Nebraska vs. Northwestern final score, results: Cornhuskers collapse in Ireland after failed onside kick

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“Almost” remains the official word of Nebraska football under Scott Frost.

The Cornhuskers looked to be gaining momentum toward a victory in their season opener against Northwestern on Saturday in Dublin. They were up by 11 with nine minutes remaining in the third quarter. Then Frost attempted an onside kick that Northwestern recovered. The Wildcats scored less than two minutes later and finished the game with 14 unanswered points for a 31-28 victory in Dublin.

Northwestern (1-0, 1-0 Big Ten) iced the game when Xander Muellen intercepted a tipped pass with less than two minutes to play. The pick was Nebraska’s third turnover of the game.

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Northwestern’s approach down the stretch — in which it ran the ball 12 straight times before eventually punting and relying on its defense — could be viewed as overly conservative, but it was a nice contrast to Frost’s onside attempt.

The result was more of the same for Nebraska, which has lost 21 of its 26 one-score games under Frost. His onside kick gamble is even more baffling considering Nebraska is now 3-21 under him after trailing at halftime.

Things were going well for the Cornhuskers (0-1, 0-1 Big Ten) early, with a team full of transfers clicking. Casey Thompson went 5 for 6 on the opening drive, he threw a touchdown that came almost too easily, and he was 17 of 24 in the first half. Nebraska trailed 17-14 at the break.

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The Sporting News provided live updates and highlights from Nebraska vs. Northwestern. Follow the progress below (all times Eastern).

Nebraska vs. Northwestern score

  Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 OT F
Nebraska 7 7 14 0 – 28
Northwestern 3 14 7 7 – 31

Nebraska vs. Northwestern live updates, highlights from Week 0 game

4:12 p.m. — ANOTHER interception by Northwestern may well put the final nail in the coffin for Nebraska. A pass thrown slightly behind Liewer gets tipped and picked by Northwestern. The Wildcats are going to win this Week 0 game in Dublin, in yet another brutal loss for the Scott Frost Cornhuskers.

4:11 p.m. — Great play by Palmer over the middle. He makes a catch and shakes multiple tackles to get a first down and get things rolling for Nebraska. Under two minutes left.

4:10 p.m. — Great punt from Akers to pin Nebraska inside the five yard line. So, with no timeouts and 2:12 on the clock, Casey Thompson is going to have to take his team all the way down the field.

4:09 p.m. — On fourth-and-7, Northwestern lines up to try to draw Nebraska off. They take the delay of game, and they’ll punt.

4:07 p.m. — This is interesting from Northwestern. They run the ball again and get stacked up, making it fourth-and-7 to get Nebraska to burn its final timeout. Putting a lot of faith in their defense here, which is reasonable given the half it’s had.

4:06 p.m. — Nebraska gets another stop, burning another timeout with 2:27 left. Huge third-and-8 upcoming.

4:02 p.m. — Nebraska burns its first timeout with 2:30 left in the game after a first-down stop. The defense looks gassed, and Northwestern is capitalizing. We’ll see if the Huskers can get a stop.

3:59 p.m. — Northwestern seems to mostly be taking the ball out of Hilinski’s hands with the lead. It pays off on third-and-3 there, as Northwestern converts to kill more clock. Every first down matters now. 4:30 left, Wildcats up three.

3:56 p.m. — It’s looking like playing with house money has really hurt Frost and the Huskers. On third-and-15 Thompson guns one out, and Nebraska squanders another opportunity after a Northwestern three and out. Things started strong, but they’re looking more and more dire for Nebraska. 

3:48 p.m. — The hits keep coming for the Nebraska offense. Northwestern blitzes on third down and a man comes free to blindside Thompson and force fourth and long. Wildcats get the ball on their own 15 up three now.

3:41 p.m. — Coming out of the interception, Northwestern is clicking, particularly Hull. With a few run plays, he walks his way into the end zone to get the lead back for the Wildcats. Horrendous sequence by the Cornhuskers, great execution by the Wildcats. 31-28 Northwestern.

3:34 p.m. — Since an outstanding start, Thompson has struggled a bit. He dodged a bullet after throwing a pass into double coverage, but then immediately got picked off by Northwestern’s Cam Mitchell over the middle. Thompson is five of 11 in the second half with an interception.

3:31 p.m. — After failing to convert on third down, Northwestern misses a kick to the right to give Nebraska the ball back. Brutal mistake, and the pressure is on Northwestern’s defense once again.

3:27 p.m. — The third quarter has ended with Northwestern knocking on the door, down 28-24. It looks like this game is going to have a photo finish.

3:22 p.m. — Northwestern’s woes in coverage continue. On third-and-10, Hilinski could have run or passed the first. He completes it to Washington over the middle for a huge gain with no one home, and Northwestern is back in Nebraska territory.

3:21 p.m. — A big part of these struggles are being unable to stay ahead of the sticks. Porter does a nice job of picking up a Northwestern first down, but they’re immediately faced with third-and-10 on a pair of incompletions.

3:19 p.m. — And we get yet another possession change, as Nebraska goes three and out after a big miss from Thompson on first down. Both offenses have stagnated here as the third quarter winds down.

3:15 p.m. — This game has no grasp of the concept of “momentum.” Northwestern is also going to be forced to punt from within its own territory after trying to bait Nebraska offsides on fourth-and-1. Nebraska will have the ball back with the lead.

3:09 p.m. — Nebraska falls short on third down, a rarity today. Vokolek gets hurt for Nebraska, which would be a pretty big loss for the Cornhuskers. Northwestern will get the ball at its own 22 down four with 6:41 in the third.

3:06 p.m. — Coming out of the timeout, Northwestern calls the same play and Cam Porter punches it in to make it 28-24 Nebraska. With the benefit of hindsight, that onside kick becomes an even more confusing call.

3:04 p.m. — The wildcat has not been kind to the Wildcats. The first time they tried to run one they took a delay of game. Now they burn a timeout deep in Nebraska territory. Week 0 Blues.

3:01 p.m. — Scott Frost is apparently feeling himself. Nebraska tries to sneak in an onside kick but Northwestern recovers, and they’ll start in Nebraska territory with nine minutes in the quarter down 28-17. Pivotal series here for the Wildcats offense.

2:59 p.m. — And now we see the snowball effect. After an incomplete deep ball from Thompson, Grant brings his total up to 89 yards and two touchdowns with a huge run in which he shrugged off a Northwestern defender and hit another gear. Nebraska goes up 28-17 in a matter of moments.

2:57 p.m. — Another brutal play here. Cam Porter breaks off a nice run for Northwestern, but has the ball popped out by Marques Buford’s helmet on a perfect form tackle. Great play from the Nebraska defense, tough break for the Northwestern offense.

2:51 p.m. — Nebraska wastes no time capitalizing on that costly penalty, as Anthony Grant bangs it in to give Nebraska the lead again. Big series there for Nebraska to come back from a good Northwestern punch to end the first half.

2:49 p.m. — Northwestern’s defense continues to make costly penalties. With both Northwestern cornerbacks hurt, the secondary commits pass interference on Alante Brown, so it will be first-and-goal Nebraska from the nine.

2:44 p.m. — WHAT. A. PLAY. Casey Thompson breaks the pocket and scrambles outside on third-and-8, before blindly throwing a ball up for Isaiah Garcia-Castaneda. He makes the catch for a huge Nebraska gain to save the drive. As a note: It’s a minor miracle no linemen ended up downfield.

2:39 p.m. — Northwestern has to punt on its opening series, and Nebraska takes a fair catch just outside of its own 10. Good stand by the defense as they stymie a streaking Northwestern.

2:36 p.m. — Hull picks up where he left off with a third-down conversion on the outside. Nebraska’s angles to Hull in the backfield just don’t seem quite right right now.

2:34 p.m. — Northwestern gets the ball after deferring before the game, and they’ll start from their own 23.

First Half Takeaways: Both quarterbacks have been excellent so far, with Ryan Hilinski completing 20 of 23 passes for 214 yards and two touchdowns. Evan Hull, however, is one of the biggest contributors to this Northwestern offense. He has 80 all-purpose yards and a TD.

For Nebraska, Casey Thompson has completed 17 of his 24 attempts for 229 yards and a touchdown. Nebraska’s spacing looks much better in the Mark Whipple offense, and Travis Vokolek looks like he is trying to emerge as a receiving tight end. All things told, a lot of good offense and mostly clean football, sans the Isaiah Garcia-Castaneda fumble.

2:13 p.m. — Brendan Frankie bombs a 56-yard kick right of the uprights, taking us to the half with Northwestern up 17-14.

2:10 p.m. — Nebraska is going to drag this out. After a quick out route, Nebraska gets out of bounds with a second left. It would be a 55-yard field goal attempt.

2:08 p.m. — Nebraska tried to drive with one timeout, but things stalled from the 50 after Thompson was forced to throw a ball out of bounds on a long play that left five seconds on the clock. Northwestern takes a timeout instead.

2:05 p.m. — Touchdown Northwestern! The fourth down sequence leads to a Wildcat touchdown on third down to Donny Navarro. Really nice concept to beat Nebraska and find space.

2:04 p.m. — With 30 seconds in the half, Northwestern takes a timeout before third-and-goal from the Nebraska 6.

2:01 p.m. — Nebraska makes a few bad plays in a row to allow the Wildcats inside their 10. First they miss a tackle on Evan Hull in space before Anthony Tyus III gets in front of Nebraska on a crossing route. Pat Fitzgerald also misses out on a timeout that leads to a NW delay of game. First-and-goal from the Nebraska 14.

1:59 p.m. — Gutsy sequence from Northwestern! Nebraska took two timeouts and, with 1:49 on the clock, the Wildcats line up on fourth-and-1 and dive forward with a QB sneak for a first down. This came after running a rub route on third-and-4 that came up short.

1:56 p.m. — Northwestern shows how to run the ball on third-and-1, as Hull lowers his head and bowls forward for a first down. Hilinski has been accurate, but a few missed passes have gotten Northwestern behind the sticks.

1:51 p.m. — Naturally, you say something nice about an offense and they falter. On a read option, Thompson hands it off on third-and-three and Northwestern stacks up the Huskers. Nebraska is forced to punt, and Northwestern will get the ball inside their own 20 down 14-10 with 3:40 in the half.

1:49 p.m. — As Nebraska converts another third down to Travis Vokolek, one thing that stands out about the Cornhusker offense: The spacing for Casey Thompson is very good. Northwestern is trying to make him beat their zone coverage, and so far he looks patient in reading it.

1:45 p.m. — Things fall apart for Northwestern right after, as Nebraska’s defense buckles down. Northwestern puts a punt inside the Nebraska 10 with about 6:30 left in the half.

1:43 p.m. — Screens are looking like an issue for the Nebraska defense, as Evan Hull takes one into enemy territory! Northwestern is in business.

1:42 p.m. — Northwestern catches a huge break, as Isaiah Garcia-Castaneda fumbles near the Northwestern 10 and Northwestern recovers. Despite Mike Pereira believing it’ll be Nebraska ball, the call stands, the Northwestern takes over possession.

1:29 p.m. — A blown coverage for Nebraska leads to a wide open Raymond Niro! No. 1 catches a 41-yard touchdown pass to make it 14-10 Huskers.

1:26 p.m. — Correction: It was an illegal substitution that led to replaying third down.

1:20 p.m. — Northwestern makes a costly penalty on third and goal, getting tagged for a facemask after stopping Nebraska short of the goal line. Nebraska scores via a Thompson sneak. 14-3 Cornhuskers.

1:13 p.m. — Nebraska ends the first quarter with the ball up 7-3, as Casey Thompson turns in a solid quarter. 7 of 10 passing for 99 yards and a touchdown. On Northwestern’s end, Ryan Hilinski started 7 of 7 for 46 yards, but Northwestern settles for one field goal in the quarter.

1:10 p.m. — Anthony Grant made his best run of the day on 2nd-and-long, waiting behind in the zone run and darting forward for nine years. Nebraska converts on third down to keep the drive alive. Nice work all the way around.

1:06 p.m. — Northwestern hits a field goal to make it 7-3 as the first quarter winds down.

1:02 p.m. — Big play by the Northwestern offense on third down, as Donny Navarro takes a shot en route to catching a pass for a first down. Potentially big play there for Northwestern.

12:57 p.m. — Northwestern’s defense does its job and forces a punt on a 3 and out, so it will get the ball back in great field position. We’ll see if this causes the momentum to swing.

12:52 p.m. — What looked like a promising start for Northwestern falls apart after a false start, and they’re forced to punt. They do stick it inside the five, so Nebraska will have a long way to go.

12:47 p.m. — Well that was fast! Nebraska gets on the board with a touchdown pass from Casey Thompson, who went 5 of 6 for 68 yards in his opening drive. Great job from the Cornhuskers early. It’s 7-0 Nebraska.

12:40 p.m. — Nebraska is cooking with gas early, as they’re already in Northwestern territory.

12:38 p.m. — We’re underway in Dublin! Nebraska will start with the ball at its own 25 with Casey Thompson at the helm.

12:20 p.m. — It looks like Ryan Hilinski will get the start under center for the Wildcats, after a lot of hemming and hawing from Pat Fizgerald about who will get the gig.

12:15 p.m. — Welcome to Week 0 Big Ten football! Nebraska and Northwestern will be playing at Aviva Stadium in Dublin, Ireland at 12:30 p.m. ET, 5:30 p.m. local time. The Sporting News will be providing updates throughout this game.

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