackson took over to ice the game, scampering 28 yards on a short Thorson throw before rushing for another first down, allowing Northwestern to end the game in victory formation.
Watch: Fitzgerald Press Conference | Student-Athlete Press Conference
Notes | Quotes | Photo Gallery | .PDF Stats
LINCOLN, Neb. -- Northwestern earned its second win in three trips to Lincoln, Nebraska, Saturday in a 30-28 decision that made the Wildcats bowl eligible with a 6-2 record in the 2015 season.
The NU victory saw Clayton Thorson rush for 126 yards and defensive end Dean Lowry tally 10 tackles including SIX tackles for loss, a Northwestern record that ranks sixth in Big Ten single-game history.
Northwestern held a slim 17-12 lead at the half, then came out on top during an entertaining back-and-forth second half that featured four lead changes. In addition to Lowry's big day, Anthony Walker had a game-high 13 tackles for the Wildcats defense and Nick VanHoose added a pick-six interception return.
Northwestern now heads into its bye week before returning home for two games at Ryan Field beginning Nov. 7 against Penn State before Purdue comes to Evanston for Senior Day on Nov. 14. Tickets are available now!
GET YOUR TICKETS FOR THE FINAL HOMESTAND OF 2015 NOW!
The Cornhuskers opened the scoring in the first quarter Saturday when Drew Brown nailed a 43-yard field goal to give them a 3-0 lead.
Northwestern quickly flipped the deficit, however. On the first play of the next drive the redshirt freshman Thorson scrambled a season-high 68 yards to the Nebraska 2-yard line. He would keep it himself two players later for his fifth touchdown of the season and a 7-3 Wildcats lead.
Nebraska recorded a safety on a four-yard sack of Thorson with 5:19 left in the first to cut the lead to 7-5 through one quarter.
The Wildcats' defense stifled the Huskers' offense for much of the first half and eventually came through with a big play of their own when VanHoose took advantage of a mistake by Tommy Armstrong Jr., stepping in front of a pass on third-and-four for his sixth-career interception. He raced 72 yards down the sideline for his first-career Pick-Six to give Chicago's Big Ten Team a 14-5 lead.
Nebraska responded with a 13-play, 75-yard scoring drive that was capped on a 10-yard pitch-and-catch from Armstrong Jr., to Brandon Reilly to cut the lead to 14-12, but the 'Cats again responded.
With just a little over a minute left in the first half, Thorson hit senior Dan Vitale on back-to-back throws for a first down and then weaved his way through the defense for a 42-yard run up the middle of the field. The 'Cats took one shot to the end zone on a corner throw to senior Christian Jones, but would settle for a 28-yard field goal by junior Jack Mitchell to take a 17-12 lead into the break.
The Huskers opened the third quarter with an impressive 15-play, 75-yard drive to reclaim the lead in what would be a see-saw half of football. A 30-yard completion on third-and-13 kept the drive alive early and after what appeared to be a third down stop by the Wildcats, the sideline was called for an interference penalty. Armstrong Jr., eventually kept the ball on an option play to the left side and scored from four yards out to give the Huskers a 19-17 lead.
A 30-yard kick return by senior Miles Shuler set up Thorson and company with great field position on the ensuing kickoff. Thorson hit sophomore Garrett Dickerson for 14 yards and later scampered 15 yards for a first down. He found junior Mike McHugh for 22 yards to the Nebraska 7-yard-line and sophomore Justin Jackson appeared to score two plays later, but the call was reviewed and overturned. Northwestern would settle for an 18-yard field goal by Mitchell to reclaim the lead, 20-19.
The Huskers responded once again, kicking a 48-yard field goal on the first play of the fourth quarter to go up 22-20. Dean Lowry forced the attempt with a sack -- his fifth tackle for loss in the contest.
Following a couple of punts, Northwestern put together its best drive of the game, getting first down catches from Austin Carr and Solomon Vault, a first down run by Jackson then a 37-yard touchdown strike from Thorson to Vitale to put Northwestern back on top, 27-22, with 9:53 to go in the game.
NU's defense followed with a shutdown inning that included Lowry's SIXTH tackle for loss in the game, then the Wildcats drove down into the red zone once again before Mitchell drilled his third field goal to make it a 30-22 score.
That score proved to be huge when Nebraska connected on a deep fourth-and-six pass on its next drive to get inside the five-yard-line, from where the Huskers would scramble in for a touchdown. The two-point conversion throw was knocked loose, keeping NU on top, 30-28, with just over four minutes to go.
From there, Jackson took over to ice the game, scampering 28 yards on a short Thorson throw before rushing for another first down, allowing Northwestern to end the game in victory formation.
••••••
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