Lincoln – In a game of massive momentum swings, Nebraska running back Emmett Johnson rushed for three touchdowns and safety DeShon Singleton pulled down two interceptions to lead the Huskers to a 38-27 win over Michigan State on Saturday afternoon.
Playing in front of the 407th consecutive sellout with 86,496 fans on hand on a hot and windy day at Memorial Stadium, the Huskers exploded to a fast 14-0 start, before Michigan State answered with 21 straight points to take a 21-14 lead late in third quarter. Nebraska responded decisively with 24 points in less than 12 minutes of game time to improve to 4-1 on the season and 1-1 in the Big Ten. Michigan State slipped to 3-2 overall and 1-1 in the conference.
After a quick defensive stop for the Blackshirts set up the offense on a short field on its first drive. Dylan Raiola orchestrated a sharp, nine-play drive that covered 48 yards in 4:14 culminating with Johnson’s two-yard touchdown run. Johnson finished the day with 83 yards on just 13 carries, while adding a team-leading six receptions for 37 yards.
Less than two minutes later, the Blackshirts forced a three-and-out to set up Spartan Ryan Eckley’s second punt of the day. He didn’t come close to getting it airborne, as Jamir Conn blocked his second punt of the season. Carter Nelson scooped the ball up at the three-yard line and rumbled into the end zone to give Nebraska a 14-0 lead less than eight minutes into the game.
After two quick stops on MSU’s first two drives, the Blackshirts could not get the Spartans off the field the rest of the quarter. Michigan State’s third drive was aided by both a defensive holding and a pass interference penalty in the end zone. In the end, Michigan State got on the scoreboard on a two-yard pass from backup quarterback Alessio Milivojevic to Jack Velling just over two minutes into the second quarter. Milivojevic entered the game for starter Aidan Chiles after he was shaken up inside the red zone.
Nebraska’s offense was silenced the rest of the half, despite a 57-yard punt return by Jacory Barney Jr. and the first of two interceptions in the game by Singleton set the Husker offense up with great field position. Barney’s return gave the Big Red the ball at the MSU 29, but the Huskers were forced to punt from their own 42 after two sacks by the Spartan and a third significant loss following a bad snap.
On 4th-and-42, Archie Wilson managed just an 18-yard punt against a wind that was gusting near 40 mph inside Memorial Stadium. Despite Michigan State starting a drive at its own 40, the Spartans ran just two plays before Singleton snagged his first interception of the game to set Nebraska back up at the MSU 45. The Huskers moved to the MSU 28, before turning the ball over on downs with another quarterback sack on 4th-and-4.
On MSU’s ensuing drive, Singleton shut down the Spartans again with his second interception in just over three minutes of game time, setting the Huskers back up at the MSU 44 with 1:13 left in the half.
The teams went to halftime with Nebraska leading 14-7. Although the Huskers started the second half with the ball, Michigan State struck first on a Chiles 16-yard touchdown run to tie the score at 14 with 6:06 left. Less than four minutes later, the Spartans took all the momentum on a second touchdown run by Chiles – this time from two yards out – to give the Spartans a 21-14 lead with 2:37 left in the third period.
Nebraska’s ensuing drive started with back-to-back incompletions by Raiola. On 3rd-and-10 from the Husker 25, Raiola completely changed the game’s trajectory with a 45-yard hookup to Barney. Johnson took it from there with a seven-yard run, before a 23-yard touchdown burst to cap a five-play, 75-yard drive to tie the game at 21 with 1:11 left in the third quarter.
The touchdown started a 24-0 eruption that put the game in the hands of the Huskers, despite having both a scoop-and-score touchdown by Singleton and an 82-yard punt return by Barney called back within moments of each other. Barney finished the day with two catches for 47 yards, while adding four punt returns for 81 yards despite having the 82-yarder called back.
Following the game-tying touchdown, the Huskers got another huge special teams play by recovering a fumble by the Spartans on the ensuing kickoff, setting Raiola and the offense up at the MSU 28. The Huskers were able to move inside the Spartan 10, before the drive stalled, resulting in Kyle Cunanan‘s go-ahead 27-yard field goal made it 24-21 Nebraska with 13:32 left in the game.
On Michigan State’s next offensive snap, the Huskers appeared to get a scoop and score touchdown from Singleton, before it was correctly reversed. The play initially was ruled a backward lateral before being changed to a forward pass with 13:21 left.
The Blackshirts still forced a three-and-out to set up what appeared to be an 82-yard punt return touchdown by Barney. But the return was called back by a block-in-the-back penalty on the Big Red.
The Spartans and Blackshirts then exchanged stops before Raiola and the offense eventually took over at the Husker 41 with 6:54 left. Nine seconds later, Nyziah Hunter turned a short Raiola pass into a 59-yard touchdown down the Husker sideline to put the Big Red up 31-21 with 6:45 remaining. Hunter’s reception featured a broken tackle early that also caused his shoe to fly off, but he still sprinted down the sideline with one shoe on to the end zone.
The Blackshirts flexed their muscles on the ensuing drive, turning the Spartans over on the downs with the fifth sack of the day of Chiles at the Spartan 17. Two plays later, Johnson exploded into the end zone for his third touchdown run of the day, this time from 11 yards out to put the Huskers up 38-21 with 4:27 remaining.
Michigan State finally found its footing in the fourth behind backup quarterback Milivojevic, who completed 4-of-5 passes before pounding the ball into the end zone from one yard out for the game’s final points.
Raiola closed the day 16-of-24 passing for 194 yards and a touchdown while throwing one interception. He also withstood four sacks for 42 yards.
The Blackshirts held Chiles to just 9-of-23 passing for 85 yards with two interceptions. He was also sacked five times for 35 yards. Makhi Frazier led the Spartans on the ground with 58 yards on 18 carries, while Chiles managed 23 yards on 13 totes with two touchdowns.
The Huskers finished with just 261 yards of total offense, including 194 passing and 67 rushing, while adding 109 punt return yards and seven interception return yards. The Blackshirts held MSU to 240 total yards, including just 145 passing and 84 rushing, while producing just two total return yards which came on the fumbled kickoff return in the third quarter.
Javin Wright led the Blackshirts with 10 tackles, including 3.5 tackles for loss and a half sack, while Vincent Shavers Jr. added nine stops with two TFLs. Singleton added six tackles to his two interceptions.
The Huskers make their first Big Ten road trip next week when they travel to Maryland. Kickoff with the Terrapins is set for 2:30 p.m. (CT) on BTN.
Game Summary
Nebraska 38
Michigan State 27
Saturday, Oct. 4, 2025
Memorial Stadium (Lincoln, Neb.)
Attendance: 86,496
First Quarter (NEB, 14-0)
NEB – 9:09 – Emmett Johnson 2 run (Kyle Cunanan kick), 9 plays, 48 yards, 4:14 – NEB, 7-0
NEB – 7:37 – Carter Nelson 3 blocked punt return (Cunanan kick) – NEB, 14-0
Second Quarter (NEB, 14-7)
MSU – 12:52 – Jack Velling 2 pass from Alessio Milivojevic (Marting Connington kick), 17 plays, 75 yards, 9:45 – NEB, 14-7
Third Quarter (21-21)
MSU – 6:08 – Aidan Chiles 16 run (Connington kick), 11 plays, 48 yards, 7:00 – 14-14
MSU – 2:37 – Chiles 4 run (Connington kick), 7 plays, 38 yards, 3:24 – MSU, 21-14
NEB – 1:11 – Johnson 23 run (Cunanan kick), 5 plays, 75 yards, 1:26 – 21-21
Fourth Quarter (NEB, 38-27)
NEB – 13:32 – Cunanan 27 FG, 7 plays, 19 yards, 2:36 – NEB, 24-21
NEB – 6:45 – Nyziah Hunter 59 pass from Dylan Raiola (Cunanan kick), 1 play, 59 yards, 0:09 – NEB, 31-21
NEB – 4:27 – Johnson 11 run (Cunanan kick), 2 plays, 17 yards, 0:50 – NEB, 38-21
MSU – 2:01 – Milovojevic 1 run (2PAT pass failed), 7 plays, 75 yards, 2:26 – NEB, 38-27
Kickoff: 3:05 p.m. (CT)
Length of Game: 3:33
Source link
