Game Week: at Michigan State

NEBRASKA at MICHIGAN STATE

Nov. 4, 2023 | SPARTAN STADIUM

EAST LANSING, MICH. | 11 AM CT

 

HUSKERS

Record: 5-3, 3-2 Big Ten

Last Game: vs. Purdue, W, 31-14

Rankings: NR

Head Coach: Matt Rhule

Career/NU Record: 52-46 (8th Year)/5-3 (1st Year)

vs. Michigan State: 0-0

 

SPARTANS

Record: 2-6, 0-5 Big Ten

Last Game: at Minnesota, L, 27-12

Rankings: NR

Interim Head Coach: Harlon Barnett

Career/MSU Record: 0-6 (1st Year)/0-6 (1st Year)

vs. Nebraska: 0-0

 

SERIES HISTORY

All-Time Series: Nebraska leads, 9-3

In East Lansing: Tied, 2-2

Last Game: Michigan State, 23-20 (OT) (2021)

Win Streak: Michigan State, 1 game

 

BROADCAST INFO

TV – FS1 (Tim Brando, Spencer Tillman)

RADIO NETWORK – Huskers Radio Network (Greg Sharpe, Damon Benning, Jessica Coody)

INTERNET RADIO – Huskers.com

APP AUDIO – Official Huskers App

 

The Matchup

Nebraska begins the final third of the regular season with the first of four November games on Saturday at Michigan State. Kickoff between the Huskers and Michigan State will be shortly after Noon ET (11 a.m. CT) at Spartan Stadium, with television coverage provided by FS1. The game can be heard on the Huskers Radio Network, the official Huskers App and Huskers.com.

 

Nebraska heads to East Lansing as winners of three straight games and five of its last six contests. Nebraska's three-game win streak is its first since 2016, and the Huskers just completed an unbeaten October for the first time since 2001. The win streak has Nebraska at 5-3 overall and tied for first in the Big Ten West Division with a 3-2 league record. The Huskers are one win from achieving bowl eligibility for the first time since the 2016 season.

 

Nebraska is coming off a 31-14 victory over Purdue on Saturday in Lincoln with the offense, defense and special teams all playing critical roles. The Blackshirt defense forced three Boilermaker turnovers, while the special teams got into the scoring column by returning a blocked field goal for a touchdown in the third quarter. The Huskers also limited a conference opponent to less than 200 yards of total offense for the first time in six seasons in the victory.

 

Michigan State brings a 2-6 record, including an 0-5 mark in Big Ten play, into Saturday's contest. The

Spartans opened the year with a pair of victories, but have dropped six straight games against one of

the nation's most difficult schedules. MSU is led by acting head coach Harlon Barnett, who took over

the program in mid-September.

 

Series History: Nebraska vs. Michigan State

Saturday's meeting will be the 13th matchup in the Nebraska-Michigan State series and the fifth all-time at Spartan Stadium. The Huskers own a 9-3 edge, including a 4-3 advantage since Nebraska joined the Big Ten.

 

• Five of the seven meetings since Nebraska joined the Big Ten have been decided by five or fewer points, with the past three games decided by a total of seven points.

 

• Nebraska's 39-38 victory over No. 6 Michigan State in 2015 marks Nebraska's most recent win over a top-10 ranked team.

 

• One of the two teams has been ranked in nine of the 10 most recent meetings prior to this year's matchup. The 2011 and 2014 matchups pitted a pair of top-20 teams, with the home team winning

each meeting. 

 

Red October

Saturday's 31-14 victory over Purdue was Nebraska's third straight win, all in the month of October. With wins over Illinois (20-7), Northwestern (17-9) and Purdue (31-14) in October, Nebraska completed its first unbeaten month of October since 2001.

 

• Nebraska's three-game win streak is its first at any point in a season since an eight-game winning streak including a bowl game in 2015 and the first seven games of the 2016 season.

 

• Nebraska's defense allowed just two touchdowns in the month of October. The Blackshirts did not allow a touchdown for a stretch of more than 142 game minutes from the second quarter of the Illinois victory to a fourth-quarter TD pass by Purdue.

 

• Nebraska held all three opponents to 14 or fewer points in October, the first time NU has held three straight opponents to less than 15 points since 2009. The Blackshirts allowed a total of 30 points in October, and the 10.0 ppg were the fourth-best scoring defense in the nation in the month of October.

 

• The Blackshirt defense allowed only five scoring drives (2 TDs) in 39 opponent possessions in October. Opponents began five drives in Nebraska territory following a Husker turnover and scored only nine points on those five drives (1 TD, 1 FG). 

 

Stuffing the Run

The Blackshirt defense has been dominant against the run. Nebraska owns the nation's second-most improved run defense compared to 2022, allowing 110.1 fewer yards per game on the ground.

 

• Nebraska ranks second in the Big Ten and fifth nationally in rushing defense, allowing 79.0 rushing yards per game.

 

• Nebraska has allowed just 16 rushing plays of 10 or more yards tied with Air Force for the fewest in the nation.

 

• Nebraska has held seven opponents to fewer than 100 rushing yards, including Minnesota (55 yards), Colorado (58), Northern Illinois (26), Louisiana Tech (46), Illinois (21), Northwestern (81) and Purdue (96). Only second-ranked Michigan has surpassed the century mark on the ground.

 

• Nebraska has held seven opponents to fewer than 100 yards rushing in a season for the first time since holding eight foes to under 100 rushing yards in 2009.

 

• The four-game streak to start the season was the longest stretch of holding opponents to 100 yards or less rushing since limiting five straight opponents to less than 100 rushing yards in the last two games of the 2003 season and the first three games in 2004.

 

• Nebraska's four-game streak of holding its opponent to less than 60 yards on the ground was its longest since achieving that milestone in the first four games of the 1999 season.

 

• Nebraska has 25 sacks, including season-high totals of eight, both at Colorado and against Northwestern. The 3.12 sacks per game ranks third in the Big Ten and 15th nationally. Nebraska's season sack total is already its best since 2019, and the Huskers are on track for their first 30-sack season since 2013.

 

• The eight sacks against Colorado and Northwestern were the most by a Nebraska team since the Huskers recorded 9.0 sacks against Texas in the 2009 Big 12 Championship Game.

 

• Nebraska had 13 tackles for loss against Northwestern, its most since also posting 13 at Illinois in 2019. The last time Nebraska had more than 13 TFL was 16 at Michigan in 2013. 

 

Running Attack Powers Husker Offense

In addition to the success of shutting down the opponents' running game, the Nebraska offense

has relied on a powerful running game in 2023. The Huskers are averaging 190.1 rushing yards per

game to lead the Big Ten and rank 25th nationally.

 

• Nebraska rushed for 312 yards in its victory over Louisiana Tech, marking its first 300-yard rushing game since running for 427 yards against Northwestern in 2021.

 

• The Huskers rushed for 200 yards in three straight games against Colorado, Northern Illinois and Louisiana Tech, marking NU's first time with 200-plus rushing yards in three straight games since 2018 games against Northwestern, Minnesota and Bethune-Cookman.

 

• Nebraska topped 180 rushing yards in each of the first four games, its longest such streak since having five straight games with more than 180 rushing yards in the middle of the 2018 season.

 

• Quarterback Heinrich Haarberg (157 yards) and running back Anthony Grant (135 yards) each topped the century mark against Louisiana Tech. It marked the first time Nebraska had two players crack 100 rushing yards in the same game since QB Adrian Martinez and RB Dedrick Mills did so against Rutgers in 2020.

 

• Nebraska has seven rushing plays of 30 yards or more which is tied for 19th nationally. The Huskers had four 30-plus yard runs against Louisiana Tech.

 

• Nebraska ranks as one of just seven teams in the nation to rank in the top 25 nationally in both rushing offense and rushing defense.

 

• Nebraska averages 111.1 more rushing yards per game than it allows to the opposition. Nebraska is one of eight teams in the country and two in the Big Ten (Penn State) with a positive rushing differential of at least 100 yards per game.

 

• Nebraska's ability to control the football was evident against Purdue when the Huskers opened the scoring with a 15-play, 87-yard drive that consumed 8:52. That was Nebraska's longest drive of the season in terms of plays, yards and time, and it was the longest drive in time for Nebraska since a 9:24 scoring drive against Northwestern in 2017. 

 

This Week’s Numbers

7 – The combined margin in the past three meetings between Nebraska and Michigan State. The Huskers posted a one-point win in 2015 and a three-point victory in 2018, before the Spartans had a three-point overtime victory in 2021 in East Lansing.

 

70 – Nebraska has three plays of more than 70 yards this season, most recently a 73-yard touchdown pass last week against Purdue. The Huskers' three plays of better than 70 yards rank in a tie for fifth nationally.

 

100 - Nebraska limited Purdue to less than 100 yards in both rushing (96) and passing (99) in last week's win. The defensive effort marked the first time since a 2012 win over Michigan that Nebraska held an opponent to less than 100 yards rushing and passing.