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MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Darius Taylor ran for 148 yards and a touchdown, Drake Lindsey completed 16 of 20 passes for 153 yards and a score and Minnesota sacked quarterback Dylan Raiola nine times in a 24-6 victory over No. 25 Nebraska on Friday night.
The Gophers (5-2, 3-1 Big Ten) have won six straight against the Cornhuskers (5-2, 2-2), who fell short in their bid to win back-to-back road games in consecutive weeks for the first time since 2006. Minnesota coach P.J. Fleck improved to 7-1 against Nebraska, which hasn’t won in Minneapolis since 2015.
Raiola completed 17 of 25 passes for 177 yards for the Huskers, who spent part of a short week of coach Matt Rhule’s candidacy for the vacant Penn State job.
Anthony Smith and Karter Menz each had 2 1/2 sacks for Minnesota. Aided by the program’s most sacks since Fleck became head coach in 2017, the Gophers held Nebraska to a season-low 36 yards rushing.
Lindsey found Le’Meke Brockington in the front corner of the end zone on a 20-yard touchdown pass to make it 14-6 with 2:36 left in the third quarter. A fourth-down defensive holding call kept the 98-yard, 14-play drive intact.
A pass-interference penalty negated a Nebraska interception on Minnesota’s next possession, capped by Taylor’s 1-yard touchdown run.
Minnesota led 7-6 at halftime thanks to a 1-yard, tush-push score by Lindsey 1:40 into the second quarter. Taylor’s 71-yard run down the right sideline set up the touchdown and eclipsed the running back’s 44 yards in the previous two games, his first since missing two contests with an injury.
The Takeaway
Nebraska: Inconsistent line play on both sides of the ball caught up with the Huskers, who were outgained 186-36 on the ground and rarely created a clean pocket for Raiola.
Minnesota: Ranked 114th nationally with 112.3 yards per game before Friday, the Gophers’ rushing attack finally found its legs with the same outside zone runs that have vexed Nebraska in this matchup for the better part of the last decade.
Up next
Nebraska: Hosts Northwestern on Saturday, Oct. 25.
Minnesota: At Iowa next Saturday.
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