Huskers Down Spartans To Remain Undefeated
Vincent Genatone scored a pair of touchdowns and the Nebraska football team opened the Big Ten season with a 31-13 victory over the Michigan State Spartans in East Lansing, Mich., on Saturday evening.
With the win, Nebraska moved to 4-0 on the season and 1-0 in the Big Ten. Michigan State fell to 2-2 overall and 1-0 in the Big Ten.
As a team, Nebraska logged 369 yards and held the Spartans to 257, including a 157-39 advantage in rushing yards. The Huskers forced two interceptions and one lost fumble on the day.
Anthony Colandrea led the Huskers’ passing and rushing attack, as he was 15-of-27 for 212 yards in the air, along with two passing touchdowns. Colandrea rushed for 66 yards and an average of 6.6 yards per play.
Genatone added two touchdowns, one in the air and one on the ground. Genatone’s first score, a 13-yard reception in the end zone, was the first reception of his career. Kwazi Gilmer caught four passes for 101 yards, the first 100+ yard game of his career. Mekhi Nelson logged 61 yards and a touchdown.
Dwayne McDougle and Victor Evans paced the Husker defense with six and five tackles, respectively, while Owen Chambliss added an interception. Williams Nwaneri contributed two sacks.
Michigan State opened up the scoring with a 48-yard field goal with 5:10 left in the first quarter.
The Huskers struck back right away, as Colandrea found Gilmer in the end zone on a 44-yard pass. NU originally went three-and-out, but a Michigan State holding penalty extended the drive and allowed the Big Red to grab a 7-3 lead going into the second quarter.
Nelson highlighted Nebraska’s second scoring drive, as he had a pivotal 19-yard run to put the Huskers deep in MSU territory. Nelson also rushed four yards into the end zone to extend NU’s lead to 14-3.
Kyle Cunanan put a 32-yard field goal through the uprights to make the score 17-3 after a five-play, 1:11 Big Red drive that started because of an Owen Chambliss interception.
The Spartans used a 10-play, 79-yard drive to cut the lead to 17-10 with six minutes left in the half.
Genatone scored his first career touchdown on his first career reception to put Nebraska up 24-10 going into the half.
Michigan State added a field goal to put the score at 24-13 with 10:02 to go in the third quarter.
The two teams went scoreless for the rest of the third quarter before Genatone registered his second score of the day to put the Big Red ahead 31-13 and lock up the Huskers’ first road and conference victory of the season.
The Huskers will return to Memorial Stadium on Saturday, Oct. 3 against Maryland. The game is set to start at 3 p.m. (CT) and will be televised on FS1. The contest can also be heard across the Huskers Radio Network and tickets can be purchased at huskers.com/tickets.