A celebration of the Old Grey Lady on One Memorial Stadium Drive ended with a victory on the field.
Nebraska (4-3, 2-2 Big Ten) topped Northwestern (3-4, 1-3 Big Ten) 17-9 Saturday. The Huskers improved to 10-7 all-time against the Wildcats.
The game began ominously for Big Red, as quarterback Heinrich Haarberg threw an interception on the first play. Luckily for Husker faithful, Northwestern’s offense would prove equally up to the task of making Saturday afternoon fully Big Ten West-ified as possible.
The Wildcats went three-and-out, with a fumble, near-interception, and a sack, before punting the ball inside the one yard line.
After the team’s exchanged punts on three-and-outs, Haarberg tried to slip a pass to Thomas Fidone through a tight window. The ball went off of Fidone’s hands and landed in the arms of a Wildcats.
Northwestern used that turnover to lose 14 yards before kicking a field goal and going up 3-0 in the first quarter. Nebraska answered with a field goal of their own.
After a pair of punts, Northwestern retook the lead with another field goal. That would be all the Wildcats could muster until the fourth quarter.
Nebraska answered the Wildcat field goal with a 77-yard touchdown drive, topped off by a Heinrich Haarberg run, to go up 10-6. That lead would hold all the way through the third quarter.
Early in the fourth, a Northwestern punt failed to reach midfield. On the first play of the drive, Haarberg set up for a play action pass and skied the ball towards the end zone. Freshman Malachai Coleman reached up and made his first career touchdown reception, extending the lead to 17-0.
Northwestern kept things interesting with a field goal on the next drive, but the Blackshirts allowed just 13 more yards over their final two possessions.
The visitors ended up with more total yards on the afternoon, picking up 257 yards to Nebraska’s 248. But on the rushing end, it was the home team with a 163 to 81 advantage.
Haarberg finished 8-of-17 passing for 85 yards and a touchdown to go with two interceptions. He added 72 yards on the ground on 16 carries.
Emmett Johnson led the backfield in rushing with 73 yards on 12 carries.
Nebraska stays home next Saturday to host Purdue. It will be another 2:30 p.m. kickoff.
Nebraska Communications Postgame Notes
- With the win, Nebraska improved to 10-7 in the series with Northwestern, including a 6-3 record in Lincoln.
- Today’s game marked the 592nd all-time game in the 100-year history of Memorial Stadium. With the victory, Nebraska improved to 431-148-13 all-time at Memorial Stadium.
- Nebraska limited Northwestern to nine points after holding Illinois to seven points in its last game. The Huskers have held back-to-back conference opponents to single-digit points for the first time since November of 2010, when Nebraska limited Kansas to three points and then allowed only nine points the next week at Texas A&M.
- The Huskers totaled 13 tackles for loss with eight sacks. The 13 TFLs were the most for Nebraska this season and marked the most TFLs since NU also had 13 TFLs at Illinois during the 2019 season. Nebraska’s eight sacks against Northwestern tied its season high (also at Colorado).
- Nebraska limited Northwestern to 81 rushing yards on 39 carries, including negative yards (-5) on 18 carries in the second half. The Huskers have held six of their seven opponents under 100 rushing yards this season.
- Freshman running back Emmett Johnson rushed 12 times for 73 yards, marking career highs in both categories. His previous highs were seven carries for 29 yards at Illinois. Johnson surpassed those totals before half with nine carries for 43 yards before intermission.
- Freshman receiver Malachi Coleman had a 44-yard TD reception early in the fourth quarter for his first career touchdown. It was Coleman’s second career reception.
- The 44-yard touchdown was Nebraska’s longest touchdown pass of the season and its fourth touchdown this season of at least 44 yards.
- Defensive tackle Nash Hutmacher had 2.5 sacks, including 1.5 in the first half, marking a career high for Hutmacher. He finished the game with a career-high seven tackles, bettering his previous high of 6 vs. Northern Illinois earlier this season.
- Freshman linebacker Princewill Umanmielen had seven tackles, marking his career best. His previous high was two stops against Northern Illinois. Umanmielen also set career highs with 2.0 tackles for loss and 1.0 sack.
- Safety Isaac Gifford finished with seven tackles, including 0.5 sacks and 1.0 TFL, marking his fourth consecutive game with at least seven tackles.
- Nebraska allowed Northwestern a pair of field goals in the first half. In its last six games against Big Ten West opponents, Nebraska has allowed only 16 first-half points. The Wildcats scored three points in the first quarter, ending a streak of five consecutive games against Big Ten West foes in which NU had held the opposition scoreless.
- Freshman place-kicker Tristan Alvano connected on a 47-yard field goal to open Nebraska’s scoring, marking the longest field goal of his Husker career.
- Today’s game captains were LB Luke Reimer, LB Grant Tagge, OT Turner Corcoran and S Malcolm Hartzog.