Deontai Williams' sack led to his own scoop and score. | Huskers.com photo

Nebraska 30
Penn St. 23

Nov. 14, 2020 • 11 a.m. Central
Memorial Stadium •Lincoln, NE • FS1
1st2nd3rd4th F 
Penn St.0610723
Nebraska10170330
First quarter
NEB: McCaffrey 1 run (Culp kick) 11:25
NEB: Culp 22 field goal, 6:14
Second quarter
PSU: Pinegar 33 field goal, 14:50
NEB: Betts 45 pass from McCaffrey (Culp kick) 14:01
NEB: D.Williams 26 fumble return (Culp kick) 11:29
PSU: Pinegar 40 field goal, 5:48
NEB: Culp 25 field goal, 0:00
Third quarter
PSU: Lee 31 run (Pinegar kick) 7:51
PSU: Pinegar 27 field goal, 1:01
Fourth quarter
NEB: Culp 30 field goal, 10:34
PSU: Ford 5 run (Pinegar kick) 9:20

                           PSU      NEB
FIRST DOWNS................ 30       17
RUSHES-YARDS (NET)..... 52-245   39-146
PASSING YDS (NET)......... 256      152
  Att-Comp-Int........ 39-19-1  21-13-1
TOTAL OFFENSE.......... 91-501   60-298
Fumble Returns-Yards...... 0-0     1-26
Punt Returns-Yards....... 1-21     1-25
Kickoff Returns-Yds...... 4-51      0-0
Int. Returns-Yards........ 1-0     1-55
Punts (Number-Avg)..... 1-34.0   4-40.5
Fumbles-Lost.............. 1-1      0-0
Penalties-Yards.......... 4-50     5-39
Possession Time......... 36:24    23:36
Third-Down Conv. ........ 8/17     4/12
Fourth-Down Conv. ........ 3/5   1 of 1
Red-Zone Scores-Chances... 4-6      4-4
Sacks By: Number-Yards.... 1-4     2-17

RUSHING
PSU: Ford, Devyn 16-66; Levis, Will 18-61; Holmes, Caziah 4-50; Lee, Keyvone 8-49; Clifford, Sean 6-19.

NEB: McCaffrey, Luke 13-67; Robinson, W. 16-60; Mills, Dedrick 3-11; Scott, Marvin 5-11; Thompkins, R. 1-2; TEAM 1-minus 5.

PASSING
PSU: Levis, Will 14-31-0-219; Clifford, Sean 5-8-1-37.

NEB: McCaffrey, Luke 13-21-1-152.

RECEIVING
PSU: Freiermuth, Pat 7-113; Washington, P. 5-70; Lambert-Smith,K 3-35; Dotson, Jahan 2-27; George, Daniel 1-6; Ford, Devyn 1-5.

NEB: Robinson, W. 5-11; Allen, Austin 3-39; Betts, Zavier 2-54; Falck, Levi 1-21; Scott, Marvin 1-14; Warner, Kade 1-13.

Coverage

Stats & Recap
Complete Stats

Huskers start fast, hold off rallying Lions

In a tale of two very different halves, Nebraska’s defense held on fourth down on back-to-back drives inside the Husker 11-yard line to secure a 30-23 win over Penn State at Memorial Stadium.

Nebraska’s impressive defensive stands in the final four minutes came after Penn State threatened to erase a 27-6 halftime advantage for the Big Red, which won its 2020 home opener to improve to 1-2 on the year. The Huskers sent the Nittany Lions back to State College with an 0-4 record.

The Husker defense put up heroic efforts from start to finish, but none were bigger than Luke Reimer’s sack of Penn State’s Will Levis on 3rd-and-goal at the NU 9 with 48 seconds left, as Nebraska held a tenuous 30-23 lead. Reimer’s sack set up 4th-and-13, and senior defensive lineman Ben Stille put the exclamation point on the win with his hit on Levis to force a flailing, desperation toss that fell incomplete in the middle of the field.

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Pregame & team info
2020 schedule
10/24@ Ohio St.L 17-52
11/07@ NorthwesternL 13-21
11/14Penn St.W 30-23
11/21IllinoisL 23-41
11/27@ IowaL 20-26
12/05@ PurdueW 37-27
12/12MinnesotaL 17-24
12/18@ RutgersW 28-21
Taylor-Britt pass breakup

Commentary

Stryker

Despite giving up 500 yards in 91 snaps, the Husker defense won this game; the offense simply avoided losing it.

HuskerMax
Shatel

This was Frost’s 10th win at Nebraska, hardly a distinguished list. But by far it’s his best win. A much-needed win.

Omaha World-Herald
Sipple

This win was so difficult for Nebraska to come by, it almost felt like it had to beat Penn State twice.

Lincoln Journal Star
Vogel

This win ... came in the way that so many Husker losses have come during the Frost era.

Hail Varsity
Callahan

I loved the play call to freshman wide receiver Zavier Betts. It was straight out of the Bellevue West playbook and something he was very comfortable running.

HuskerOnline
Chatelain

Winning matters, even during a pandemic, especially after 357 days without success.

Omaha World-Herald
Wirt

Nebraska ended up winning against Penn State where it lost against Northwestern — in the red zone.

Daily Nebraskan
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