Tommy Armstrong named Big Ten Offensive Player of the Week

EVANSTON, Ill. – Tommy Armstrong Jr. threw for 246 yards and ran for a career-high 132 to lead No. 20 Nebraska to a 24 -13 victory over Northwestern on Saturday night in the Big Ten opener for both teams.

Florida State (3-1) bounced back from being trounced 63-20 by Louisville, a road shellacking that dropped the Seminoles 11 spots in the AP Top 25 from No. 2. Now, it’s time to see if they can stay there.

After a week-long break from competition to celebrate the holidays, Nebraska returns to Pinnacle Bank Arena to open Big Ten Conference play against Northwestern on Wednesday, Dec. 28, at 7 p.m.

“I don’t think there were a whole lot of plays that we couldn’t have stopped, it just looked like we didn’t execute, like we fit things wrong”, head coach Pat Fitzgerald said. “We knew that they had some athletic d-lineman so we wanted to establish the running game to open up the passes and we did that”. Not only does Northwestern usually play the Huskers tough, but win or lose, the game following Nebraska’s bout with the Ducks loomed. On defense, Nebraska is giving up just 19.7 points and 358.7 yards per game. San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick was the first player to take a knee during the anthem, and several players and teams have followed suit with similar displays.

Six other Big Ten teams were ranked in the Top 25 – Purdue (11-2) at No. 14, Penn State (10-3) at No. 16, Michigan State (12-2) at No. 18, Ohio State (10-4) at No. 19, Michigan (12-2) at No. 22 and IL (9-4) at No. 24.

On their second drive, the Wildcats stalled inside the Cornhuskers’ 10 and kicker Jack Mitchell missed a field goal try from the 27. “The ability to run the tailback or the quarterback, it’s just a great mix”. “It’s a byproduct of guys preparing the right way”.

“I’m not anxious about records”.

Nebraska’s second goal-line gaffe came on a run by Devine Ozigbo, who was trying to punch in a TD after a 37-yard run by Armstrong to the NU 2 yardline. “What your opponent’s doing, his strengths, the areas they try to attack you”.

“But the team did a nice job, found a way to get two wins, and it’s not any easier this week”.

Statement game: Three Nebraska players kneeled during Jim Cornelison’s rendition of the national anthem, joining a movement started by 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick. Clayton Thorson was 24/37 for 249 yards, one touchdown and two interceptions. The helmet has a metallic red “N” logo on both sides and is accented with numbers in metallic red and metallic chrome outlining on the back of the helmet.

This is pretty cool and I would expect every Big Ten team that meets up with Nebraska this year will honor the punter. Nebraska ranks fifth in the nation with a plus-6 turnover margin after finishing minus-12 in 2015.

The personal fouls, something Nebraska had issues with the past couple games, were limited today, and Tommy proved he could throw the ball away under pressure as opposed to throwing it directly into the hands of the defenders. The senior is second with six receptions per game and third with 94.3 receiving yards per game. The senior wide out also finished with a ten-yard rushing touchdown, his first rushing touchdown of his career.