Gophers knockout Nebraska 30-23

The Gophers offense was efficient offensively in the first half to build and did enough in the second half to secure a 30-23 victory over Nebraska on Saturday.

With the win, Minnesota improves to 4-2 on the season and 2-1 in Big Ten play.

The Gopher Report has a quarter-by-quarter recap of the action below:

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Minnesota put together a methodical 14-play, 61-yard drive that was capped off when Cole Kramer threw a 5-yard touchdown pass to Brevyn Spann-Ford to put the Gophers on the board first with a 7-0 lead.

After going three-and-out in their first drive, Nebraska responds with 6-play, 43-yard drive, settling for a Connor Culp 50-yard field goal to put Nebraska on the board. Rahmir Johnson broke free for a 24-yard run on an option play, but Minnesota defensive tackle Nyles Pinckney sacked Adrian Martinez for an 8-yard loss on 3rd-and-6 to force the field goal attempt.

At running back, Bryce Williams got the start for the Gophers with Mar'Keise Irving and Ky Thomas also receiving carries early on.

Chris Autman-Bell already has five receptions for 41 yards in the first 15 minutes of play.

Gophers have out-gained Nebraska 107 to 42 yards. They've also owned time of possession - 11:41 to 3:19.

First play of the second quarter begins with a dime of a pass from Tanner Morgan to Michael Brown-Stephens for a 28-yard touchdown that put the Gophers up 14-3 with 14:53 left in the quarter.

Cornhuskers had three defenders in the area of Brown-Stephens, but Morgan put the ball right where it needed to be.

After two of their first three drives ended in negative yardage, Nebraska strings together a 10-play, 68-yard drive that ended when running back Rahmir Johnson scooted into the end zone for a 6-yard score.

Adrian Martinez connected with Austin Allen for 20 yards on a crucial 3rd-and-10 conversion on the scoring drive. Johnson punched it into the end zone two plays later.

Minnesota responds on their next possession as Chris Autman-Bell goes up and grabs a 7-yard TD pass with a Nebraska defender draped all over him to put the Gophers up 21-9 at the 1:53 mark of the second quarter.

Scoring drive for Minnesota went for 9-plays, 75-yards in 3:54.

Chris Autman-Bell has a career-high nine catches in the first half for 100 yards and a touchdown.

Tanner Morgan was an efficient 14-15 for 171 yards and two touchdowns in the first half.

In terms of the rushing attack in the first 30 minutes, a balanced effort. Mar'Keise Irving with 28 yards, Ky Thomas and Bryce Williams 20 yards a piece, and Cole Kramer has 18.

Gophers out-gained Nebraska 247 to 134 total yards and are dominating time of possession 21:45 to 8:45.

Defensively, Minnesota has put a lot of pressure on Nebraska quarterback Adrian Martinez, who is just 6-of-14 for 62 yards in the first half.

Cam Taylor-Britt gets underneath Michael Brown-Stephens to secure an interception and touchback for Nebraska. A huge play for the Cornhuskers as Minnesota was already at the Nebraska 33-yard line in just five plays to start the third quarter.

However, Nebraska went three-and-out on their ensuing possession.

Tanner Morgan throws his second consecutive interception as Nebraska's Deontai Williams, which set the Huskers up at Minnesota's 45-yard line.

Three plays later, Nebraska's Rahmir Johnson plunged into the end zone for a 1-yard score to cut Minnesota's lead to 21-15 with 9:39 remaining.

Minnesota's defense delivered two goal-line stands to keep Nebraska out of the end zone - highlighted by Mariano Sori-Marin and Jordan Howden combining to deny Adrian Martinez on a 3rd-and-goal rush, then followed by a Tyler Nubin stoppage of Huskers rusher Jaquez Yant on 4th-and-goal.

Nebraska kicker Connor Culp misses a chip-shot 27-yard field goal attempt to open the fourth quarter to keep the Huskers deficit at 21-16.

The Huskers put together a 12-play drive and pushed to the Minnesota 34-yard line, but couldn't convert on a 4th-and-10 when Minnesota linebacker Donald Willis batted Adrian Martinez's attempt to the ground with 7:11 remaining.

Minnesota's defense forced Adrian Martinez into the end zone and an errand intentional grounding throw for a safety, which gave the Gophers some breathing room at 23-16 with 4:45 remaining.

Bryce Williams broke off a 56-yard touchdown run for Minnesota to put the Gophers up 30-16 with 2:12 remaining.

Nebraska wouldn't go away quietly though, putting together a 6-play, 75-yard scoring drive that only took one minute, ending in a 9-yard touchdown toss from Martinez to tight end Austin Allen to pull the Huskers to 30-23 with 1:12 remaining.

However, Minnesota would recover the onside kick and get a much-needed first down to bled out the clock and secure the win.

After tallying a career-high in receptions (9) and 100 yards receiving alone in the first half, it's no surprise the award goes to Chris Autman-Bell, who finished the game with 11 catches for 103 yards and one touchdown.

It's not about total tackles here, there were multiple times that Minnesota's defense came up big, in particular when Tyler Nubin stopped Nebraska running back Jacquez Yant from reaching the end zone on a 4th-and-goal stand. Nubin finished with three tackles on the day, but none bigger than that in terms of preventing momentum for Nebraska.

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