Fans of the 19th ranked Nebraska Cornhuskers had to wait all of eight minutes and 16 seconds to let the balloons go at Memorial Stadium this week. The Huskers punched it in again less than four minutes later.
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Just another FBS vs. FCS blowout in the making, right?
Wrong.
On Nebraska’s next drive, an errant Tommie Armstrong throw resulted in Aaron Sam recording the second longest interception return in McNeese State history. Sam took the interception 98 yards for a touchdown to tie the game at 14.
McNeese State, the sixth ranked team in FCS, wasn’t going down without a fight. In front of the 335th consecutive sellout in Lincoln, the Cowboys gave Nebraska all they wanted before having their last effort intercepted by Corey Cooper as time expired.
With 20 seconds left, Nebraska running back Ameer Abdullah took a swing pass in the flat, and cut back to the middle of the field where there were no Cowboys to run him down. 58 yards later, Abdullah secured a win for Nebraska, who still has never lost to an FCS team.
Tommie Armstrong and the Nebraska offense struggled mightily after losing wide receivers Kenny Bell and Jacob Turner to injuries. Nebraska did not sustain a drive of longer than five yards for the entire second half.
Armstrong ended his day just 16 of 31 with 242 yards and two touchdowns to go with that interception. He also led all players with 131 rushing yards on 11 carries, and reached the end zone once on the ground as well.
McNeese had two drives of 12 plays or more to wear out the Nebraska defense in the second half. One of those resulted in the Cowboys tying the game with four minutes to go.
The Cowboys’ defense stepped up and held Nebraska to punts on four of five second half drives, allowing the offense to sustain drives and take time off the clock. Nebraska had the ball for only 10:04 of the second half, but they were able to punch it in in crunch time to move to 2-0 on the season.