Northwestern surges to top Nebraska in Ireland

DUBLIN — Ryan Hilinski threw for 313 yards and two touchdowns to help Northwestern rally past Nebraska 31-28 in Saturday’s season opener.

The Wildcats (1-0, 1-0 Big Ten) dealt the Cornhuskers (0-1, 0-1) their seventh straight loss and added pressure on embattled coach Scott Frost, who took the blame for a failed third-quarter onside kick that altered momentum.

Northwestern totaled 527 yards of offense gained a measure of revenge after its 56-7 loss to Nebraska in October. The Huskers haven’t won since.

Casey Thompson threw for 355 yards in his Nebraska debut but threw a fourth-quarter interception that cornerback Cameron Mitchell returned 40 yards. Six plays later, Evan Hull ran for a 4-yard TD that put the Wildcats up 31-28. Hull rushed for 119 yards on 22 carries.

Nebraska had built a 14-3 lead after Thompson threw a 32-yard TD pass to fellow transfer Isaiah Garcia-castaneda and then scored from 1 early in the second quarter. Garcia-castaneda totaled 120 yards on four catches.

But Hilinski capped a terrific first half by finding wide receiver Donny Navarro at the back of the end zone for a 6-yard score to put Northwestern up 17-14 with 25 seconds left in the half.

Earlier, Hilinski hit wideopen wideout Raymond Niro III on a play-action pass for a 41-yard score.

After Niro’s TD, the Huskers were driving again when linebacker Greyson Metz ripped the ball from Garcia-castaneda after a 24-yard completion to the Northwestern 11.

■ Utah State 31, Connecticut 20: At Logan, Utah, Logan Bonner was 20 of 29 passing for 281 yards and three TDS for the Aggies (10), who overcame a 14-0 deficit and moved to 13-1 in their past 14 home openers. Nathan Carter ran for 190 yards on 20 carries for the Huskies (0-1), but his second-quarter fumble set up Utah State’s first TD. Calvin Tyler Jr. ran for 161 yards on 33 carries for the Aggies. Noe Ruelas kicked field goals from 47 and 54 yards for Uconn, a 23½-point underdog, which was playing its first game under coach Jim Mora after going 1-11 in 2021.

■ Illinois 38, Wyoming 6: At Champaign, Ill., Chase Brown ran for 151 yards and scored three TDS while surpassing 2,000 career yards rushing. Tommy Devito was 27 of 37 passing for 192 yards and two TDS in his debut for the Illini (1-0), who held the Cowboys (0-1) to a 1-for-12 conversion rate on third downs. Andrew Peasley was 6 of 21 passing for 40 yards in his debut for Wyoming, which scored on John Hoyland’s 22- and 46-yard field goals. Illinois cornerback Jartavius Martin had seven tackles and broke up three passes.

■ Florida State 47, Duquesne 7: At Tallahassee, Fla., Treshaun Ward (14 carries, 127 yards), Trey Benson (11-105) and Lawrence Toafili (13-101) led a running attack that amassed 406 yards for the Seminoles (1-0), who won their opener for the first time since 2016. Ward ran for two TDS, and Benson had a 41-yard TD burst. FSU scored on eight of its first nine drives. The Dukes (0-1) managed 164 yards of offense at an average of 3.5 per play.