Wisconsin will be Riley’s biggest game as Nebraska’s coach

Two big plays keyed the rally – a 40 yard touchdown pass from Armstrong to De’Mornay Pierson, and an Alonzo Moore 24-yard end around for a score. During the Wildcats’ three-game win streak, Clayton Thorson has thrown for nine touchdowns against one interception and Austin Carr has been the Big Ten’s hottest receiver.

Hornibrook orchestrated a key play on the Badgers’ first-half scoring drive. Nebraska can earn that respect at Wisconsin this week.

NO. 3 CLEMSON 37, NO. 12 FLORIDA STATE 34 – At Tallahassee, Fla., Deshaun Watson had 430 yards of total offense and Clemson held off Florida State.

Nebraska QB Tommy Armstrong Jr. surpassed 10,000 yards of offense in the first quarter, becoming the 11th Big Ten Conference player to reach the milestone.

Prior to that completion, Armstrong had gone 2-of-8 for 13 yards and one interception. Then, Terrell Newby had rushes of 3 yards and minus-1 to the Wisconsin 23.

The nation brims with football realities the various fan bases have hard-wired into their brains, and one is that ever since Nebraska joined the Big Ten in 2011, its trips to Madison have spawned unusual wretchedness and horror.

Hornibrook and Houston ready: Redshirt freshman quarterback Alex Hornibrook is set to make his fifth consecutive start for UW, but no one should be surprised to see redshirt senior Bart Houston get at least one series. Hornibrook had 16 passes on Saturday night, compared to seven for the senior.

Facing a 10-point deficit, even with roughly 23 minutes of game time remaining, Nebraska was left with a tall task.

The game was in danger of getting out of control when the Huskers went three and out on their next possession and the Badgers started with the ball at their own 42. In those players, I saw poise and confidence that a victory was forthcoming, right up until Armstrong’s final pass fell incomplete and Camp Randall Stadium exploded with joy, and some relief.

Wisconsin’s defense is strong enough up front to really dominate games like this, but a near double-digit home favorite with so many guys banged up on that side of the ball feels like a lot. All Nebraska would get is two yards.

Nebraska’s other opportunity to steal the game came when Endicott missed a 45-yard attempt – also wide left – with 1:43 remaining in regulation, but the Badgers’ defense forced a punt at midfield with seconds remaining.

Big-picture, at 4-0 in conference play Nebraska leads the West by a game over Northwestern, while Wisconsin, at 2-2, trails by two. In overtime, the team ran the ball four-straight plays to get the touchdown. On the whole, the Sagarin ratings at USAToday.com rank the Badgers” schedule so far this season as the third-toughest in college football, while Nebraska’s comes in at No. 72, although that will change for the “Huskers from here on out. Can this Nebraska Football team win on the big stage? It will be the clear favorite in each of its final four games, a slate which includes Big Ten bottom-feeders Purdue and IL, though next Saturday’s road trip to Northwestern will undoubtedly be a test.

There’s not a ton of history here, but it’s easy to see how Nebraska and Wisconsin could eventually have a pretty serious rivalry. They’ve outscored opponents 108-13.

Chryst opted to go with Houston in overtime, a decision he didn’t seem to signal meant anything significant moving forward. He added that he easily could have gone with Hornibrook in that spot. Urban Meyer has lost back-to-back games only four times in his 15 seasons as a head coach.

On Saturday, the Badgers wedged themselves back into that conversation in a competitive Big Ten West race, bouncing back from losses to MI and Ohio State to show that they still stand a good chance of going to Indianapolis to get another shot at the Wolverines or Buckeyes.

We were in the same predicament two weeks ago.