Nebraska 29, Northwestern 28
When: 3:30 PM ET, Saturday, October 20, 2012
Where: Ryan Field, Evanston, Illinois
Temperature:
57°
Head Official:
Dennis Lipski
Attendance:
47330
By SportsDirect Inc.
Nebraska 29, Northwestern 28: Taylor Martinez threw two touchdown passes in the final 5:55 to lead the visiting Cornhuskers to a comeback win.
Martinez's 7-yard pass to Ben Cotton with 2:08 remaining capped Nebraska's rally from a 12-point deficit and gave the Huskers a one-point lead. Martinez hit Taariq Allen on an 8-yard scoring pass with 5:55 left to cut Northwestern's lead to 28-23.
The Wildcats drove to Nebraska's 36-yard line, but Jeff Budzien's 53-yard field goal attempt with 58 seconds remaining was wide to the right for his first miss of the season.
Nebraska (5-2, 2-1 Big Ten) won despite losing three fumbles in the first half. Rex Burkhead, the Cornhuskers' top running back, left the game in the first half with a knee injury and didn't return. Venric Mark scored on an 80-yard run and Trevor Siemian threw for two touchdowns to lead Northwestern (6-2, 2-2).
The Huskers outgained the Wildcats in total yardage 543-301. Martinez completed 27 of 39 passes for 342 yards and three touchdowns. Mike Trumpy's 3-yard run with 8:31 remaining in the game gave the Wildcats a 28-16 lead.
GAME NOTEBOOK: Nebraska was 3 of 14 third down conversions. ... Mark gained 118 yards on 16 carries. ... The Huskers had the advantage in first downs 26-14.
Top Game Performances
Rushing
Nebraska |
|
Northwestern |
Ameer Abdullah
|
Player |
Venric Mark
|
19 |
Attempts |
16 |
101 |
Yards |
118 |
5.3 |
Avg Yards |
7.4 |
0 |
Touchdowns |
1 |
0 |
Long |
0 |
Team Stats Summary
|
Yards |
Scoring |
Defense |
Team |
Tot |
Rus |
Pas |
TD |
FG |
INT |
Sck |
FF |
Nebraska
|
543 |
201 |
342 |
4 |
1 |
0 |
1.0 |
0 |
Northwestern
|
301 |
180 |
121 |
4 |
0 |
0 |
3.0 |
1 |