The Minnesota Golden Gophers came away from Lincoln with a 20-13 win over the Nebraska Cornhuskers, sending them to 6-3 for the season.
Here are five things that stood out in Saturday’s win.
1. Defense smashed in the first two drives, brick wall the rest of the game
The Nebraska offense crushed the Gophers offense on the first two drives of the game scoring 10 points on two drives that totaled 125 yards. From there on out the Gophers defense shut down the Nebraska offense, giving up just three points and 97 yards on the following eight drives of the game.
2. Gophers offense shut out in the first half
The Gophers offense was ineffective in the first half totally just 31 yards against one of the worst defenses in the country. Nebraska ranked 120th in the nation on defense coming into today’s game. Tanner Morgan went 6/8 for 38 yards but was constantly rushed and hurried by a Nebraska defensive line that sacked him three times in the first half.
3. Athan Kaliakmanis started second half
With the Gophers trailing 10-0 at halftime the Gophers were forced into a QB switch as Morgan was injured on a sack at the end of the first half. Redshirt freshman Athan Kaliakmanis took over to start the second half. The offense had more yards on his first drive than the Gophers had in the entire first half.
Kaliakmanis opened up the vertical passing game with a couple of deep shots. Unlocking that part of the offense stretched the Nebraska defense allowing breathing room in the running game.
With that breathing room Mo Ibrahim took over and started gashing the Nebraska defense. Ibrahim rushed for 108 of his 128 rushing yards in the second half, adding two more rushing touchdowns to his Gophers record.
4. Gophers bad on 3rd down conversion
Gophers lead the nation on third down conversions coming into today, converting on 59.34% of their chances. But it wasn’t the case today, with drives faltering because of an inability to convert on third down, as the Gophers went 3-10.
5. The Gophers are now bowl eligible
With the come-from-behind win the Gophers become bowl eligible for the fourth time in the last six seasons.
They’ll now have the remaining three games of the season to add to their resume for a better bowl game.
