Lincoln – Emmett Johnson carried 29 times for 165 yards and a touchdown, surpassing the 1,000-yard mark for the season and the 2,000-yard plateau for his career, but it wasn’t enough to prevent Nebraska from suffering a 21-17 setback to No. 23 USC on Saturday night at Memorial stadium.
Nebraska slipped to 6-3 overall and 3-3 in the Big Ten,while USC improved to 6-2 and 4-1 in the conference,despite the Blackshirts holding the nation’s No. 1 overall offense and No. 1 passing offense to nearly 200 yards under their season averages.
The Huskers played a strong first half in all phases, as the Blackshirts kept the high-powered Trojan offense out of the end zone, while Johnson and quarterback Dylan Raiola helped the Big Red offense to a pair of touchdown drives.
Nebraska closed the first half with momentum, taking a 14-6 lead to halftime after a 10-yard Johnson touchdown run with 1:37 left in the second quarter. The Huskers not only took the eight-point lead, but also stopped USC on the ensuing drive and started the second half with the ball.
Johnson carried much of the load for the Huskers in the first half, rushing 15 times for 76 yards and a touchdown, while Raiola completed 10-of-13 passes for 91 yards and a 14-yard touchdown strike to Dane Key.
The Huskers were unable to get anything going on their opening drive of the second half, but on USC’s first snap, Andrew Marshall pulled down the first interception of his career to set Nebraska’s offense up at the USC 34.
Raiola and the Husker offense picked up a first down, but on 1st-and-10 from the USC 23, Raiola was sacked, fumbled, and was knocked out of the game with a lower leg injury. Although Raiola continued to move up and down the sideline, he did not return to play.
The Blackshirts responded by holding USC on 4th-and-1 at the NU 47, and freshman TJ Lateef made his Big Ten debut, moving Nebraska within field goal range. But a 52-yard attempt by Kyle Cunanan on 4th-and-1 at the USC 34 hit the right upright and fell to the ground in the freshly painted black north end zone.
Jayden Maiava and the USC offense capitalized five plays later with Maiava’s 16-yard touchdown run to pull within 14-12. USC went for the tie and King Miller converted with a run to tie the score at 14.
Lateef and the Husker offense found a response of their own, marching 57 yards on 10 plays capped by Cunanan’s 39-yard field goal to put the Big Red back in front, 17-14, with 12:53 remaining. Lateef finished the game 5-of-7 passing,but the completions covered just