 remained unbeaten coming off a tight win over Oregon that vaulted them into the Associated Press Top 25 for the first time since December 2014. They lost two fumbles near the Northwestern goal line in the first half, but scored two touchdowns in the third quarter to stretch their lead from three to 11. The Wildcats (1-3) matched their loss total from last year when they went 10-3. Armstrong went 18 of 29, hitting Alonzo Moore with a 59-yarder in the first half and throwing a 4-yard touchdown strike to Cethan Carter that made it 17-7 early in the third after Aaron Williams intercepted Clayton Thorson's pass in the end zone. Terrell Newby ran for 69 yards and a touchdown. Moore had 72 yards receiving, and Nebraska finished with 556 yards in all. Thorson threw for 249 yards and had a 42-yard touchdown run. But he also threw two interceptions and was sacked four times, bringing his Big Ten-leading total to 15. Austin Carr had another big game for Northwestern with 109 yards receiving and a touchdown, giving him at least one scoring catch in three straight games. But a team that seemed to be getting on track with last week's win over Duke after opening with losses to Western Michigan and Illinois State came up short against the resurgent Cornhuskers. Nebraska drove 80 yards for a touchdown after Williams picked off Thorson in the end zone on the opening drive of the second half, with Carter's 4-yard TD catch making it 17-7. Northwestern answered with a 24-yard TD pass from Thorson to Carr, but Jack Mitchell's extra-point attempt hit the left upright. The Cornhuskers then went 79 yards with Jordan Westerkamp running it in from the 10 to boost the lead to 24-13. THE TAKEAWAYNEBRASKA: The Cornhuskers ultimately took charge after those early turnovers and continue to roll along in their second season under Mike Riley. It's a big improvement over last year, when they had to rally to finish 6-7. NORTHWESTERN: Coach Pat Fitzgerald has been criticizing his team for not finishing drives. He'll probably have more to say about it, considering Northwestern racked up 388 yards. But the defense had its difficulties, too. UP NEXTNEBRASKA: The Cornhuskers return home to face Illinois, which handed them one of their most disappointing losses a year ago. That was on a last-second touchdown and extra point in Champaign. NORTHWESTERN: Northwestern goes on the road for the first time when it visits Iowa - a 14-7 winner at Rutgers after a surprising loss to North Dakota State.)
No. 20 Nebraska finds itself back in the Top 25 for the first time since 2014 thanks to a 3-0 start capped by last Saturday's 35-32 victory over then-No. 22-ranked Oregon. Head coach Mike Riley's challenge this week is to make sure his squad avoids a letdown heading into Nebraska's Big Ten Conference opener at Northwestern on Saturday at 7:30 p.m. ET. Riley started on Sunday morning the process of moving on from the team's first nonconference home win over a ranked opponent since 2001 when it defeated No. 17 Notre Dame. The fact Huskers (3-0) are playing a Northwestern squad that has given them fits in recent years -- four of the past five meetings have been decided by three points or less including a 30-28 Wildcats win in Lincoln last season -- should make the task a little easier." I think you have to enjoy the fact that you won the game, but then the next day when you start watching the film you better get on to the next one," Riley said. "There is kind of a euphoria of winning the game, and then a reality when you watch the video, and you have to take it like that for real. You have to use that game as a tool, and you've got to convince the players that this is real." I think this can be one of your hardest coaching jobs, actually." Northwestern comes in with just a 1-2 record, with losses to Western Illinois and Illinois State, but seemed to right the ship with an impressive 24-13 victory over Duke last Saturday." You have to play extremely well," said Nebraska wide receiver Jordan Westerkamp, who had two touchdown receptions against the Ducks to give him 17 in his career. "On any given day, any Big Ten team can beat another Big Ten team. That's kind of how it's been for the past three years that I've been here. But I'm fairly confident if we continue to do what we do and prepare our tails off like we did last week for Oregon, we should have no issue going forward." "We were excited, but like we said, we're not done yet," Huskers quarterback Tommy Armstrong said. "This was just a statement game for us. Everybody said that we had a couple easy games, but (Oregon was) going to test our will. That just shows how well we work, how hard our team works to prove to everybody that we're better than what we were last year." Armstrong battled through severe leg cramping in the second half to lead Nebraska to the fourth-quarter comeback over Oregon. He ended the day with 295 yards of total offense (200 passing, 95 rushing) and four combined touchdowns, but Nebraska's final drive was the highlight for Armstrong. Down 32-28 with less than three minutes to play, Armstrong kept the game alive with a clutch fourth-down conversion pass to Westerkamp, and he later scored the go-ahead touchdown on a 34-yard keeper. Northwestern also comes into the contest with some momentum, bouncing back for the win over the Blue Devils after dropping their first two games by a combined three points." You'd love to have those games back, but you are your record -- and you have to work to get better," said Northwestern coach Pat Fitzgerald. "I think it just shows if you have perseverance and grit and you stay the course that you can do whatever you set your mind to." Wildcats quarterback Clayton Thorson threw for a career-high 320 yards against Duke and had touchdown tosses to Garrett Dickerson, Solomon Vault and Austin Carr, who had a career-high 135 receiving yards. Running back Justin Jackson gained 94 yards rushing. Thorson also tied career highs with three touchdown passes and 18 completions. Northwestern's defense held the Blue Devils without a score on four drives inside the Wildcats 35, including two turnovers and a missed field goal. Linebacker Anthony Walker Jr. had five tackles, including two for loss, while Jared McGee led the game with nine total tackles." I thought our defense had a pretty good plan," Fitzgerald said. "I thought we tackled better except for a few plays. And I was really proud of those young guys in the secondary. They were assaulted, they were attacked and I thought they stepped up and played very well." To hold a team to 13 points and outside of that last drive -- It was pretty solid."
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