LINCOLN, Neb. – Michigan State fell to Nebraska 9-6 in a Big Ten Conference college football battle of field goals played amid snowy and windy conditions at Memorial Stadium on Saturday afternoon.
MSU entered the game as a 1 1/2-point favorite.
Nebraska rallied from a 6-0 deficit behind three fourth-period field goals.
Redshirt freshman Rocky Lombardi once again assumed the signal-calling duties for the Spartans. The two teams traded possessions from the outset during a rough and tumble first half. Michigan State took a 3-0 lead at the 7:46 juncture of the opening quarter on Matt Coghlin’s 34-yard field goal, a count that remained in effect at the initial stop.
A Spartan attempt to double the score failed when Coghlin’s try at a 41-yard field goal hit the upright and bounced back with 10:58 to go until intermission. MSU remained on top 3-0 at the half.
The second half provided much more of the same until Coghlin tacked on another three-pointer, this time from 26 yards out for a 6-0 bulge with 12:13 to go in the finale.
The Cornhuskers finally got on the board when freshman Garret Pickering booted a career-best 36-yard field goal to trim the gap to 6-3 with 11:07 showing on the clock. Nebraska then recovered a Lombardi fumble deep in Michigan State territory and knotted the score at 6-all on Pickering’s 20-yard field goal at the 8:07 mark.
After an MSU punt, the Cornhuskers soon took their first lead at 9-6 on a 47-yard field goal by Pickering with 5:13 left. That margin stood until the final gun.
Michigan State brought a 6-4 record into the contest. Next up for the Spartans will be a return home to Spartan Stadium to meet Rutgers next Saturday afternoon. Kickoff is scheduled for 4 p.m.
Nebraska came in at 3-7. The Cornhuskers’ next outing will be a Friday journey to Kinnick Stadium in Iowa City to take on the Iowa Hawkeyes starting at noon.
Those will mark the regular-season finales for both Michigan State and Nebraska.
EARLIER STORY:
https://fox17online.com/2018/11/17/msu-posts-3-0-advantage-over-nebraska-at-the-half/
