A few years ago, there was a game winning Hail Mary at Memorial Stadium that went in the favor of the Nebraska Cornhuskers as they defeated the Northwestern Wildcats. Apparently successful Hail Mary's can happen frequently in Nebraska because the BYU Cougars successfully converted one to put an end to Nebraska's 29 game season opener winning streak. They hadn't lost in a season opener since 1985 when they lost to the Florida State Seminoles.
Nebraska would start out the game quite well though, as they would force a BYU punt from the New Zealand born rugby player playing in his first collegiate game, Jonny Linehan. Who has quite a leg by the way. He even had one punt that netted 77 yards.
Nebraska would start with the ball on their own 12 yard line. Tommy Armstrong Jr. came out and dominated the opening drive as he repeatedly hit his receivers, especially Jordan Westerkamp.
Here is Westerkamp scoring the opening touchdown of the game on a crucial third and nine from the BYU 14 yard line. He caught it on the left side of the field for the offense, and appeared to be tackled for a loss before he was able to break through to the opposite side of the field as he was aided by a Tommy Armstrong Jr. block to make it to the outside and make it in to the end zone.
Taysom Hill started the game at quarterback for the Cougars. He engineered a drive after each team had exchanged punts as they drove 99 yards in just four plays. It was highlighted by a 53 yard pass completion to Nick Kurtz. They also had a pass interference penalty to get down close to the goal line. From there, Hill just took it in himself untouched as he got outside of the defense. Here you can see him celebrating with his running back below.
The offenses were just on fire from there for the next few possessions, with Nebraska scoring a touchdown on the ensuing drive as Armstrong Jr. found Alonzo Moore on back to back plays where they were able to get the final 41 yards as Moore easily ran into the end zone for the touchdown to give Nebraska a 14-7 lead as the first quarter was coming to a close.
Taysom Hill came right back down the field though and was able to rush for another touchdown, this time not a designed run as he scrambled out of the pocket from and scampered up the field the remaining 21 yards to tie the game up.
BYU kept the energy up from there, because they forced a Nebraska punt and then had Trevor Samson nail a 41 yard field goal to take the lead. 3 plays later there was a fumbled exchange between Tommy Armstrong Jr. and Mikale Wilbon on a handoff and BYU easily recovered as Fred Warner hopped right on the football between the two of them. 3 plays later Hill found a wide open Mitch Mathews in the end zone to give BYU a 24-14 lead that they would end up taking to the half. Well, they were aided though, as Nebraska had moved down the field just outside of the red zone and then Drew Brown had missed a 40 yard field goal to bring the Huskers within a score.
Nebraska looked like they were in a slump to start the second half as Bronco Mendenhall was calling all the right plays to shut down Mike Riley's potent offense. Nebraska didn't gain a single yard on their first possession of the second half as they went three and out to punt the ball back to BYU. But all the Cornhuskers were jump started when Hill threw an interception to Nate Gerry. Gerry returned it all the way back to the 35 yard line and then it was just a few plays later when Terrell Newby was able to have a 10 yard rushing touchdown to get Nebraska within three points.
The Cougars next offensive possession came to a halt when they attempted a fourth down and four yards to go. Jack Gangwish came up with a big play though as he was able to sack Hill and keep the momentum fiercely in Nebraska's way. Nebraska never even faced a third down while they went the 62 yards down the field to get the touchdown. It came on another completion as Armstrong Jr. was able to complete it to Trey Foster. The Huskers led 28-24 and then they would be able to take that lead into the final quarter.
Kurtz came up big again as Mendenhall would roll the dice midway through the fourth quarter on a fourth and one from the BYU 41 yard line. Kurtz got a 38 yard reception down the field. It led to another Samson field goal to reduce the lead to just one. After a few punts, Brown would attempt a 41 yard field goal to try and extend the Huskers lead to 4. But it would miss wide left to give the Cougars the ball with just 48 seconds left but with only 76 yards to go.
Tanner Mangum had come into the game as Hill had an injury earlier in the game. He was orchestrating the final drive for the BYU Cougars. It seemed like it was going rather poorly as they only made it to the Nebraska 42 yard line and there was one second left.
Mitch Mathews was the receiver who caught his second touchdown pass of the game, this time in traffic of course. It was poorly covered by the Huskers defense, which is really sad since they had called a timeout before the play. BYU would take the lead 33-28 and the time had expired. They won the game and started to celebrate. It couldn't have ended much more devastatingly for the Huskers though as their 29 game season opening game winning streak comes to an end and Mike Riley becomes the first Nebraska Head Coach to lose his coaching debut with the team since 1957. This is not going to sit well with the fan base.
Statistical Leaders:
Passing: Tommy Armstrong Jr., Nebraska (24/41, 319 yards, 3 TD, 1 INT)
Rushing: Taysom Hill, BYU (9 carries, 72 yards, 2 TD)
Receiving: Nick Kurtz, BYU (5 catches, 123 yards)
Next Games:
The BYU Cougars (1-0) will head back to Provo, Utah, where they will face the Boise State Broncos (1-0). Kickoff is set for 10:15 PM ET. The Nebraska Cornhuskers (0-1) will then play again at Memorial Stadium when they play against the South Alabama Jaguars at 8:00 PM ET. Both games are set to be played on Saturday, September 14, 2015. It will be interesting to see if they can both grab a win next week.