The 100th anniversary of Memorial Stadium saw a wild showdown. In the first few minutes of the game, Nebraska found itself in a disastrous position against Northwestern. The Huskers’ two first drives resulted in two straight interceptions, giving the Wildcats prime field position. But Nebraska stepped up and fended off Northwestern when it counted, resulting in a 17-9 2023 win.
Heinrich Haarberg stumbled out of the gate with the two interceptions. But he went the rest of the game without any costly errors. Haarberg threw eight completions off 17 passes for 85 yards and a touchdown. On the ground, he ran for 72 yards and a touchdown off 16 rushes. Emmett Johnson led the Huskers in rushing yards in the win, going for 73 yards off 12 carries.
Though Northwestern finished with more total offensive yards than Nebraska, the Huskers’ defense kept the Wildcats to just nine points. The Blackshirts brought the pressure, delivering eight total sacks in the game.
But the Huskers also struggled to put points on the board. However, each time Nebraska scored, it was big. Haarberg’s rushing touchdown handed the Huskers the lead and his 44-yard touchdown pass to Malachi Coleman extended that lead to 17-6.
With the win, Nebraska moves to 4-3. The last time the Huskers got to four wins before the last game of the season was in 2019, when they defeated Northwestern 13-10 to move to 4-2. Nebraska will remain at home next Saturday against Purdue. Kickoff is set for 2:30 p.m. and can be viewed on FS1.
Celebrated 100 years & went 1-0 today. pic.twitter.com/uQMOptsDMW
— Nebraska Football (@HuskerFootball) October 21, 2023