LINCOLN, Neb. — Nebraska narrowly averted Arkansas State’s upset bid Saturday night in front of 90,171 red-clad fans at Memorial Stadium, but the Cornhuskers were not apologizing for their 43-36 victory.
Even if it came down to the final play against a team they were favored to beat by more than two touchdowns, a team Nebraska guaranteed $1.65 million for the visit.
Nebraska players and coaches said they knew what they were getting into when they faced off against ASU, the winner of five of the past six Sun Belt Conference championships.
So, the Huskers were not caught completely off guard when they had their backs against their end zone in the final seconds with quarterback Justice Hansen throwing for a chance to tie and force overtime, or possibly go for two and the victory.
“I think we ran into a buzz saw tonight, a team that really played well against us,” Nebraska Coach Mike Riley said. “We talked about that all along, that this was going to be a darn good football team and they were going to give us fits controlling and moving the football, and they did.
Nebraska linebacker Luke Gifford praised the play of Hansen, who threw for 415 yards, 3 touchdown passes with 2 interceptions.
“We knew he was a good quarterback,” Gifford said. “We respected him a lot. He played his butt off.”
New defensive coordinator Bob Diaco’s unit will be scrutinized after Hansen beat the 3-4 scheme with short passes to the perimeter in the first half and then over the middle in the second.
Hansen finished 46 for 68, setting the school record for completions and tying the Nebraska opponent record.
But Riley said it wasn’t all the fault of Nebraska’s defense.
“They did a nice job with blocking on the edge, converting first downs,” Riley said of ASU, which outgained Nebraska 497-463 and picked up 32 first downs. “His percentage was so high.”
ASU Coach Blake Anderson said he didn’t bring his team to Lincoln for a pat on the back.
“I’m not much for moral victories,” Anderson said. “Getting close is not what we came here for. Looking at this one I felt like it would be a winnable game. We played well enough at times but we made too many mistakes.”
Tre’ Bryant ran for a career-high 192 yards and a touchdown and Tanner Lee threw for 238 yards and two scores in his first game for Nebraska.
The Huskers tried to put away the game by handing the ball to Bryant in the second half, when he had 114 yards on 18 carries. The Red Wolves wouldn’t go away, though.
“We had so many opportunities,” Anderson said. “We didn’t create a lot of turnovers, which is something we pride ourselves on and we had a lot of dropped passes, two of which would have been touchdowns and that changes the game. All of that is fixable and it is all within our control but not what we expected either.”
Arkansas State, trailing 43-29 with 4:18 to play, drove 63 yards in 12 plays and scored on a 3-yard pass from Hansen to Kendrick with 47 seconds to play.
The Red Wolves recovered an onside kick and moved to the Huskers 11 with 9 seconds left.
Lamar Jackson broke up a pass in the end zone for Justin McInnis. Hansen then threw too high to Kendrick Edwards.
“There is no quit in this football team and there is no quit in this staff,” Anderson said. “I think people realize we are going to play 60 minutes regardless of the score and these guys are never going to give up.”
The first 30 minutes ended with Nebraska leading 27-26 after ASU trailed 24-14 with 9:57 left in the first half.
ASU responded to the 10-point deficit by driving to the Nebraska 9, where Hansen threw his first interception, which was tipped at the line of scrimmage and caught by Nebraska linebacker Tyrin Ferguson at the 1.
The Red Wolves outscored the Cornhuskers 12-3 over the first half’s final 9:57, picking up a safety at the 7:00 mark, then driving 61 yards in 10 plays to score on a 3-yard pass from Hansen to Blake Mack with 3:45 to play.
Sawyer Williams’ 39-yard field goal as time expired cut the deficit to 1.
“If we start cleaning up the little things on offense, it will make a huge difference,” Hansen said.
Hansen’s second interception occurred on the second play of the fourth quarter, when he threw a deep pass into heavy coverage on a play that Anderson later took the blame for not accounting for the backside safety.
Nebraska scored a touchdown on the following drive, going up 41-26 with 12:25 left in the game.
“It doesn’t get any easier with Miami coming in,” Anderson said, referencing Saturday night’s long-awaited meeting the the Miami Hurricane in Jonesboro. “But I do feel like we’ve got a good football team in the locker room that can improve, needs to improve in a week, and will.”
Information for this article was contributed by Arkansas Democrat-Gazette wire services.