It was a tale of two halves for the Minnesota Golden Gophers on Saturday as they defeated Nebraska by a score of 20-13.
In the first half, Nebraska scored on it's first two possessions, quickly building a 10-0 lead they would hold onto heading into halftime.
Meanwhile, Minnesota could only muster 31 yards of total offense in the first 30 minutes of action. That number included -7 rushing yards when you accounted for the 28-yards Gophers quarterback Tanner Morgan lost on sacks.
However, in the second half, Minnesota redshirt freshman quarterback Athan Kaliakmanis replaced an injured Morgan and the Gophers' offense flourished immediately and put the next 20 points on the scoreboard.
Minnesota's opening drive of the third quarter resulted in a 47-yard field goal by Matthew Trickett to put them on the scoreboard.
The good news for the Gophers on that drive is they started to establish a rhythm in the passing game as Kaliakmanis went 2-for-4, connecting with Daniel Jackson for a 16-yard gain and Brevyn Spann-Ford for nine.
Later in the third quarter, Kaliakmanis would connect on a 45-yard pass to Daniel Jackson down the middle of the field. He would hit Jackson again for a big 13-yard completion for a first-down that would lead to a Mohamed Ibrahim three-yard touchdown run two plays later to tie up the game at 10 a piece with 3:20 remaining in the third quarter.
Minnesota's next possession would lead to a 49-yard field goal from Matthew Trickett to put the Gophers up 13-10 with 14:02 remaining in the game.
The Gophers would extend their lead on their next offensive possession, giving the ball to Ibrahim for seven consecutive carries that resulted in 33 rushing yards and capped off with a three-yard touchdown to put Minnesota up 20-10 with 9:22 remaining.
Nebraska would tack on a 26-yard field goal from Timmy Bleekrode, but a pass from Logan Smothers to Trey Palmer was broken up by Minnesota safety Tyler Nubin on 4th-and-5 to seal the game for the Gophers with 1:13 remaining.
With the win, Minnesota improves to 6-3 on the season and 3-3 in Big Ten play. With the loss, Nebraska drops to 3-6 overall, 2-4 in conference.
Notes and Stats:
- After only 31 yards of total offense in the first half, Minnesota finished with 300 total that included 175 passing and 125 rushing.
- The Gophers also won time of possession, 34:41 to Nebraska's 25:19.
- Athan Kaliakmanis finished 6-of-12 passing for 137 yards. He also had 27 yards on three rushing attempts.
- Mohamed Ibrahim had 32 carries for 128 yards and two touchdowns. His 17th consecutive game with over 100-yards rushing.
- Daniel Jackson led Minnesota's receiving corps with five catches for 88 yards. Dylan Wright stepped up in the second half, hauling in two catches for 38-yards and 16-yards.
- Minnesota head coach P.J. Fleck labeled Tanner Morgan's injury as "upper body" in the postgame press conference.
- Redshirt sophomore linebacker Lucas Finnessey recorded his first career sack. Cody Lindenberg and Mariano Sori-Marin also recorded a sack a piece. Defensive lineman Kyler Baugh and Thomas Rush were credited with half a sack each.
- Cody Lindenberg led Minnesota with eight tackles on the day. Sori-Marin and Tyler Nubin had seven tackles each.
- With the win, Minnesota snapped a 32-game losing streak in games which they trailed by at least 10-points at anytime.
- Nebraska struggled in the passing game throughout. Combined, Chubba Purdy (6-of-16 for 41 yards) and Logan Smothers (5-of-10 for 80 yards) went 11-of-26 for 121 yards and one interception.
- Offensively, Nebraska was led by running back Anthony Grant with 115 yards on 21 carries. Defensively, Myles Farmer led the Cornhuskers with 14 tackles.
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