Michigan St. 23
Nebraska 20

Sep. 25, 2021 • 6:10 p.m. Central
Spartan Stadium • East Lansing, MI • FS1
1st 2nd 3rd 4th OT  T 
Nebraska 0 10 3 7 0 20
Michigan St. 0 13 0 7 3 23 
Second quarter
MSU: Reed 35 pass from Thorne (Coghlin kick) 14:08
NEB: Culp 28 field goal, 11:22
MSU: Coghlin 26 field goal, 8:20
NEB: Martinez 12 run (Culp kick) 4:20
MSU: Coughlin 27 field goal, 1:03
Third quarter
NEB: Culp 28 field goal, 9:10
Fourth quarter
NEB: Martinez 3 run (Culp kick) 7:29
MSU: Reed 62 punt return (Coghlin kick) 3:47
Overtime
MSU: Coghlin 21 field goal

                         NEB      MSU
First Downs ............. 26       12
  Rushing ............... 12        4
  Passing ............... 13        6
  Penalty ................ 1        2
Rushes-Net Yards .... 49-187    30-71
Passing Yards .......... 255      183
 Comp-Att-Int ...... 25-36-1  14-23-1
Total Offense ....... 85-442   53-254
Penalized-Yards ....... 6-40     5-44
Punts-Average ....... 7-32.4   6-58.8
Punt Returns-Avg ...... 1--1     1-62
KO Returns-Avg ...... 1-13.0   3-28.0
Possession Time ...... 37:28    22:32
3rd Down Conv. ........ 7/20     1/10
4th Down Conv. ......... 2/2      0/1
Red-Zone Scores ........ 4/5      3/3
Sacks-Yards ........... 3-18     7-34

RUSHING
NEB: Johnson 19-76; Martinez 20-65; Morrison 3-15; Falck 0-12; Smothers 3-11; Toure 1-4; Belt 1-3, Stepp 1-2, Manning 1-minus-1.

MSU: Walker 19-61; Simmons 3-13; Reed 1-2; Thorne 7-minus-5.

PASSING
NEB: Martinez 24-34-1 251; Smothers 1-2-0 4.

MSU: Thorne 14-23-1 183.

RECEIVING
NEB: Betts 5-62; Toure 5-42; Vokolek 2-36; Allen 4-28; Belt 1-24; Falck 1-22; Manning 4-16; Morrison 1-14; Johnson 2-11.

MSU: Mosley 6-70; Reed 4-59; Heyward 2-39; Joiner 1-9; Simmons 1-6.

Attendance: 70,332

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Spartans edge Huskers in overtime

A superb second half by the Blackshirts went for naught, and a signature win again eluded Scott Frost’s Huskers as Nebraska fell in overtime to 20th-ranked Michigan State in East Lansing, 23-30.

Nebraska took a 20-13 lead midway through the fourth quarter on an 11-play, 80-yard drive. With the Spartans going nowhere after halftime against the Husker defense (zero first downs in the final 30 minutes of regulation), that lead appeared safe until Michigan State’s Jayden Reed returned an ill-placed Nebraska punt 62 yards for a the tying touchdown with under four minutes to play.

The Huskers had the first possession in overtime, but the Spartans picked off an Adrian Martinez pass, and a short field goal was all Michigan State needed to pull off the victory.

Omaha World-Herald*
Lincoln Journal Star*
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MLive.com*
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Lansing State Journal*
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2021 schedule
05/01 White 21, Red 20
08/28 @ Illinois L 22-30
09/04 Fordham W 52-7
09/11 Buffalo W 28-3
09/18 @ Oklahoma L 16-23
09/25 @ Michigan St. L 20-23
10/02 Northwestern* W 56-7
10/09 Michigan L 29-32
10/16 @ Minnesota L 23-30
10/30 Purdue L 23-28
11/06 Ohio St. L 17-26
11/20 @ Wisconsin L 28-35
11/26 Iowa L 21-28
Courtesy of Huskers.com
Rahmir Johnson

Commentary

Stryker

All you have to do is play conservative and wait for the Huskers to muck things up. Works like a charm.

Tad Stryker
HuskerMax/All Huskers
Callahan

It’s a shame arguably one of the best halves of football we’ve seen a defense play at Nebraska was wasted.

Sean Callahan
HuskerOnline
Vogel

Coaches that can’t exert some sort of influence over what happens on the field are just caretakers.

Brandon Vogel
Hail Varsity
Shatel

Three hours of roller-coaster ups and downs and finally a Scott Frost program that was about to arrive. Wiped away, just like that.

Tom Shatel *
Omaha World-Herald
Sipple

You make your luck in this world. But Nebraska? Well, it makes its own nightmares.

Steven M. Sipple *
Lincoln Star
Chatelain

The Huskers’ strengths are indeed getting stronger in year four. It doesn’t matter because their weaknesses are improbably getting weaker.

Dirk Chatelain *
Omaha World-Herald
Washut

Whatever Nebraska was doing all offseason with its promised emphasis on improving special teams, it didn’t work.

Robin Washut
HuskerOnline
Wirt

Frost’s team lost in what can be best described as a perfect storm consisting of all Nebraska’s worst fears.

Landon Wirt
Daily Nebraskan
Couch

One or two plays, sometimes a few, can change the tone of everything. That’s what happened at Spartan Stadium on Saturday night.

Graham Couch *
Lansing State Journal
Seidel

Give the most credit to Tucker, who prepared his team for a ‘double mouth guard game.’

Jeff Seidel *
Detroit Free Press
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