Huskers’ big finish thwarts Hawkeyes
NEBRASKA 37, IOWA 34, OT
IOWA CITY, Iowa — Nebraska found itself trailing by 17 points and staring at a third consecutive loss.
Tommy Armstrong Jr. led the Huskers on one of the best comebacks in school history, and took some heat off of Coach Bo Pelini in the process.
Kenny Bell caught a 9-yard touchdown pass in overtime, and Nebraska rallied to beat Iowa 37-34 on Friday to end a two-game losing streak.
Armstrong had four touchdown passes for the Cornhuskers (9-3, 5-3 Big Ten), who trailed by as much as 24-7 before storming back in the second half.
“That is one of the gutsiest performances from a quarterback that I’ve seen in a long time,” said Pelini, whose job status was again a hot topic this week. “There isn’t anybody who competes harder than he does.”
Armstrong’s impressive effort came during one of the wackier Big Ten games in recent memory. Iowa scored a touchdown on offense, defense and special teams and still couldn’t hold off the Huskers.
Jordan Canzeri caught a 5-yard touchdown pass with 1:49 left in regulation to put Iowa ahead 31-28, but Drew Brown’s 20-yard field goal with 8 seconds left forced overtime.
In other games Friday, Northern Illinois captured its fifth consecutive Mid-American Conference West title with a 31-21 comeback victory over Western Michigan in Kalamazoo, Mich. Quarterback Drew Hare ran for two touchdowns for the Huskies (10-2, 6-1), including the clincher from 2 yards out with 46 seconds left. … Greg Ward Jr. and Kenneth Farrow combined for five touchdowns as Houston held
SMU scoreless in the second half to win 35-9 at Dallas. Matt Davis threw a 67-yard touchdown pass to Jeremiah Gaines to put the Mustangs up 9-7 at the half. Farrow ran for two touchdowns and Ward added another to put the Cougars up 28-9 by the end of the third. … Justin Holman threw for one touchdown and Rannell Hall picked up another on the ground to lead Central
Florida to a 16-0 shutout over South Florida at Tampa. Holman completed 20 of 29 passes and finished with 150 yards. Hall had 10 carries for 65 yards for the Knights (8-3, 6-1 American). … Logan Woodside passed for a career-high five touchdowns and Toledo rolled over Eastern Michigan 52-16 to clinch a share of the Mid-American West title. The Rockets (8-4, 7-1) took a 42-9 lead in the first half. … Colin Reardon threw a 5-yard pass to Chris Humphrey for a go-ahead touchdown in the final minute to push Kent State ahead of Akron 27-24 in Kent, Ohio. Kent State trailed 24-20 after Jawon Chisholm ran 80 yards for a touchdown with 4:30 left. … Ozzie Mann threw for three touchdowns and Ball State beat Bowling Green 41-24 in Bowling Green. Ball State trailed 21-7 at the end of the first quarter, but a field goal and a 25-yard touchdown pass from Mann pulled the Cardinals within 21-17. With just 41 seconds left in the second quarter, Mann threw a 16-yard touchdown pass to Jordan Williams to put Ball State ahead at the break. The Cardinals held Bowling Green to three second-half points and scored 17 points of their own to stretch the lead. … Joe Licata threw four touchdown passes and Buffalo ran wild over
Massachusetts 41-21 at Amherst, Mass. Licata completed 20 of 27 passes for 255 yards and threw touchdown passes to three different receivers as Buffalo (5-6, 3-4 Mid-American Conference) amassed 548 total yards against Massachusetts (3-9, 3-5). Anthone Taylor ran for 237 yards on 36 carries with touchdowns of 3 and 76 yards. … Keenan Reynolds ran for three touchdowns and Navy survived a pair of South Alabama two-point conversion attempts that were wiped out by penalties in the final seconds for a 42-40 victory at Mobile.