Nebraska looks like legitimate Big Ten West contender in win over Oregon

As the head coach of Oregon State, Mike Riley lost his final seven games to in-state Oregon. He had better luck Saturday on the Nebraska sideline.

Behind a stellar effort from senior quarterback Tommy Armstrong, the Huskers overcame a late deficit to knock off the No. 22 Ducks at home, 35-32. The Ducks took a 32-28 lead early in the fourth quarter, but Armstrong led his team on an 11-play, 65-yard drive to give Nebraska a lead in the final minutes.

That drive was capped off by a 34-yard touchdown run by the gutsy Armstrong, who had been dealing with cramps throughout the ballgame. But the big play of the drive came two plays prior when Armstrong stood in the pocket and found Jordan Westerkamp for a 14-yard gain on fourth-and-nine to keep the drive alive.

When you look at the box score of this game, you’ll see five touchdowns on both sides. However, when Oregon scored its first touchdown of the game, it went for a successful two-point conversion and took an 8-0 lead. This is nothing new for Oregon, but one would think Ducks coach Mark Helfrich would be satisfied with that one-point edge, especially after the Huskers were content with an extra point following their first score.

Nope.

The Ducks went for two on their second touchdown and failed. 14-7.

The Ducks went for two on their third touchdown and failed. 20-7.

Those points would come back to haunt the Ducks.

Following a big punt return from Demornay Pierson-El, Nebraska cut into the lead on an Armstrong touchdown pass to Westerkamp with five seconds left in the first half. The Huskers stuck with its traditional extra point, and Oregon’s lead was cut to 20-14 at half.

That Nebraska touchdown seemed to establish some momentum, and the Huskers came out firing in the second half. Behind a strong rushing attack, the Huskers opened the third quarter with a seven-play, 75-yard scoring drive that culminated in an Armstrong TD pass to Bryan Reimers to take a 21-20 lead.

Nebraska then forced a three-and-out on Oregon’s ensuing drive and expanded its lead to 28-20 with a 10-play scoring drive capped off by a seven-yard Devine Ozigbo touchdown run.

But Oregon didn’t just go away. Montana State transfer quarterback Dakota Prukop, playing in his first road test, led back-to-back Ducks scoring drives to take a 32-28 lead. The first of those drives ended with a highlight-reel 41-yard touchdown run by Kani Benoit, who along with Tony Brooks-James, was seeing increased carries with Royce Freeman out with an injury.

Following a Nebraska punt, Prukop, who threw for 146 yards and ran for 97 in the loss, picked apart the Huskers secondary on a 97-yard drive that Brooks-James finished off with a one-yard plunge. But again, the Ducks (who didn’t really have a choice to kick at this point) left points off the board by failing on two more two-point attempts.

Those points — four in all — set the stage for the game-winning drive for Nebraska.

Even after Nebraska took the 35-32 lead, the Ducks had plenty of time (2:29) to try to tie things up or go ahead, but Prukop was stopped on fourth down near midfield to seal the win for the Huskers.

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This is a big win for Nebraska — especially after the struggles of Riley’s first season in Lincoln. The Big Ten West appears to be wide open, especially with Iowa losing to North Dakota State and Wisconsin having struggled with Georgia State. The Huskers, who open Big Ten play on the road against struggling Northwestern next weekend, look like a team to be feared moving forward.

Oregon has so many marquee games ahead of it in Pac-12 play that this loss isn’t exactly crushing, especially this early in the year. Still, those choices to go for two — especially after the third touchdown — could be something to look back at down the line if the Ducks play their way back into the national picture.

For more Nebraska news, visit HuskerOnline.com.

For more Oregon news, visit DuckSportsAuthority.com.

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Sam Cooper is a writer for the Yahoo Sports blogs. Have a tip? Email him or follow him on Twitter!

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