Nebraska 55
Michigan St. 14

Sept. 7, 1996 • 11 a.m. Central
Memorial Stadium •Lincoln, NE • ABC
1st2nd3rd4th F 
Michigan St.007714
Nebraska72021755

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First quarter
NEB: Frost 11 run (K Brown kick) 8:05
Second quarter
NEB: Brown 35 field goal, 11:59
NEB: Fullman 62 punt return (Brown kick) 10:42
NEB: Minter 84 int. return (Brown kick) 3:06
NEB: Brown 24 field goal, 0:51
Third quarter
NEB: Green 1 run (Brown kick) 12:24
MSU: Keur 1 pass from Ornstein (Gardner kick) 8:43
NEB: Holbein 35 pass from Frost (Brown kick) 1:32
NEB: Wistrom 9 int. return (Brown kick) 0:45
Fourth quarter
NEB: Cheatham 30 pass from Turman (Retzlaff kick) 11:29
MSU: Irvin 1 run (Gardner kick) 2:11

                       MSU      NEB
First downs ........... 11       18
  By rushing ........... 5       12
  By passing ........... 6        4
  By penalty ........... 0        2
Rushed-yards ....... 49-83   46-184
Passing yards ........ 163      114
  Comp-Att-Int ... 14-27-3   7-14-0
Total offense ..... 76-246   60-298
Sacked-yds lost ..... 7-47     1-11
Return yards .......... 44      255
Punts ............ 11-38.8   6-43.8
Fumbles-lost ......... 4-1      3-2
Penalties-yards ..... 4-29     2-10
Possession time .... 34:28    25:32

RUSHING:
MSU: Goulbourne 17-58, Irvin 15-51, Crenshaw 2-10, Hackenbracht 1-7, Reece 2-4, Gould 1-4, D Carter 1-minus 3, Burke 4-minus 10, Ornstein 6-minus 38.

NEB: Green 16-71, Frost 10-58, Benning 8-35, Makovicka 3-19, Schuster 4-13, Sims 2-5, Evans 1-2, Turman 1-minus 3, Cheatham 1-minus 16.

PASSING:
MSU: Ornstein 11-18-2-133, Irvin 1-1-0-31, Burke 1-5-0-minus 1, Schultz 1-3-1-0.

NEB: Frost 5-11-0-74, Turman 2-2-0-40, Perino 0-1-0-0.

RECEIVING:
MSU: D Carter 3-45, Irvin 3-26, Long 2-61, D Mason 2-25, Keur 2-7, Goulbourne 1-0, Crenshaw 1-minus 1.

NEB: Vedral 2-20, Holbein 1-35, Cheatham 1-30, Schuster 1-16, Edwards 1-10, Makovicka 1-3.

Att.: 75,590

Coverage

Recap
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Defense shows scoring power vs. Spartans

The two-time defending national champion and top-ranked Nebraska Cornhuskers looked every bit the part in a season-opening 55-14 win against Michigan State.

The Huskers got contributions from all areas, including the offense, defense and special teams. Nebraska led 27-0 at the half and 34-0 before the Spartans got on the board.

In the first half, NU scored on a rushing touchdown by quarterback Scott Frost, a 62-yard punt return by Mike Fullman and an 84-yard interception return by Mike Minter.

Nebraska All-America candidate Grant Wistrom added another defensive touchdown, scoring on a nine-yard interception return late in the third quarter.

Offensively, Nebraska gained 298 yards, including 184 on the ground, led by sophomore Ahman Green’s 71 yards and a touchdown.

But it was the Husker defense that did the most damage. The Blackshirts held MSU to 246 yards, intercepted Spartan quarterbacks three times and had seven sacks for 50 yards in losses.

It was Nebraska’s 11th straight victory in a season opener, its 26th straight win overall, 37th straight regular-season win and 31st in a row at home.

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Pregame & team info
1996 schedule
04/20Reds 20, Whites 17
09/07Michigan St.W 55-14
09/21@ Arizona St.L 0-19
09/28Colorado St.W 65-9
10/05@ Kansas St.W 39-3
10/12BaylorW 49-0
10/19@ Texas TechW 24-10
10/26KansasW 63-7
11/02@ OklahomaW 73-21
11/09MissouriW 51-7
11/16@ Iowa St.W 49-14
11/29ColoradoW 17-12
12/07TexasL 27-37
12/31Virginia TechW 41-21

Commentary

Colonel Mustard

Put in DeAngelo! Ahman is surely the man right now, but the other guys between him and DeAngelo on the depth chart are just filling space.

Shatel

The best thing Frost did was that he didn’t do anything wrong. He was good. He wasn’t great. But then, at least until November, he doesn’t have to be.

Omaha World-Herald
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