Latest Nebraska heartbreak comes to Wisconsin

A loss would have dropped UW to 0-2 in the Big Ten and put it two games (plus a tiebreaker) behind undefeated Iowa in the West Division.

The Husker offense responded to the Wisconsin drive and then a few.

In the final minutes of the third quarter, Wisconsin cut Nebraska’s lead to four with kicker Rafael Gaglianone kicking a 45-yard field goal.

Through six games, Wisconsin’s leading receiver has amassed more yardage than its leading rusher.

Senior fullback Andy Janovich busted a 55-yard touchdown run with 3:38 remaining to give Nebraska a 21-20 lead. Riley said he never considered passing, wanting to force the Badgers to use all three of their timeouts.

This is not the most ideal of times to go out on the road and play at Nebraska.

For Gaglianone, the field goal at the end of the game was a redeeming one, as he missed the go-ahead attempt just about 90 seconds early. The Huskers are 2-4. They’re throwing it all over the yard.

Did the coaches consider calling a pass to pick up the third down against Wisconsin?

RILEY-CHRYST REUNION: Wisconsin’s Chryst and Nebraska’s Mike Riley have a history dating to 1991.

This is a very important game for different reasons than we thought at the beginning of the year. “That’s what we hit the big [Janovich] run on, with that personnel group”.

Center Dan Voltz (left arm/wrist) and running back Taiwan Deal (left ankle), who were injured Saturday against Nebraska, are questionable to suit up against Purdue. “We have to stick together and drive on to next week”. You run the risk of a free hitter in a pressure situation, so those situations they’re kind of hit-and-miss …

He said in the postgame he wants officials to be consistent on how they call pass interference.

Langsdorf went the safe route.

Armstrong took blame on behalf of the players for the failure to convert. “I feel like there’s tangible things that we’ve just got to do better”. “We trusted our coaches”. We already know they haven’t forgotten how to fight and win.

Armstrong is absolutely correct.

Wisconsin’s next matchup will certainly be a challenge as the Badgers look to make it five in a row.

“It helps that guys have been in big games like this, to keep the young guys poised and keep them calm and be patient and don’t get the jitters or anything”, safety Michael Caputo said.

Knowing the unit’s struggles, why be so conservative on offense?

Cornerback Darius Hillary shadowed Westerkamp all over the field and limited him to one catch for 6 yards in UW’s 59-24 victory. “We had to make plays and enough plays were made”.

But what’s done is done, and hindsight is 20/20 (yuck, clichés). Just like last week, the questions arise about Riley, who was brought on after Bo Pelini got the axe. They’re a good team.

More importantly, though, there’s momentum that this team can glean from Saturday’s loss, believe it or not. “I’m not sure where it ranks (overall) – I’d probably have to sit down and think about it a little bit – but that was a really cool atmosphere. I think that’s a thread, and I think the other thing is down-the-field passing defense”. Nebraska hasn’t exactly been dealing with Baylor or TCU, but it’s allowing 354 yards per game.

Or maybe they just need to seek out and destroy the Horcruxes to banish the Dark Third-and-7 situations.