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MSU football survives late comeback attempt, defeats Nebraska 27-22 at Spartan Stadium

October 5, 2014
<p>Junior defensive end Shilique Calhoun stiff arms Nebraska wide reciever De'Mornay Pierson-El after recovering a Nebraska fumble on Oct. 4, 2014, at Spartan Stadium. The Spartans defeated the Cornhuskers, 27-22. Julia Nagy/The State News</p>

Junior defensive end Shilique Calhoun stiff arms Nebraska wide reciever De'Mornay Pierson-El after recovering a Nebraska fumble on Oct. 4, 2014, at Spartan Stadium. The Spartans defeated the Cornhuskers, 27-22. Julia Nagy/The State News

Photo by Julia Nagy | The State News

In front of a mostly empty stadium, No. 10 MSU (4-1 overall, 1-0 Big Ten) survived a late comeback scare No. 19 Nebraska (5-1 overall 1-1 Big Ten.) to win 27-22. 

A one point in the second half had a 27-3 lead, and the game looked to be well in hand. It was at that point when, as junior quarterback Connor Cook admitted, the team began to take the foot off the gas a little bit.

“Once you get a lead and start to get comfortable, you let your guard down a little,” he said. “I think that happened to me a little bit, I kind of thought this one was in the bag.”

In their first real test since losing to Oregon, MSU led the game from start to finish. Nebraska has historically been able to run the ball on MSU’s rush defense, even in losses, but  the Spartan defense remained stout, giving up only 47 yards on the ground.

Nebraska had 329 total yards of offense.

Cook did not have his best performance, but made key throws when he needed to. Other than a tipped pass in the first that was intercepted, Cook stayed mistake-free and went 11-of-29 with 234 yards and one touchdown.

Senior wide receiverTony Lippett was again Cook’s go-to target throughout the game. He finished with three catches for 104 yards and rushed for a 31 yard touchdown in the third quarter.

Nebraska mounted a comeback, which included a 61 yard punt return for a touchdown by Nebraska freshman wide receiver De’Mornay Pierson-el late in the fourth quarter when the game looked to be in MSU’s hands.

MSU recovered an kick with a little more than three minutes left in the game and were able to hang on.

When Nebraska mounted their comeback, much of the stadium was already. Head coach Mark Dantonio expressed disappointment in some of the fans leaving the game early.

“I was disappointed, I can’t help myself,” he said. “I don’t call on the fans often, but we needed it to be loud in there. This is a big football game. I guess it’s Saturday night.”MSU will play Purdue (3-3 overall 1-1 Big Ten) on the road next week. Kickoff is scheduled for 3:30 p.m.

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