Hardly perfect, but record is
Wildcats withstand late Cornhuskers drive to improve to 3- 0
Peyton Ramsey heard Riley Lees screaming for the ball, then delivered him a touchdown pass to give Northwestern some breathing room on its way to another tight victory Saturday against Nebraska at Ryan Field.
But not before the Wildcats withstood a last- gasp drive by the Cornhuskers.
Ramsey shook off two interceptions to throw two touchdown passes in the second half, and NU hung on to beat Nebraska 21- 13 on Saturday after Luke McCaffrey’s last- second pass to Wan’Dale Robinson in the end zone fell incomplete.
Seven of the previous nine games between the teams since the Cornhuskers joined the Big Ten in 2011 were decided by seven points or fewer. Six were within a field goal. This was the fourth in a row to come down to the final play of regulation or go to overtime.
‘‘ Today was a winning- ugly game,’’ Wildcats coach Pat Fitzgerald said. ‘‘ We’ve got to get a lot better in a lot of ways. It starts with me. But we’ll take it.’’
Nebraska took over at its 8 with 2: 14 left after NU punted and drove to a fourth down from the Wildcats’ 14 before McCaffrey was unable to connect with Robinson. NU ( 3- 0, 3- 0 Big Ten) got the ball back with a second left and took a knee to cap the latest close game in the series.
Ramsey threw a two- yard touchdown pass to John Raine in the third quarter and a 10- yarder to Lees in the fourth after the receiver screamed to get his attention. Lees made the catch, did a neat spin move to avoid two defenders, then reached into the end zone to bump the Wildcats’ lead to 21- 13.
‘‘[ Lees] was actually yelling at me before I threw the ball and clapping his hands, telling me he was open,’’ Ramsey said. ‘‘ He caught the ball, got vertical and then reached out, got in the end zone. Awesome play.’’
The victory enabled NU to match its victory total from last season, when it went 3- 9. The Wildcats are off to their best start since they won their first five games in 2015 and improved to 3- 0 in Big Ten play for the first time since 2000.
Ramsey settled down after being intercepted twice by the Cornhuskers’ Myles Farmer in the second quarter. He completed 16 of 27 passes for 169 yards. Drake Anderson added 89 yards rushing, including a 41- yard touchdown, for NU.
Nebraska ( 0- 2, 0- 2) came up short in its first game since opening with a blowout loss Oct. 24 at Ohio State. The Cornhuskers had an unexpected bye after Wisconsin canceled a game in Lincoln, Nebraska, because of a COVID- 19 outbreak in its program.
‘‘ It’s inexcusable we only had 13 points in that game,’’ Nebraska coach Scott Frost said. ‘‘ I’ve got to make sure guys are in good position to score points.’’