Huskers and Gophers at 11 am on FS1

GAME 10: NEBRASKA at MINNESOTA
NOV. 4, 2017 | TCF Bank Stadium
MINNEAPOLIS, MINN. | 11 a.m. (CT)

BROADCAST INFO
TV - FS1
RADIO - Husker Sports Network
SATELLITE RADIO - Sirius Channel 134, XM 196
INTERNET RADIO - Huskers.com

HUSKERS
Record: 4-5, 3-3 Big Ten
Last Game: lost to Northwestern, 31-24 (OT)
Rankings: NR
Coach: Mike Riley
Career/NU Record: 112-96 (17th Year)/19-16 (3rd Year) 
vs. Minnesota: 2-0

GOPHERS
Record: 4-5, 1-4 Big Ten
Last Game: lost to Michigan, 33-10
Rankings: NR
Coach: P.J. Fleck
Career/MN Record: 34-27 (5th Year)/4-5 (1st Year)
vs. Nebraska: first meeting

The Matchup
Nebraska heads to Minnesota for the first of two consecutive November road games. The Huskers will take on the Golden Gophers on Saturday at Minnesota's TCF Bank Stadium. Kickoff is set for shortly after 11 a.m. CT, with national television coverage on FS1. The game can also be heard on the IMG Husker Sports Network.

Saturday's game is a key contest for the bowl hopes of both Nebraska and Minnesota, who both enter the game with a 4-5 record with three games to play. The Huskers and Gophers both need a pair of victories in the final three weeks to secure a postseason berth.

Nebraska's path to a bowl game got a little more difficult following a 31-24 overtime loss to Northwestern on Saturday in Lincoln. The Huskers took a touchdown lead into the final quarter, but the Wildcats rallied to force their third sraight overtime and prevailed in the extra session.

Minnesota enters the game with a 4-5 record and a 1-5 mark in Big Ten Conference play, following a 33-10 loss at Michigan on Saturday. The Gophers opened the year with a 3-0 non-conference record, before finding the going tougher in conference action, and posting a 1-5 record in Big Ten action.

Minnesota is led by first-year head coach P.J. Fleck, who guided Western Michigan to an unbeaten regular season in 2016. The Gophers have a strong defense, ranking fifth in the Big Ten, including second in the conference in pass defense.

Nebraska Football Top 10
• Nebraska is 893-377-40 all-time, one of only 10 schools with 800 wins.

• The Cornhuskers rank fourth all-time with their 893 victories.

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

• The Huskers have won 46 conference championships.

• Nebraska’s 53 all-time bowl appearances rank second in NCAA history.

• 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 360 consecutive sellouts.

Nebraska-Minnesota Series
• Nebraska holds a 4-2 edge in the series since joining the Big Ten Conference in 2012.

• Before joining the Big Ten in 2011, Minnesota was Nebraska's most frequent opponent among conference schools. The teams met 51 times before the Huskers joined the Big Ten, including 19 straight seasons from 1934 to 1952, and eight straight years from 1967 to 1974. 

• Minnesota's victory in 2013 ended a 16-game Nebraska win streak in the series, a streak that spanned from 1963 to 2012. Nebraska posted five shutouts during that win streak. 

• Minnesota owned a 29-6-2 record in the first 37 games in the series, while Nebraska holds an 18-2 edge since that time. 

• Nebraska scored 84 points in a 1983 win at Minnesota, its highest point total in the post-World War II era.

Moos Named Nebraska Athletic Director
Bill Moos, a distinguished leader in collegiate athletics who elevated programs at the Oregon and Washington State to national prominence, was named Nebraska’s athletic director on Sunday, Oct. 15.

Moos, who had been director of athletics at Washington State since 2010, began his tenure in Lincoln on Monday, Oct. 23.

In his seven years at Washington State, Moos secured a 10-year, $35 million marketing rights agreement with IMG College and led a $130 million addition and remodel of WSU’s football stadium. He was in a leading position in securing the conference’s 12-year, $3 billion television contract with Fox and ESPN. In Moos’ time in Pullman, the Cougar Athletic Fund’s Annual Giving program has seen an 81 percent increase in gifts. From 2010-16, Cougar student-athletes and coaches earned 805 academic all-conference honors, 130 all-conference selections, 45 All-America accolades and three Pac-12 coach-of-the-year honors.

Moos led Oregon’s athletics from 1995-2007, during which time the athletic department grew to national prominence – its annual budget rose from $18.5 million in his first year to more than $40 million by 2007 and became self-sufficient. In Moos’ Oregon tenure, the Ducks won 13 Pac-10 championships in six different sports; and UO student-athletes earned 722 academic all-conference selections, 34 Academic All-America selections, nine NCAA post Graduate Scholars and one NCAA Top VIII Award.

Moos came to Oregon after five years as the University of Montana’s director of athletics. He began his career in 1982 as assistant athletic director at Washington State and also was the school’s associate director. He was director of development for more than five years and associate director for nearly two, supervising all external operations. For eight years prior to that, he managed and owned private businesses in Washington and Oregon.

Raised on a wheat and cattle ranch in eastern Washington, Moos went to high school in Olympia when his father was in the governor’s cabinet. He earned a bachelor’s degree in history in Pullman and was a three-year letterman in football. He co-captained Washington State’s 1972 team and was first-team All-Pac-8. He and his wife Kendra have three daughters, Christa, Brittany and Kaiti; and two sons, Bo and Benjamin

Riley in Third Season at Helm of Husker Program
Head Coach Mike Riley is in his third season as the Nebraska head coach in 2017. Riley has guided the Huskers to an 19-16 record.

• Riley is in his 26th season as a head coach, tying for the second-most experience of any FBS head coach entering the 2017 season.

• Riley is one of eight active FBS head coaches who also has experience as an NFL head coach.

• Riley owns 16 victories over nationally ranked opponents during his college head coaching tenure.

Senior Linebacker Weber Named NFF Scholar-Athlete
Nebraska linebacker Chris Weber joined an elite group of scholar-athletes on Nov. 1, as the senior was one of 13 finalists by the National Football Foundation and College Hall of Fame for the 2017 William V. Campbell Trophy, presented by Fidelity Investments®.

As a finalist, Weber will receive an $18,000 postgraduate scholarship as a member of the NFF National Scholar-Athlete Class, and will travel to New York City in December for the 60th annual NFF Awards Dinner on Dec. 5.

Weber is Nebraska’s first Campbell Trophy finalist since Spencer Long in 2013, and the 23rd Husker football player to receive this prestigious honor for achievement on the playing field and in the classroom. Weber looks to become NU’s third Campbell Trophy winner, joining Kyle Vanden Bosch (2000) and Rob Zatechka (1994).

Weber has started all nine games and leads the Huskers in tackles (77), tackles for loss (7) and pass breakups (five). He has four games of at least 10 tackles. In the classroom, Weber carries a 3.96 GPA and has already been accepted to medical school at UNMC. He is a two-time CoSIDA Academic All-District VII selection (and was nominated for Academic All-America honors in 2017) and a three-time Distinguished Big Ten Scholar.

Veterans Leading Young 2017 Husker Team
The 2017 version of Nebraska football is one of the youngest teams in the Big Ten Conference. Coupled with that youth, Nebraska does feature several players with extensive starting experience. Nine players have at least 20 career starts at Nebraska, led by place-kicker Drew Brown.

Overall, Nebraska has 20 players with at least 10 collegiate starts, including quarterback Tanner Lee, who made 19 starts at Tulane and has started each game in 2017 with the Huskers.

Numerous Huskers Make First Career Starts in 2017
Due to injuries and youth, Nebraska has had a number of players make their first career starts in 2017. Most recently, Nebraska saw redshirt freshman safety Marquel Dismuke make his first start at safety against Northwestern. He was the fourth player to start at safety this season.

The start by Dismuke brought Nebraska's first-time starters total in 2017 to 19 players.

First-Time Starters in 2017
• Luke Gifford, LB (7)
• Tyler Hoppes, TE (8)
• Connor Ketter, TE (8)
• Eric Lee Jr., CB (6)
• Brenden Jaimes, Fr., OT (6)
• Michael Decker, So., C (5)
• Mikale Wilbon, Jr., IB (4)
• JD Spielman, RFr., WR (3)
• Sedrick King, Jr., LB (3)
• Tre Bryant, IB (2)
• Matt Farniok, RFr., OT (3)
• Gabe Rahn, Sr., WR (1)
• Ben Stille, RFr., LB (1)
• Dicaprio Bootle, RFr., DB (1)
• Conor Young, So., WR (1)
• Mohamed Barry, So., LB (1)
• Alex Davis, So., LB (2)
• Tyjon Lindsey, Fr., WR (1)
• Marquel Dismuke, RFr., S (1)

Jaimes Joins Rare Club for NU Offensive Linemen
True freshman Brenden Jaimes has lined up as the starter at right tackle the past six games. Jaimes originally started at right tackle where senior David Knevel and redshirt freshman Matt Farniok were out with injury, but has continued to hold the No. 1 spot after those two have returned.

A native of Austin, Texas, Jaimes' six starts are the most ever for a Nebraska true freshman offensive lineman.

Jaimes is just the fifth true freshman offensive lineman to start a game at NU since 1972, and the first since 2011. He is also just the 11th offensive lineman to play at Nebraska as a true freshman.

True Freshman OL Starters in Nebraska History (Since 1972)
• Matt Slauson, OG (3 games, 2005)
• Jacob Hickman, C (1 game, 2006)
• Javorio Burkes, OT (3 games, 2007)
• Tyler Moore, OT (4 games, 2011)
• Brenden Jaimes, OT (6 games, 2017)

Injuries Bug Plauges 2017 Huskers
Nebraska continues to battle through an injury-riddled 2017 season. The injury hits started in the summer when All-America candidate cornerback Chris Jones was sidelined with a knee injury. Jones returned against Wisconsin in a part-time role at cornerback, and was back in the starting lineup the past three games.

Nebraska running back starter Tre Bryant went down with a knee injury after two games and has missed the next five games, before undergoing season-ending knee surgery in late October.

Nebraska has been without several starters or key reserves for several weeks. Linemen Tanner Farmer and Michael Decker were lost for an extended period of time at Purdue, and linebacker Luke Gifford and safeties Aaron Williams and Antonio Reed have missed the past two games. 

• Through nine games, Nebraska has lost 32 games by projected starters to injury.

NU Features Triple Threat of Wideouts in Passing Attack
Nebraska began the season with the luxury of two veteran and proven pass catchers to lead the receiving corps. Senior De'Mornay Pierson-El and junior Stanley Morgan Jr. both had extensive playing experience entering 2017.

That duo has had a strong 2017 season, and continues to climb Nebraska season and career charts. Redshirt freshman JD Spielman has emerged to give Nebraska three dangerous receiving options. 

Morgan has 43 receptions for 690 yards and seven touchdowns, despite missing a game. Morgan ranks among the conference leaders in all receiving categories and capped the Purdue contest with a game-winning touchdown with 14 seconds remaining. 

Spielman produced a Nebraska record 200-yard receiving day on 11 catches against Ohio State. He has 40 receptions for 593 yards, and is threatening Husker freshman receiving records. Pierson-El has caught 35 passes for 467 yards and four touchdowns.  

• Morgan ranks second in the Big Ten in receiving yards (690), receiving yards per game (86.3 ypg), and receiving touchdowns (7) and he is first in 100-yard receiving games (4). 

• The 690 receiving yards by Morgan is just 90 yards from the NU season top 10 and is 252 yards from the Husker single-season record. His 43 catches are seven shy of the school season top 10 list.

Nebraska's full notes package can be found in the PDF file at the top of this page