De’Mornay Pierson-El races 62 yards with a punt return for a fourth-quarter TD.

Michigan St. 27
Nebraska 22

Oct. 4, 2014 • 7:14 p.m. Central
Spartan Stadium •East Lansing, MI • ABC
1st2nd3rd4th F 
Nebraska0031922
Michigan St.71010027
1st quarter
MSU: Lippett 55 pass from Cook (Geiger kick) 8:22
2nd quarter
MSU: Langford 31 run (Geiger kick) 13:48
MSU: Geiger 28 field goal, 4:32
3rd quarter
MSU: Geiger 27 field goal, 9:18
NEB: Brown 40 field goal, 6:12
MSU: Lippett 32 run (Geiger kick) 2:02
4th quarter
NEB: Abdullah 2 run (run failed) 12:49 
NEB: Abdullah 1 run (Brown kick) 4:10 
NEB: Pierson-El 62 punt return (run failed) 3:22 
 
                             NEB      MSU
FIRST DOWNS.................. 20       17
  Rushing..................... 5        9
  Passing.................... 12        8
  Penalty..................... 3        0
RUSHES-YARDS (NET)........ 37-47   44-188
PASSING YDS (NET)........... 282      234
  Att-Comp-Int.......... 45-21-2  29-11-1
TOTAL OFFENSE ........... 82-329   73-422
Fumble Returns-Yards........ 0-0     1-38
Punt Returns-Yards......... 2-95     4-19
Kickoff Returns-Yards...... 2-48     4-57
Int. Returns-Yards.......... 1-0      2-0
Punts (Number-Avg)....... 8-35.9   9-38.4
Fumbles-Lost................ 2-2      2-2
Penalties-Yards............ 6-48     9-94
Possession Time........... 27:51    32:09
Third-Down Conv. ....... 3 of 15  4 of 16
Fourth-Down Conv. ....... 0 of 2   1 of 1
Sacks By: Number-Yards...... 0-0     5-25

RUSHING
NEB: A.Abdullah 24-45; T.Armstrong 11-7; TEAM 2-minus 5. 

MSU: J.Langford 29-111; T.Lippett 1-32; N.Hill 9-30; R.Shelton 3-22; TEAM 1-minus 1; C.Cook 1-minus 6.

PASSING
NEB: T.Armstrong 20-43-2-273;
     R.Fyfe 1-2-0-9.
MSU: C.Cook 11-29-1-234.

RECEIVING
NEB: J.Westerkamp 9-158; K.Bell 3-31; T.Allen 3-9; A.Abdullah 2-22; A.Moore 1-43; A.Janovich 1-16; L.Hovey 1-8; D.Pierson-El 1-minus 5.

MSU: T.Lippett 3-104; M.Kings 2-38; A.Burbridge 2-37; K.Mumphery 2-34; J.Price 1-21; J.Langford 1-0.

Attendance: 75,923

Alonzo Moore
Alonzo Moore tries to pull in a pass that would have given Nebraska the lead in the final minute. | Photo sequence

Coverage

Stats & Recap
Complete Stats

Big Red Rally Scares No. 10 Spartans: Nebraska almost put together the greatest fourth-quarter comeback in Husker history before falling 27-22 in the final seconds on a cold, rainy night at Spartan Stadium

NU scored three fourth-quarter touchdowns, then had the ball at the MSU 37 in the final minute with a chance to win. A near-completion in the end zone from Tommy Armstrong to Alonzo Moore was followed by an interception that sealed the win for Michigan State.

De’Mornay Pierson-El scored on a 62-yard punt return with 3:22 left to help set up the late dramatics.

Omaha World-Herald*
Lincoln Journal Star*
More Neb. sources
Opponent sources
National sources
Photos/Audio/Video
2014 schedule
04/12Reds 55, Whites 46
08/30Florida AtlanticW 55-7
09/06McNeese St.W 31-24
09/13@ Fresno St.W 55-19
09/20MiamiW 41-31
09/27IllinoisW 45-14
10/04@ Michigan St.L 22-27
10/18@ NorthwesternW 38-17
10/25RutgersW 42-24
11/01PurdueW 35-14
11/15@ WisconsinL 24-59
11/22MinnesotaL 24-28
11/28@ IowaW 37-34
12/27@ USCL 42-45
Pregame links & info
Joel Heath pressures Tommy Armstrong in the second half.

Commentary

Sipple

Nebraska’s offensive line was whipped in an alarming manner much of the night.

Lincoln Journal Star
Shatel

All the old big-game bugaboos were rounded up like usual suspects in this one.

Omaha World-Herald
Muessel

I don’t think it’s unfair to have some questions about the team’s plateau point, or even if Nebraska has at least toed the edge of it.

Hail Varsity
Stryker

Nebraska’s effort on a chilly, dreary night in East Lansing was not only honorable, it gave some signs of hope.

HuskerMax
Barfknecht

Nebraska’s late surge, if nothing else, added some juice if these teams have a rematch for the Big Ten title.

Omaha World-Herald
Vogel

Less than 40 minutes into this game, I was wondering if there was anything that could be salvaged from it for Nebraska.

Hail Varsity
Callahan

The positive you can take out of this is NU didn’t quit, when clearly MSU thought they might.

HuskerOnline
Caputo

While the Spartans ultimately won, it didn’t feel right. It wasn’t a triumph. It was a sigh of relief.

Oakland Press
Foster

The Spartans almost blew a magical weekend.

Detroit News
Windsor

An interception staved off collapse, and a grateful Dantonio felt relieved he wasn’t talking about that.

Detroit Free Press
Couch

This was dominance most of the time. A familiar form of it.

Lansing State Journal
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