On a cloudy and chilly October morning and early afternoon, the Nebraska Cornhuskers scored on a 13-play 64-yard fourth quarter drive and the defense then held on as they defeated the Northwestern Wildcats 28-21 to become bowl-eligible for the second season in a row. When you consider that under Matt Rhule the Huskers were previously 1-10 in bowl clinching games and 4-11 in one score games, this win becomes even more important. The Wildcats seem to always play the Huskers tough, as this was the 10th time in the past 14 meetings that the game was decided by eight or fewer points. Nebraska’s 6-2 record is its best through eight games since the 2016 season that opened with a 7-1 record.
After scoring on its initial possession with a well-executed 9-play 69-yard drive in which Emmett Johnson rushed for 38 yards and a 9-yard score, Nebraska got into field goal range in its other two first half possessions without scoring. With the Huskers leading 7-6 entering the third quarter, they managed to take a 21-6 lead with a 95-yard kickoff return by Kenneth Williams, and a 3-play 32-yard scoring drive following a pick by Donovan Jones. With several games in which the offense has had a midgame swoon, the 14 points in the third quarter seemed like a scoring explosion after the Huskers had scored just seven combined points in the third quarter of its first four Big Ten games. Nebraska just delayed its swoon as it then went 19:55 before scoring the winning touchdown with 2:44 to play.
The swoon allowed Northwestern to score 15 straight points and tie the game at 21-21. Dylan Raiola then threw a poor ball that was intercepted at the NU 34-yard line with 11:10 to play. I don’t think it is hyperbole to say that at that point the Husker season was in the balance. Lose the lead and then lose a game to fall to 5-3 with four tough contests remaining and you could see the season circling the drain. But four plays later Javin Wright picked off the Northwestern QB and returned it to the 36-yard line. The Husker offense went on that 13-play scoring drive converting three third and 7’s and a third and 5 along the way with completions to Emmett Johnson, Nyziah Hunter, Dane Key and Jacory Barney Jr. Before that drive the Huskers were just 2 for 8 on third down conversions. It was gutsy, gritty and clutch play down the stretch that led to another one-score victory. It wasn’t pretty but it was necessary.
Just a brief paragraph to gripe about the horrendous officiating. On a week in which an SEC official was suspended for poor calls, this Big Ten crew should be considered for punishment as well. There was the standard plethora of missed holding calls before they finally called one when Rex Guthrie was tackled, but what in the heck is “abrupt movement”? Rhule said our defender was just going from a 3-technique to a 1-technique when the offensive lineman moved. The defense moves prior to the snap on almost every play, but please don’t do it abruptly. What about when you are preparing to blitz? Later on the same drive on a fourth down play, the Wildcat receiver bobbled a ball off a deflection and was driven back by Donovan Jones securing the ball almost a full yard short of the sticks. It was called a first down, was reviewed and the replay booth upheld the call. The reason replay was instituted was to correct plays that were obviously incorrect calls. It was maddening. Instead of Nebraska taking over at the 26, Northwestern was allowed to finish the drive with a touchdown. The Husker crowd shouted in unison “refs you suck” and never was there a more accurate chant.
Dylan Raiola finished 16-of-22 passing for a below average 141 yards with one touchdown and one interception. He increased his career passing total to 4,728 yards, moving past Jerry Tagge (4,704 yards) into seventh place on the NU career passing list and now has 17 TD passes this season, moving into a tie for 10th place on the single-season list.
Receiver Nyziah Hunter is quickly becoming Raiola’s favorite target as he caught six passes for 70 yards with a spectacular 12-yard touchdown catch in the third quarter. It marked Hunter’s sixth game this season with at least four receptions, including each of the past four games. Hunter’s TD catch was his fifth of the season. After being shut out last week, Dana Key had 3 catches for 22 yards and Jacory Barney added three grabs for 13 yards (a bit better than the one catch for one-yard last week). Tight end Luke Lindenmeyer had a 15 yard grab late in the first half that was just a yard short of the sticks. It seduced Rhule into going for it on fourth instead of kicking the field goal and Raiola fumbled.
Oct 25, 2025; Lincoln, Nebraska, USA; Nebraska Cornhuskers wide receiver Nyziah Hunter (13) runs the ball against Northwestern Wildcats defensive back Robert Fitzgerald (6) and linebacker Braydon Brus (33) during the first quarter at Memorial Stadium. / Dylan Widger-Imagn Images
Emmett Johnson rushed 27 times for 124 yards and two touchdowns. He posted his fourth 100-yard rushing game of the season and became the first Husker to have four 100-yard rushing games in a season since Anthony Grant in 2022. Johnson increased his season rushing total to 837, the most rushing yards by a Husker since 2022. He also added 15 receiving yards to increase his career receiving yards to 514, the seventh running back in school history to record 500 career receiving yards. Freshman running back Isaiah Mozee rushed three times for 28 yards, including a career-long 22-yard run in the second quarter.
The offensive line surrendered just one sack which was a victory considering the shuffling up front due to injuries to Gunnar Gottula and then Teddy Prochazka. Rocco Spindler played with a cast after hand surgery this week to repair a compound dislocation. The game plan was almost 2-1 runs (39) to passes (22) this week and the line did well except for struggling in short yardage situations.
Nebraska’s defense limited Northwestern to 331 yards and have held each of their first eight opponents to fewer than 400 total yards. The last time the Huskers held their first eight opponents to fewer than 400 total yards was the 2009 season. More importantly, they contained the Wildcat rushing attack except for a 56-yarder when the running back bounced outside and took it to the house. They allowed Northwestern to convert 7 of 14 third downs which kept them on the field too long. On the all-important last Northwestern drive, the Huskers blitzed on the final two plays with the pressure leading to incompletions. I would have like to have seen more blitzes as their QB didn’t handle pressure well. The bad officiating even helped us with the last play as Andrew Marshall could have been whistled for holding.
Redshirt freshman safety Rex Guthrie received his Blackshirt this week and responded by leading the team with a career-best eight tackles, bettering his previous high of six tackles against Houston Christian. Redshirt freshman cornerback Donovan Jones had a third-quarter interception for his first career pick and added seven tackles in the game, tying his career high. Vincent Shavers (also wearing a cast) returned this week and contributed 6 stops. Javin Wright had a fourth-quarter interception marking his third career interception and first since 2023. Riley Van Poppel was fairly disruptive on the line and contributed 3 stops. Four of the top five tacklers this week were from the secondary indicating Northwestern’s success getting downfield. We are also incredibly young on the back end at this point as well.
Oct 25, 2025; Lincoln, Nebraska, USA; Nebraska Cornhuskers defensive back Rex Guthrie (21) tackles Northwestern Wildcats wide receiver Griffin Wilde (17) tackles during the first quarter at Memorial Stadium. / Dylan Widger-Imagn Images
Special Teams were the difference when you consider Kenneth Williams 95-yard kickoff return for a touchdown to open the second half. It was NU’s first kickoff return for a touchdown since JD Spielman had a 99-yard kickoff return for a touchdown against Arkansas State on Sept. 2, 2017. Williams made a smart move toward the west sideline, got a good lead block from Isaiah Mozee, and tight roped the sideline outrunning Wildcat defenders. The kid earned his scholarship in the Maryland game, and Matt Rhule said some company should pick up his NIL sponsorship. Archie Wilson averaged 55.5 yards on two punts and helped to flip the field on both occasions. The kickoff and punt teams held the Wildcats to negligible yards. The one negative was that Kyle Cunanan badly missed his 44-yard field goal attempt, just his second miss in twelve tries.
After the debacle in Minnesota, Saturday’s game was the closest thing to a must-win scenario in the Matt Rhule era. It wasn’t always pretty but the guys got it done and it sets up a huge opportunity next Saturday night against the Trojans of Southern California. USC averages 530 yards and 42.4 points per game, including 204 yards on the ground in Big Ten play. Nebraska has never beaten the Trojans in six tries, including a 21-21 tie early in 1970. It is a Black Out game for the Huskers, and I plan to be in attendance and hoarse on Sunday. It’s a big task, but it’s been a crazy year of upsets. Why not?Go Big Red!!!
Stay up to date on all things Huskers by bookmarking Nebraska Cornhuskers On SI, subscribing to HuskerMax on YouTube, and visiting HuskerMax.com daily.
