Legendary Gophers running back David Cobb took to social media on Friday to troll ex-Nebraska Cornhuskers Ameer Abdullah and Josh Mitchell.
“Nebraska has lost to MN 5 straight times & counting,” Cobb wrote on X. “I didn’t know that.”
Oh, he knew, and make it six.
Behind a dominant pass rush and a rejuvenated running game, Minnesota ran over No. 25 Nebraska 24-6 on Friday at Huntington Bank Stadium.
The Gophers (5-2, 3-1 Big Ten) remained unbeaten against Nebraska since 2018 and head coach P.J. Fleck knocked off a ranked opponent. The Gophers’ previous ranked win came at No. 24 Illinois last November.
The Cornhuskers (5-2, 2-2) was coming off two straight wins, but was playing its second road game across six days and weren’t as physical as Minnesota.
Minnesota strained the Nebraska defense with a 14-play, 98-yard drive that sucked nearly nine minutes off the clock. After the 10th play, Nebraska coach Matt Rhule called a timeout, much to the delight of the U offense and sideline.
To cap the drive off, Drake Lindsey threw a pinpoint touchdown pass to Le’Meke Brockington for a 20-yard score.
Minnesota amassed nine sacks, a new program record since 1977 — when the stat was first kept. Defensive coordinator Danny Collins’ unit has had it in them, after putting up seven in the Rutgers win Sept. 27.
The Gophers running game was stuck in the much for weeks, but Running back Darius Taylor got loose with 145 yards on 21 carries and his first rushing touchdown
The Gophers led 7-6 at the half on the back of five sacks of Raiola. Edge rushers Anthony Smith and Karter Menz each had two, with tackle Devon Eastern contributing one.
But for a third straight Big Ten home game, the Gophers fell 3-0. Nebraska put together a 12-play, 70-yard drive but had to settle for a 33-yard field goal. The lead was short-lived.
Less than two minutes later, Gophers running back Darius Taylor broke free for a 71-yard gain to Nebraska’s 1-yard line. Before that enormous gain, Taylor’s season long was all of 18 yards.
On the next play, Drake Lindsey scored on a tush push to take a 7-3 lead. The Cornhuskers put together a nine-play, 69-yard drive but a targeting call on left tackle Elijah Pritchett set back a drive that had reached the red zone and Nebraska had to settle for a 30-yard field to make it 7-6 at the break.
During the first quarter, Taylor eclipsed 2,000 career yards and was the third fastest to do it in program history. He did it in 22 games, behind Laurence Maroney (21) and Darrell Thomson (18) and one quicker than Mo Ibrahim (23).
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