2014 HUSKER FOOTBALL Nebraska Media Relations 4 One Memorial Stadium 4 Lincoln, NE 68588-0123 4 Phone: (402) 472-2263 4 [email protected] 2014 Nebraska Schedule Date Opponent (TV) Time/Result Game 6: Aug. 30 Florida Atlantic (BTN) W, 55-7 Sept. 6 McNeese State (ESPNU) W, 31-24 Nebraska at Sept. 13 at Fresno State (CBS Sports Net.) W, 55-19 Sept. 20 Miami (ESPN2) W, 41-31 Michigan State Sept. 27 Illinois (HC) (BTN) W, 45-14 Huskers Oct. 4, 2014 | Spartan Stadium Spartans Oct. 4 at Michigan State (ABC) 7 p.m. Lincoln, Neb. | 7 p.m. (CT) Oct. 18 at Northwestern (BTN) 6:30 p.m. Record: 5-0, 1-0 Record: 3-1, 0-0 Oct. 25 Rutgers TBA Rankings: AP–19; Rankings: AP–10; Nov. 1 Purdue TBA Coaches–17 Game Information Coaches–10 Nov. 15 at Wisconsin TBA Last Game: Television: ABC Last Game: Radio: Husker Sports Network Nov. 22 Minnesota TBA def. Illinois, 45-14 def. Wyoming, 56-14 Capacity: 75,005 Nov. 28 at Iowa TBA Coach: Bo Pelini Coach: Mark Dantonio Surface: Natural Grass All times Central MSU/Career Record: Career/NU Record: Series Record: Nebraska leads, 7-1 63-24, 7th year Last Meeting:Michigan State, 41-28, 2013 in Lincoln 67-30/8th year; 85-47, 11th year Television vs. Michigan St: 3-1 vs. Nebraska: 1-2 ABC Chris Fowler, Play-by-Play The Matchup Kirk Herbstreit, Analyst Nebraska takes to the road for the first time in Big Ten Conference play, traveling to East Lansing, Mich., to battle Heather Cox, Sidelines defending Big Ten champion Michigan State on Saturday. The game will be televised nationally on ABC, with kickoff set for shortly after 8 p.m. ET in East Lansing. Radio The Huskers enter the Big Ten showdown with a 5-0 record, following a 45-14 victory over Illinois in the conference opener on Saturday night. Nebraska’s 5-0 start is its first since 2010, and the Huskers will be looking to advance to Husker Sports Network 6-0 for the first time since 2001. Greg Sharpe, Play-by-Play The Huskers once again relied on a powerful rushing attack, rolling up 458 yards on the ground against the Illini. Matt Davison, Analyst Nebraska brings one of the nation’s most explosive offenses into the contest, averaging 354.8 rushing yards per game, Lane Grindle, Sidelines 572.6 total yards and 45.4 points per game, all figures that rank in the top 10 in the nation. The victory helped Nebraska move up two spots to No. 19 in the Associated Press poll, while the Huskers are 17th in the USA Today Coaches Poll. Digital Media Michigan State will mark the Huskers’ first ranked opponent of the 2014 season. With a 3-1 mark on the season, Huskers.com MSU is ranked 10th in both major national polls this week. The Spartans suffered their only loss of the season on HSN free audio Sept. 6 at second-ranked Oregon, in a game MSU led midway through the third quarter. MSU has dominated its other three opponents, including a 56-14 win over Wyoming on Saturday. Live stats, game-day information, photos and more The Spartans have won 10 straight games against Big Ten opponents dating back to 2012, including all eight Facebook.com/Huskers regular-season games in 2013, as well as the Big Ten title game against Ohio State. @Huskers on Twitter @HuskerFBNation The Series Nebraska holds a 7-1 edge in the all-time series between the schools, including wins in both meetings in East Other Lansing, most recently a 28-24 win in 2012. Michigan State won for the first time in the series with a victory at Satellite Radio Memorial Stadium last season. Sirius Channel 91, XM 91 The Coaches Nebraska: Bo Pelini (Ohio State, ‘90) owns a 63-24 record (.724) in his seventh season as head coach. He has guided NU to nine or more wins in each of his first six seasons as head coach, joining Bob Devaney and Tom Osborne in accomplishing that feat at Nebraska. His 63 wins trail only Osborne and Devaney on the NU wins list. Pelini joins Alabama’s Nick Saban as the only head coaches in the nation to win nine or more games each of the past six seasons. Michigan State: Mark Dantonio (South Carolina, ‘79) is in his eighth season as Michigan State’s head coach and owns a 67-30 record with the Spartans and an 85-47 record overall as a college head coach. Dantonio has guided MSU to a pair of appearances in the Big Ten Championship Game, including a conference title in 2013. The Spartans have played in a bowl game in each of his first seven seasons and have won at least 11 games in three of the past four years. Nebraska Football Nebraska is 870-357-40 all-time, one of just eight schools with 800 all-time victories w Nebraska has won five national championships (1970, 1971, 1994, 1995, 1997). w The Cornhuskers have won 43 conference championships. w NU’s 50 all-time bowl appearances rank third nationally. w Since 1970, NU has 436 wins, 25 more than any other school. w Nebraska’s 107 football Academic All-Americans lead the nation. w The Huskers have 110 first-team All- Americans in school history. GAME 6 VS. MICHIGAN STATE 1 2014 NEBRASKA FOOTBALL 2014 NEBRASKA FOOTBALL HUSKERS.COM Nebraska-Illinois Stat Wrap Noting Game 5...Nebraska 45, Illinois 14 Team Stats UI NU 4 Nebraska improved to 5-0, marking the Huskers’ first 5-0 start since 2010 season. Nebraska won its 15th straight First Downs 16 35 home night game and improved to 41-5 all-time in night games at Memorial Stadium. The win also gave Nebraska a Rushes-Yards 24-78 70-458 4-0 record at home this season ensuring Nebraska’s 46th consecutive winning home season. Passes 17-38-3 10-21-1 Passing Yards 261 166 4 Nebraska won its sixth straight game overall, including last year’s bowl victory over Georgia. The six-game win Total Offense 339 624 streak ties for the longest under Pelini, and is the fourth time Nebraska has achieved a six-game win streak under Pelini. 3rd-Down Conversions 3-of-14 7-of-15 4 Turnovers 3 2 Nebraska scored more than 30 points for the fifth straight game to open the season, marking just the second time Penalties 7-53 8-70 in the past 19 seasons NU has scored at least 30 points in each of their first five games. NU scored at least 30 points Time of Possession 20:24 39:36 in each of the first six games in 2012. The Huskers have scored 40 or more points in four of five games this season. NU Rushing Leaders 4 The Huskers rushed for 458 yards, including 190 first-quarter rushing yards and 288 yards before half. The 458 Ameer Abdullah–22 carries, 208 yards, 3 TD rushing yards marks the second time Nebraska has topped 400 rushing yards in 2014, after posting 498 rushing yards Imani Cross–22 carries, Career-high 109 yards, TD against Florida Atlantic. It is the third time NU has rushed for 400 yards under Pelini. Nebraska has rushed for more Tommy Armstrong Jr.–10 carries, 66 yards than 300 yards three times this season, and NU improved to 18-0 under Pelini when rushing for at least 300 yards. NU Passing Leader Tommy Armstrong Jr.–10-21-1, 166 yards, TD 4 Nebraska finished with 624 yards of total offense, marking the first time the Huskers had amassed 600 total yards NU Receiving Leader in a Big Ten Conference game. It was NU’s most total yards against a conference opponent since posting 702 yards Kenny Bell–5 receptions, 105 yards, 63-yard TD against Kansas State in 2007. NU Defensive Leaders Randy Gregory–5 UT, 2 AT, 7 TT, 2.5 sacks-17 yards, 3 hurries 4 Nebraska senior I-back Ameer Abdullah rushed 22 times for 208 yards and a career-high three rushing touchdowns. Nate Gerry–1 UT, 4 AT, 5 TT, INT, 2 hurries Abdullah rushed for 196 yards on 20 carries in the first half alone, including 13 carries for 127 yards in the first quarter. Zaire Anderson–4 UT, 5 AT, 9 TT, 3 TFL, 1-9 sack 4 The game marked the second straight three touchdown game for Abdullah after recording two rushing scores and NU Special Teams Leader Drew Brown–1-2 FG, 6-6 PAT, 7 touchbacks a receiving TD against Miami last week. Abdullah now has 28 career rushing touchdowns, including eight in 2014. With his three touchdowns against Illinois, Abdullah increased his overall career touchdowns total to 36, moving him 2014 Big Ten Standings into a tie for sixth place with Tommie Frazier on the NU list. West Division 4 The 208-yard effort was Abdullah’s fourth career 200-yard rushing game and third of 2014. The four 200-yard Records rushing games ties Abdullah with Ahman Green for the second most in NU history, trailing Mike Rozier’s seven career Team Big Ten Overall Next Game 200-yard rushing games. Abdullah also notched a 200-yard game against the Illini for the second straight season, Nebraska 1-0 5-0 Illinois after posting 225 yards last season. Iowa 1-0 4-1 Indiana 10/11 Minnesota 1-0 4-1 Northwestern 10/11 4 With his 22 rushing attempts, Abdullah now has 663 career carries, leaving him just five attempts behind Mike Northwestern 1-0 2-2 Wisconsin Rozier’s school record of 668 carries.