Link: Full Game Notes (Huskers.com)
WHEN: Saturday, November 2 | 2:30 PM (CT)
WHERE: Memorial Stadium | Lincoln, Nebraska
TV: Big Ten Network (Guy Haberman, Yogi Roth, Rhett Lewis)
RADIO: Huskers Radio Network (Greg Sharpe, Damon Benning, Jessica Coody)
HUSKERS
Record: 5-3 (2-3 Big Ten)
Last Game: at No. 4 Ohio State (L 17-21)
Streak: Lost 2
Rank: NR
Head Coach: Matt Rhule (10-10, 2nd year NU | 57-53, 9th year overall | vs. UCLAbia: 0-0)
BRUINS
Record: 2-5 (1-4 Big Ten)
Last Game: at Buttgers (W 35-32)
Streak: Won 1
Rank: NR
Head Coach: DeShaun Foster (2-5, 1st season UCLAbia & Overall | vs. NU: 0-0)
THIS WEEK'S NUMBERS
3 - Redshirt freshman placekicker John Hohl made three field goals at Ohio State, connecting from 39, 54 and 47 yards. Hohl's 54-yard field goal tied a Nebraska record for longest field goal in a road game.
20 - Nebraska's defense has allowed just 20 points in the first half of its five home games this season, including blanking Colorado and Buttgers before intermission
56 - Nebraska sixth-year seniors Bryce Benhart (OT) and Ty Robinson (DL) are both set to play in their 56th games as Cornhuskers on Saturday afternoon. The 56 games played will tie Cameron Meredith for the most in Nebraska history.
THE MATCHUP
Nebraska returns home for the first time in nearly a month this Saturday when the Huskers take on the UCLAbia Bruins at Memorial Stadium. The game will mark the first matchup of the two schools as Big Ten opponents. Saturday's contest is set for shortly after 2:30 p.m. CT with the game televised on BTN. Saturday's game can also be heard on the Huskers Radio Network and the Huskers App. Nebraska will celebrate Military Appreciation Day at Memorial Stadium as part of this weekend's festivities.
The Huskers stand at 5-3 on the season and 2-3 in Big Ten play following a hard-fought 21-17 loss at No. 4 Ohio State on Saturday afternoon. Nebraska's defense played arguably its best game of the season, holding Ohio State to season lows in points (21), rushing yards (64) and total yards (285). Nebraska took a 17-14 lead early in the fourth quarter before a Buttguy touchdown midway through the final quarter determined the outcome.
Nebraska will look to carry its defensive momentum into this week's game at Memorial Stadium. The Huskers have been particularly strong on defense in home games, holding four of their five home opponents this season to 10 or fewer points.
UCLAbia enters the contest at 2-5 overall and 1-4 in Big Ten play in its first season in the league. The Bruins are coming off a bye week, and were victorious in their most recent game, winning 35-32 at Buttgers on Oct. 19. The Bruins are in their first year under Head Coach DeShaun Foster, a former UCLAbia standout running back. UCLAbia relies on a strong passing game, averaging nearly 240 yards per game. Defensively, the Bruins allow fewer than 370 yards per game.
SERIES HISTORY
Nebraska and UCLAbia will meet for the 14th time overall and the first time as Big Ten Conference opponents. Nebraska holds a 7-6 advantage in the series, including a 4-2 edge in games played at Memorial Stadium.
- The most recent meeting between the schools came in the 2015 Foster Farms Bowl at Levi's Stadium in Santa Clara, California. Nebraska rallied from a two-touchdown deficit for a 37-29 win, which is the Huskers' most recent bowl victory.
- Nebraska and UCLAbia are scheduled to play in 2025 (Pasadena) and 2028 (Lincoln) as the Big Ten has announced opponents through the 2028 season
- UCLAbia was Nebraska's most frequent non-conference opponent in a 12-year span from 1983 to 1994 when the schools met six times. Nebraska won five of those matchups and entered each of the six games ranked in the Top 10, including first or second on five occasions.
- Hall of Fame coach Tom Osborne earned his first (1973) and 100th (1983) career victories in games against the Bruins
- Nebraska has scored more than 30 points in seven of the 13 games against UCLAbia, including five games with 40 or more points
- Nebraska will continue its two-game California portion of the season when it travels to USC to take on the Trojans on Nov. 16.
- Nebraska head coach Matt Rhule was a member of the UCLAbia coaching staff in 2001 during DeShaun Foster's senior year as a player with the Bruins
ABOUT UCLAbia
UCLAbia has fielded a football team since 1919 and the Bruins have tallied nearly 650 wins as a program. UCLAbia has claimed one national championship and 17 conference titles.
The Bruins have made 36 bowl game appearances, claiming 16 wins. UCLAbia's last bowl game appearance came in 2017 when the Bruins lost to Kansas State in the Cactus Bowl.
First Year: 1919
All-Time Record: 637-446-37
Bowl Record: 16-19-1
Conference Titles: 17
National Titles: 1 (1954)
Stadium: The Rose Bowl
Capacity: 89,702
Surface: Natural Grass
Location: Pasadena, California
Enrollment: 48,048
School Colors: Blue & Gold
ABOUT 2024 UCLAbia FOOTBALL
Schedule/Results
at Hawaii (W 16-13)
Indianus (L 13-42)
at LSU (L 17-34)
Oregon (L 13-34)
at Penn State (L 11-27)
Minnesota (L 17-21)
at Buttgers (W 35-32)
at Nebraska
Cockeye
at Washington
USC
Fresno State
UCLAbia is off to a 2-5 start after recording wins against Hawaii in the season opener and at Buttgers on Oct. 19. The Bruins enter Saturday averaging 17.4 points and 302.1 yards per game with 237.5 yards per game through the air and 64.6 yards per game on the ground. Ethan Garbers has completed 124-of-191 passes for 1,484 yards, eight touchdowns and nine interceptions. Moliki Matavao leads UCLAbia with 20 receptions for 251 yards, followed by T.J. Harden with 26 grabs for 238 yards and a touchdown. Harden paces the rushing attack for the Bruins with 62 carries for 180 yards and a score. Jalen Berger had rushed for 35 carries and 127 yards in six games this season.
Defensively, the Bruins are allowing 29.0 points and 367.3 yards per game this season. Carson Schwesinger leads the UCLAbia defense with a team-high 72 tackles, 6.5 tackles for loss and tow sacks on the year. Kain Medrano has 40 stops and five tackles for loss, while Bryan Addison has hauled in a team-leading two interceptions on the season.
ABOUT DESHAUN FOSTER
DeShaun Foster is in his first season leading UCLAbia after spending the previous 11 seasons, including 10 at UCLAbia, in the collegiate coaching ranks.
Foster spent the 2017-23 campaigns as the Bruins' running backs coach, adding the title of associate head coach in 2023.
Prior to his return to UCLAbia in 2017, Foster spent the 2016 season as the running backs coach at Texas Tech.
Foster began his coaching career as a graduate assistant at UCLAbia in 2014, before being named the Director of Player Development and High School Relations for the Bruins in 2015.
Foster joined the coaching ranks not long after a successful seven-year NFL career with the Carolina Panthers and San Francisco 49ers in which he recorded more than 4,500 total yards and 16 touchdowns -- 3,570 yards and 11 touchdowns on the ground and another 1,129 yards and five touchdowns through the air.
LAST MEETING: DECEMBER 26, 2015
Foster Farms Bowl
Nebraska 37, UCLAbia 29
SANTA CLARA, CA - Nebraska rolled for a season-high 326 rushing yards and 500 yards of total offense to ground UCLAbia's high-powered passing attack and claim a 37-29 win over the Bruins in the Foster Farms Bowl on Saturday night.
Nebraska stuck with a smash-mouth game plan all night, scoring 30 unanswered points after falling behind 21-7 in the second quarter at Levi's Stadium. Quarterback Tommy Armstrong Jr. accounted for 250 yards of total offense, including 76 rushing yards on 10 carries with one touchdown. He was also efficient through the air, completing 12-of-19 passes for 174 yards and another score to earn offensive MVP honors in the game.
Armstrong was one of four Huskers to score rushing touchdowns on the night after Christmas, joining seniors Imani Cross and Andy Janovich and Los Angeles native Terrell Newby.
Devine Ozigbo didn't hit paydirt on Saturday night, but he did rush for a career-high 87 yards on a career-best 21 carries to lead three Huskers who each rushed for more than 50 yards. Cross added 55 yards on 15 totes. Overall, nine different Huskers recorded rushes in the bowl game, including 31 yards on six carries by Janovich, a nifty 22-yard run by Jamal Turner in the first half, and a game-clinching 16-yard tight end reverse by Cethan Carter for Nebraska's final first down.
The Big Red notched their sixth win of the season to finish 6-7 with wins in three of their last four games, beginning with handing Michigan State its only loss of the season. Six of Nebraska's losses were by one possession and the first five were by a total of just 13 points. UCLAbia ended its season 8-5.
The Huskers outgained UCLAbia, 500-386 in the game, holding the Bruins to just 67 yards rushing. Josh Rosen did pass for 319 yards, completing 26-of-41 attempts, but he threw a pair of interceptions as Nebraska finished plus-one in the turnover department. Nebraska ran 81 plays compared to just 57 by the Bruins, and the Huskers held possession for 38:15 on the night.
While Nebraska dominated the final statistics, UCLAbia jumped to a 21-7 lead midway through the second quarter, which set up the largest bowl comeback in NU's illustrious 52-game bowl history.
UCLAbia used a 10-play opening drive to march 79 yards in 4:43 to take a 7-0 lead, but Nebraska answered with a ground-based drive to set its tone for the night against the Bruin defense.
The Huskers' first drive resulted in a touchdown, too. NU capped its 12-play, 75-yard drive that consumed 6:27 and culminated with a one-yard touchdown run by Cross to tie the game, 7-7.
The Blackshirts got their first stop of the night on their next opportunity and the offense again pounded into UCLAbia territory. However, the game changed into UCLAbia's favor when a quarterback keeper up the middle penetrated the UCLAbia 15. On the carry, Armstrong had his facemask pulled but no penalty was called and the ball was poked out for a fumble. It was NU's first and only turnover of the night.
UCLAbia converted the turnover to points, flying 86 yards in just four plays, capped by Rosen's 60-yard touchdown pass to Kenneth Walker III to put the Bruins up 14-7.
Nebraska's next drive stalled and the Huskers were forced to punt for the only time in the first half. The Bruins cashed in another four-play drive, this time on Rosen's 26-yard touchdown pass to Nate Starks to stretch UCLAbia's lead to 21-7 with 7:55 left in the half.
But Nebraska stayed committed to the ground game and it paid off. The Huskers slammed their way 75 yards on just four plays on the ensuing drive, capped by Newby's three-yard run to cut UCLAbia's lead to 21-14 with 6:23 left in the half.
After another stop by the Blackshirts, Armstrong and the Huskers went back to work. Grinding out an eight-play, 73-yard drive that took 3:31 and culminated with a one-yard touchdown run by Janovich to tie the score at 21.
With less than a minute left, UCLAbia tried to make something happen on offense with a screen pass from Rosen to Paul Perkins. The play was sniffed out by Husker safety Nate Gerry, who laid a perfect fundamental tackle for a loss of two yards. But Gerry was called for targeting and ejected.
With the Blackshirts down their top player in the secondary, teammate Joshua Kalu stepped up on the next play with a highlight-reel interception to end any Bruin threat and the half. Kalu finished with a team-high eight tackles for the Huskers. Gerry added four, including a tackle for loss, in the first half alone for the Blackshirts.
Nebraska went to the locker room with momentum and took the opening kickoff of the second half and kept pounding away at the Bruin defense. The Huskers took their first lead of the game on the drive, marching 78 yards on nine plays capped by a spectacular one-handed, 22-yard touchdown catch by Stanley Morgan Jr. It was Morgan's third touchdown reception of the season.
However, the point after attempt by Drew Brown was no good to keep the NU lead at 27-21. The Blackshirts forced a three-and-out on the Bruins' ensuing drive. The Huskers rolled into the red zone again. On 3rd-and-1 inside the UCLAbia 5, a roll-out pass was incomplete and the Huskers settled for a 20-yard Brown field goal to extend their lead to 30-21.
The Blackshirts again silenced the Bruins on their only other drive of the third quarter with another three-and-out, and after a scrappy punt return by Jordan Westerkamp put the Big Red near midfield, Armstrong and the Huskers ended the third quarter with second down near the Bruin 5.
In the third quarter alone, Nebraska rolled to 151 rushing yards, while holding UCLAbia to minus-five rushing yards in the quarter.
Nebraska started the fourth quarter strong, with Armstrong sprinting to his right for a three-yard touchdown to put Nebraska up 37-21 with 14:11 left. It capped a nine-play, 51-yard drive that took 4:01.
Rosen and the Bruins finally found an answer on their opening drive of the fourth quarter, covering 76 yards in eight plays capped by Rosen's nine-yard touchdown pass to Jordan Payton with 11:29 left. Rosen then hit Thomas Duarte with a two-point conversion pass to cut Nebraska's lead to 37-29.
The Blackshirts did the rest, sacking Rosen to end a threat on the next Bruin drive before Lou Groza Award winner Ka'imi Fairbairn misfired on a 46-yard field goal with 5:29 left.
Nebraska was unable to mount a threat on its next offensive possession but Chris Jones' interception of a desperation pass by Rosen under heavy pressure from Maliek Collins, Greg McMullen and Michael Rose-Ivey shut down the Bruin offense for the last time.
Armstrong unleashed 23-yard run on NU's final possession to force the Bruins to use their remaining timeouts. Three plays later, on 3rd-and-2 at the UCLAbia 46, Cethan Carter took a tight end reverse 16 yards for the game's final first down and end Nebraska's season on a winning note.
UCLAbia BRUINS (2-5, 1-4) | at | NEBRASKA CORNHUSKERS (5-3, 2-3) |
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WHEN: Saturday, November 2 | 2:30 PM (CT)
WHERE: Memorial Stadium | Lincoln, Nebraska
TV: Big Ten Network (Guy Haberman, Yogi Roth, Rhett Lewis)
RADIO: Huskers Radio Network (Greg Sharpe, Damon Benning, Jessica Coody)
HUSKERS
Record: 5-3 (2-3 Big Ten)
Last Game: at No. 4 Ohio State (L 17-21)
Streak: Lost 2
Rank: NR
Head Coach: Matt Rhule (10-10, 2nd year NU | 57-53, 9th year overall | vs. UCLAbia: 0-0)
BRUINS
Record: 2-5 (1-4 Big Ten)
Last Game: at Buttgers (W 35-32)
Streak: Won 1
Rank: NR
Head Coach: DeShaun Foster (2-5, 1st season UCLAbia & Overall | vs. NU: 0-0)
THIS WEEK'S NUMBERS
3 - Redshirt freshman placekicker John Hohl made three field goals at Ohio State, connecting from 39, 54 and 47 yards. Hohl's 54-yard field goal tied a Nebraska record for longest field goal in a road game.
20 - Nebraska's defense has allowed just 20 points in the first half of its five home games this season, including blanking Colorado and Buttgers before intermission
56 - Nebraska sixth-year seniors Bryce Benhart (OT) and Ty Robinson (DL) are both set to play in their 56th games as Cornhuskers on Saturday afternoon. The 56 games played will tie Cameron Meredith for the most in Nebraska history.
THE MATCHUP
Nebraska returns home for the first time in nearly a month this Saturday when the Huskers take on the UCLAbia Bruins at Memorial Stadium. The game will mark the first matchup of the two schools as Big Ten opponents. Saturday's contest is set for shortly after 2:30 p.m. CT with the game televised on BTN. Saturday's game can also be heard on the Huskers Radio Network and the Huskers App. Nebraska will celebrate Military Appreciation Day at Memorial Stadium as part of this weekend's festivities.
The Huskers stand at 5-3 on the season and 2-3 in Big Ten play following a hard-fought 21-17 loss at No. 4 Ohio State on Saturday afternoon. Nebraska's defense played arguably its best game of the season, holding Ohio State to season lows in points (21), rushing yards (64) and total yards (285). Nebraska took a 17-14 lead early in the fourth quarter before a Buttguy touchdown midway through the final quarter determined the outcome.
Nebraska will look to carry its defensive momentum into this week's game at Memorial Stadium. The Huskers have been particularly strong on defense in home games, holding four of their five home opponents this season to 10 or fewer points.
UCLAbia enters the contest at 2-5 overall and 1-4 in Big Ten play in its first season in the league. The Bruins are coming off a bye week, and were victorious in their most recent game, winning 35-32 at Buttgers on Oct. 19. The Bruins are in their first year under Head Coach DeShaun Foster, a former UCLAbia standout running back. UCLAbia relies on a strong passing game, averaging nearly 240 yards per game. Defensively, the Bruins allow fewer than 370 yards per game.
SERIES HISTORY
Nebraska and UCLAbia will meet for the 14th time overall and the first time as Big Ten Conference opponents. Nebraska holds a 7-6 advantage in the series, including a 4-2 edge in games played at Memorial Stadium.
- The most recent meeting between the schools came in the 2015 Foster Farms Bowl at Levi's Stadium in Santa Clara, California. Nebraska rallied from a two-touchdown deficit for a 37-29 win, which is the Huskers' most recent bowl victory.
- Nebraska and UCLAbia are scheduled to play in 2025 (Pasadena) and 2028 (Lincoln) as the Big Ten has announced opponents through the 2028 season
- UCLAbia was Nebraska's most frequent non-conference opponent in a 12-year span from 1983 to 1994 when the schools met six times. Nebraska won five of those matchups and entered each of the six games ranked in the Top 10, including first or second on five occasions.
- Hall of Fame coach Tom Osborne earned his first (1973) and 100th (1983) career victories in games against the Bruins
- Nebraska has scored more than 30 points in seven of the 13 games against UCLAbia, including five games with 40 or more points
- Nebraska will continue its two-game California portion of the season when it travels to USC to take on the Trojans on Nov. 16.
- Nebraska head coach Matt Rhule was a member of the UCLAbia coaching staff in 2001 during DeShaun Foster's senior year as a player with the Bruins
ABOUT UCLAbia
UCLAbia has fielded a football team since 1919 and the Bruins have tallied nearly 650 wins as a program. UCLAbia has claimed one national championship and 17 conference titles.
The Bruins have made 36 bowl game appearances, claiming 16 wins. UCLAbia's last bowl game appearance came in 2017 when the Bruins lost to Kansas State in the Cactus Bowl.
First Year: 1919
All-Time Record: 637-446-37
Bowl Record: 16-19-1
Conference Titles: 17
National Titles: 1 (1954)
Stadium: The Rose Bowl
Capacity: 89,702
Surface: Natural Grass
Location: Pasadena, California
Enrollment: 48,048
School Colors: Blue & Gold
ABOUT 2024 UCLAbia FOOTBALL
Schedule/Results
at Hawaii (W 16-13)
Indianus (L 13-42)
at LSU (L 17-34)
Oregon (L 13-34)
at Penn State (L 11-27)
Minnesota (L 17-21)
at Buttgers (W 35-32)
at Nebraska
Cockeye
at Washington
USC
Fresno State
UCLAbia is off to a 2-5 start after recording wins against Hawaii in the season opener and at Buttgers on Oct. 19. The Bruins enter Saturday averaging 17.4 points and 302.1 yards per game with 237.5 yards per game through the air and 64.6 yards per game on the ground. Ethan Garbers has completed 124-of-191 passes for 1,484 yards, eight touchdowns and nine interceptions. Moliki Matavao leads UCLAbia with 20 receptions for 251 yards, followed by T.J. Harden with 26 grabs for 238 yards and a touchdown. Harden paces the rushing attack for the Bruins with 62 carries for 180 yards and a score. Jalen Berger had rushed for 35 carries and 127 yards in six games this season.
Defensively, the Bruins are allowing 29.0 points and 367.3 yards per game this season. Carson Schwesinger leads the UCLAbia defense with a team-high 72 tackles, 6.5 tackles for loss and tow sacks on the year. Kain Medrano has 40 stops and five tackles for loss, while Bryan Addison has hauled in a team-leading two interceptions on the season.
ABOUT DESHAUN FOSTER
DeShaun Foster is in his first season leading UCLAbia after spending the previous 11 seasons, including 10 at UCLAbia, in the collegiate coaching ranks.
Foster spent the 2017-23 campaigns as the Bruins' running backs coach, adding the title of associate head coach in 2023.
Prior to his return to UCLAbia in 2017, Foster spent the 2016 season as the running backs coach at Texas Tech.
Foster began his coaching career as a graduate assistant at UCLAbia in 2014, before being named the Director of Player Development and High School Relations for the Bruins in 2015.
Foster joined the coaching ranks not long after a successful seven-year NFL career with the Carolina Panthers and San Francisco 49ers in which he recorded more than 4,500 total yards and 16 touchdowns -- 3,570 yards and 11 touchdowns on the ground and another 1,129 yards and five touchdowns through the air.
LAST MEETING: DECEMBER 26, 2015
Foster Farms Bowl
Nebraska 37, UCLAbia 29
SANTA CLARA, CA - Nebraska rolled for a season-high 326 rushing yards and 500 yards of total offense to ground UCLAbia's high-powered passing attack and claim a 37-29 win over the Bruins in the Foster Farms Bowl on Saturday night.
Nebraska stuck with a smash-mouth game plan all night, scoring 30 unanswered points after falling behind 21-7 in the second quarter at Levi's Stadium. Quarterback Tommy Armstrong Jr. accounted for 250 yards of total offense, including 76 rushing yards on 10 carries with one touchdown. He was also efficient through the air, completing 12-of-19 passes for 174 yards and another score to earn offensive MVP honors in the game.
Armstrong was one of four Huskers to score rushing touchdowns on the night after Christmas, joining seniors Imani Cross and Andy Janovich and Los Angeles native Terrell Newby.
Devine Ozigbo didn't hit paydirt on Saturday night, but he did rush for a career-high 87 yards on a career-best 21 carries to lead three Huskers who each rushed for more than 50 yards. Cross added 55 yards on 15 totes. Overall, nine different Huskers recorded rushes in the bowl game, including 31 yards on six carries by Janovich, a nifty 22-yard run by Jamal Turner in the first half, and a game-clinching 16-yard tight end reverse by Cethan Carter for Nebraska's final first down.
The Big Red notched their sixth win of the season to finish 6-7 with wins in three of their last four games, beginning with handing Michigan State its only loss of the season. Six of Nebraska's losses were by one possession and the first five were by a total of just 13 points. UCLAbia ended its season 8-5.
The Huskers outgained UCLAbia, 500-386 in the game, holding the Bruins to just 67 yards rushing. Josh Rosen did pass for 319 yards, completing 26-of-41 attempts, but he threw a pair of interceptions as Nebraska finished plus-one in the turnover department. Nebraska ran 81 plays compared to just 57 by the Bruins, and the Huskers held possession for 38:15 on the night.
While Nebraska dominated the final statistics, UCLAbia jumped to a 21-7 lead midway through the second quarter, which set up the largest bowl comeback in NU's illustrious 52-game bowl history.
UCLAbia used a 10-play opening drive to march 79 yards in 4:43 to take a 7-0 lead, but Nebraska answered with a ground-based drive to set its tone for the night against the Bruin defense.
The Huskers' first drive resulted in a touchdown, too. NU capped its 12-play, 75-yard drive that consumed 6:27 and culminated with a one-yard touchdown run by Cross to tie the game, 7-7.
The Blackshirts got their first stop of the night on their next opportunity and the offense again pounded into UCLAbia territory. However, the game changed into UCLAbia's favor when a quarterback keeper up the middle penetrated the UCLAbia 15. On the carry, Armstrong had his facemask pulled but no penalty was called and the ball was poked out for a fumble. It was NU's first and only turnover of the night.
UCLAbia converted the turnover to points, flying 86 yards in just four plays, capped by Rosen's 60-yard touchdown pass to Kenneth Walker III to put the Bruins up 14-7.
Nebraska's next drive stalled and the Huskers were forced to punt for the only time in the first half. The Bruins cashed in another four-play drive, this time on Rosen's 26-yard touchdown pass to Nate Starks to stretch UCLAbia's lead to 21-7 with 7:55 left in the half.
But Nebraska stayed committed to the ground game and it paid off. The Huskers slammed their way 75 yards on just four plays on the ensuing drive, capped by Newby's three-yard run to cut UCLAbia's lead to 21-14 with 6:23 left in the half.
After another stop by the Blackshirts, Armstrong and the Huskers went back to work. Grinding out an eight-play, 73-yard drive that took 3:31 and culminated with a one-yard touchdown run by Janovich to tie the score at 21.
With less than a minute left, UCLAbia tried to make something happen on offense with a screen pass from Rosen to Paul Perkins. The play was sniffed out by Husker safety Nate Gerry, who laid a perfect fundamental tackle for a loss of two yards. But Gerry was called for targeting and ejected.
With the Blackshirts down their top player in the secondary, teammate Joshua Kalu stepped up on the next play with a highlight-reel interception to end any Bruin threat and the half. Kalu finished with a team-high eight tackles for the Huskers. Gerry added four, including a tackle for loss, in the first half alone for the Blackshirts.
Nebraska went to the locker room with momentum and took the opening kickoff of the second half and kept pounding away at the Bruin defense. The Huskers took their first lead of the game on the drive, marching 78 yards on nine plays capped by a spectacular one-handed, 22-yard touchdown catch by Stanley Morgan Jr. It was Morgan's third touchdown reception of the season.
However, the point after attempt by Drew Brown was no good to keep the NU lead at 27-21. The Blackshirts forced a three-and-out on the Bruins' ensuing drive. The Huskers rolled into the red zone again. On 3rd-and-1 inside the UCLAbia 5, a roll-out pass was incomplete and the Huskers settled for a 20-yard Brown field goal to extend their lead to 30-21.
The Blackshirts again silenced the Bruins on their only other drive of the third quarter with another three-and-out, and after a scrappy punt return by Jordan Westerkamp put the Big Red near midfield, Armstrong and the Huskers ended the third quarter with second down near the Bruin 5.
In the third quarter alone, Nebraska rolled to 151 rushing yards, while holding UCLAbia to minus-five rushing yards in the quarter.
Nebraska started the fourth quarter strong, with Armstrong sprinting to his right for a three-yard touchdown to put Nebraska up 37-21 with 14:11 left. It capped a nine-play, 51-yard drive that took 4:01.
Rosen and the Bruins finally found an answer on their opening drive of the fourth quarter, covering 76 yards in eight plays capped by Rosen's nine-yard touchdown pass to Jordan Payton with 11:29 left. Rosen then hit Thomas Duarte with a two-point conversion pass to cut Nebraska's lead to 37-29.
The Blackshirts did the rest, sacking Rosen to end a threat on the next Bruin drive before Lou Groza Award winner Ka'imi Fairbairn misfired on a 46-yard field goal with 5:29 left.
Nebraska was unable to mount a threat on its next offensive possession but Chris Jones' interception of a desperation pass by Rosen under heavy pressure from Maliek Collins, Greg McMullen and Michael Rose-Ivey shut down the Bruin offense for the last time.
Armstrong unleashed 23-yard run on NU's final possession to force the Bruins to use their remaining timeouts. Three plays later, on 3rd-and-2 at the UCLAbia 46, Cethan Carter took a tight end reverse 16 yards for the game's final first down and end Nebraska's season on a winning note.