Huskers Return Home to Face Southern Miss

GAME 4: NEBRASKA vs SOUTHERN MISS
SEPT 26, 2015 | MEMORIAL STADIUM
LINCOLN, NEB. | 11 a.m. (CT)

BROADCAST INFO
TV - ESPNEWS (Eamon McAnaney, Rocky Boiman)
RADIO - Husker Sports Network
SATELLITE RADIO - Sirius Channel 135, XM 135
INTERNET RADIO - Huskers.com

HUSKERS
Record: 1-2, 0-0
Last Game: Miami, L, 36-33 OT
Rankings: NR
Coach: Mike Riley
Career/NU Record: 94-82 (15th Year)/ 1-2 (1st Year) 
vs. Southern Miss: 0-0

GOLDEN EAGLES
Record: 2-1, 0-0 C-USA
Last Game: Texas St., W, 56-50
Rankings: NR
Coach: Todd Monken
Career/USM Record: 6-21 (3rd Year)/Same
vs. Nebraska: 0-1

The Matchup
Nebraska returns to Lincoln on Saturday for a matchup with Southern Miss at Memorial Stadium. The game will mark Homecoming 2015 at Nebraska. Kickoff for Nebraska's final non-conference game is set for 11 a.m. with the game televised on ESPNews.

Nebraska enters the game coming off another heartbreaking loss. For the second time in three games to open 2015, the Huskers lost on the game's final play, dropping a 36-33 overtime decision at Miami on Saturday. Nebraska had rallied for a 23-point fourth-quarter deficit to force overtime before the Hurricanes prevailed.

The Huskers continue to get a strong play from junior quarterback Tommy Armstrong Jr. Against Miami, Armstrong threw for four second-half touchdowns to ignite the Nebraska rally. He finished the day with better than 300 yards passing for the second time in three games.

Southern Miss will head to Lincoln with a 2-1 record, following a 56-50 victory on Saturday evening at Texas State. The Golden Eagles bring a high-powered offense to Memorial Stadium, as Southern Miss is averaging 513 yards per game. USM had 613 yards of total offense at Texas State.

The matchup is the third in a three-game series between the two schools that also saw the Golden Eagles come to Lincoln in 2012 and 2013, with Nebraska prevailing in both of those contests.

Nebraska Football Top 10
• Nebraska is 875-363-40 all-time, one of only 10 schools with 800 wins.

• The Cornhuskers rank fourth all-time with their 875 victories.

• Nebraska has won five national titles (1970, 1971, 1994, 1995, 1997).

• The Huskers have won 43 conference championships.

• Nebraska’s 51 all-time bowl appearances rank third nationally.

• Three Huskers have won the Heisman Trophy (Rodgers, Rozier, Crouch).

• Nebraska’s 107 football Academic All-Americans lead the nation.

• The Huskers have 110 first-team All-Americans in school history.

• Nebraska football is the only team in any sport in NCAA history to total 100 athletic and academic All-Americans.

• Memorial Stadium has been sold out every game since Nov. 2, 1962, a streak of 343 consecutive sellouts.

NU Looks for Homecoming Success vs. Golden Eagles
Nebraska will play host to Southern Miss on Saturday in the annual Homecoming game in Lincoln. The game will be Nebraska’s 105th Homecoming game. The Huskers boast an all-time record of 78-22-4 (.769 winning percentage) in Homecoming games.

Nebraska has won its past six Homecoming games, including wins over Illinois each of the past two seasons. Nebraska won 36 straight Homecoming games from 1969 to 2004.

Saturday's game will mark just the third time since 1955 that NU has faced a non-conference foe on Homecoming (also 2009 and 2010).

Nebraska Strong Against Conference USA
Nebraska holds a 3-1 advantage in four prior meetings with Southern Miss. The Huskers most recently defeated the Golden Eagles in Lincoln in both 2012 and 2013.

Heading into Saturdays' game against Southern Miss, Nebraska owns a 12-1 all-time record against the schools that are currently members of Conference USA. NU's lone setback against the conference was a 24-17 loss to Southern Miss in 2004.

In addition to Southern Miss, NU is 2-0 against Florida Atlantic and Louisiana Tech, and owns single wins over Middle Tennessee, North Texas, Rice, UAB and Western Kentucky.

Nebraska Suffers Pair of Losses on Final Play
Nebraska heads into the Southern Miss game with a 1-2 record. The Huskers, however, can truly say they are two plays from being 3-0 on the season, with both losses on the game's final play.

• Nebraska's 33-28 loss to BYU came when the Cougars completed a Hail Mary on the game's final play as time expired.

• The Huskers rallied from a 23-point fourth-quarter deficit at Miami to force overtime. The Hurricanes escaped with a 36-33 win after kicking a walk-off game-winning field goal.

• The two final play losses are the first for Nebraska since the 2009 Big 12 Championship Game. Texas kicked a game-winning field goal as time expired to beat the Huskers.

• The 2009 team also lost 16-15 at Virginia Tech as the Hokies scored in the final 20 seconds. However, the 2015 season is the only time in at least the past 35 seasons Nebraska has lost a pair of games on the final play.

Huskers Getting Production From All Parts of Roster
Nebraska has an excellent mix of experience and youth contributing to both the offense and defense in 2015.

The Huskers' two-deep roster includes ample experience, with 15 seniors listed on the current depth chart. However, youth is also being served in Lincoln in 2015.

Through three games, non-seniors have produced the following percentages of statistics for Nebraska.

Non-Senior Production
• Rushing: 90% (485 of 537 yards)
• Passing: 100% (931 of 931 yards)
• Receiving: 94% (877 of 931 yards)
• Scoring: 94% (103 of 109 points)
• Total Offense: 96% (1,416 of 1,468 yards)
• All-Purpose Yards: 94% (1,554 of 1,660 yards)
• Tackles: 76% (139 of 182 tackles)
• Tackles for Loss: 81% (17 of 21 TFL)
• Sacks: 83% (5 of 6 sacks)
• Interceptions: 100% (3 of 3 INT)

Tommy Armstrong Jr. in Third Season Under Center
Junior quarterback Tommy Armstrong Jr. is in his third season guiding the Nebraska offense. The Cibolo, Texas, native has a 17-7 record as the Husker starter, including starting each of the past 17 games.

Armstrong had a strong sophomore season in 2014, and through three games appears poised for bigger things this fall.

• Armstrong has completed 57 percent of his passes for 898 yards and nine touchdowns.

• Armstrong had his third career 300-yard game and second of 2015 with 309 yards at Miami. He also threw for 319 yards against BYU. Armstrong's other 300-yard game was a career-high 318 yards against USC in the 2014 Holiday Bowl.

• Through three games, Armstrong is second in the Big Ten and 20th nationally by averaging 299.3 passing yards per game.

• Armstrong has 11 200-yard passing games, all since the start of the 2014 season. Entering the Miami game, Armstrong has passed for at least 200 yards in six straight games, the second-longest streak in school history.

• Armstrong has 4,559 career passing yards, making him the seventh player to pass for 4,000 yards at Nebraska. Armstrong is just the second player to reach that total prior to his senior season (Taylor Martinez). He is No. 6 on the NU career passing list.

• Armstrong had four touchdown passes against Miami, all in the second half. He now has five career games with at least three touchdown passes. Dating back to last season, Armstrong has 16 touchdown passes in his past five games.

• His 40 career passing touchdowns are sixth on the NU career charts. His 22 passing touchdowns in 2014 were the fourth-most in school history.

• Armstrong had 358 yards of total offense against Miami, the third most of his career, trailing only 422 yards vs. USC. Armstrong has six career games with 300 yards of total offense.
• Armstrong is averaging 317.7 yards of total offense per game to rank second in the Big Ten and 21st nationally.

• Armstrong cracked the 5,000-yard total offense mark against South Alabama. He is the ninth player in school history with 5,000 yards of total offense, and just the third to reach that total before their senior season (Martinez, Eric Crouch).

• With his effort at Miami, Armstrong moved to the No. 4 spot on the NU career total offense list with 5,521 yards. He is 256 yards from third on the chart.

• With 962 career rushing yards, Armstrong is 38 rushing yards from becoming the 10th quarterback in school history with 1,000 career rushing yards.

• Armstrong is one of only two quarterbacks in school history to start 20 games or more before the end of their sophomore season, joining Taylor Martinez.

• Armstrong is one of only nine players in the FBS ranks to run, throw and catch a touchdown pass during their career.

• Armstrong set Nebraska bowl records for attempts (51), completions (32), passing yards (381) and total offense yards (422) in the Holiday Bowl against USC.

In 2014, Armstrong passed for 2,695 yards and 22 touchdowns, while rushing for 705 yards and six touchdowns. He accounted for 3,400 yards of total offense, the third-best total in NU history.

His 261.5 yards of total offense per game ranked second in the Big Ten and 35th nationally. Armstrong also ranked eighth nationally by averaging 14.65 yards per completion.

Westerkamp is Leader of Strong NU Receiving Corps
Junior receiver Jordan Westerkamp is the leader of the Husker receiving corps and one of six team captains for 2015. Westerkamp has had a productive first two years in the Husker program, putting him in a position to make a strong impression on the NU record book.

In 2015, Westerkamp has 15 catches for 233 yards and three touchdowns, an average of 15.5 yards per catch.

• Westerkamp opened 2015 with seven receptions for 107 yards and a touchdown vs. BYU. The 100-yard receiving game was the fourth of Westerkamp's career, tying him for sixth on the NU 100-yard receiving game list.

• With 15 catches for 233 yards, Westerkamp continues to move up the NU charts. He is 11th on the NU career receiving yardage list with 1,263 yards. He is 116 yards away from cracking the top 10.

• Westerkamp is now 14th on the NU career receptions list with 79. He is 12 catches from cracking the top 10 on the NU career list.

• Westerkamp has caught a touchdown pass in four straight games. That is the longest streak by a Husker since Nate Swift also caught touchdown passes in four straight games in 2008. The NU school record is six consecutive games with a TD reception by Johnny Rodgers in 1971.

• Westerkamp caught 44 passes last season, ranking just outside of the Nebraska single-season top 10 in receptions.

• Westerkamp averaged 17.0 yards per catch last season, with 747 receiving yards on his 44 receptions. The 747 yards were the 11th-best season total in school history.

• His career average of 16.0 yards per reception ranks among the top five in school history for players with at least 60 receptions.

NU Continues Reaching End Zone With Regularity
Nebraska has scored at least three touchdowns in 17 consecutive games dating back to a Gator Bowl victory over Georgia in the final game of 2013. The 2014 Huskers became only the fifth team in school history to score at least three touchdowns in every game of the season.

Nebraska’s current streak of 17 consecutive games scoring at least three touchdowns ranks as the third-longest streak in school history. Nebraska can tie for the second-longest streak in Husker history with three touchdowns against Southern Miss.

The Huskers’ streak is also tied for the third-longest active streak nationally. The last time Nebraska failed to score three touchdowns was on Nov. 29, 2013, against Iowa.

Nebraska ranked 12th nationally in scoring last season, and the Huskers rank 38th following three games this season.

NEBRASKA’S LONGEST STREAKS SCORING 3+ TOUCHDOWNS
• 22 games (1996-98)
• 18 games (1982-83)
• 17 games (2014-present)

NATION’S LONGEST STREAKS SCORING 3+ TOUCHDOWNS
• Baylor (18 games)
• Michigan State (18 games)
• Nebraska (17 games)
• Georgia Tech (17 games)

* Check out the attached Nebraska Games Notes PDF for more notes