SportsDirect Inc. staff
Nov 15, 2014
No. 22 Wisconsin 59, No. 11 Nebraska 24: Melvin Gordon needed only three quarters to run for an FBS-record 408 yards and four touchdowns as the host Badgers pounded the Cornhuskers to move into sole possession of first place in the Big Ten West.
Gordon, who entered Saturday with a FBS-high 10 runs of at least 40 yards this season, added five more to that total and left the game for good after taking his 25th carry up the middle for a 26-yard score as time expired in the third quarter. The nation’s leading rusher overcame two first-half fumbles to break LaDainian Tomlinson’s 406-yard effort for TCU against UTEP on Nov. 20, 1999. He is 91 yards shy of joining Ron Dayne as the only players in school history to run for 2,000 yards in a season.
Corey Clement, Tanner McEvoy and Dare Ogunbowale each rushed for a touchdown for Wisconsin (8-2, 5-1 Big Ten), which rolled off 56 unanswered points after falling behind by 14 in the first quarter and has outscored Nebraska 129-55 in their last two meetings. Ameer Abdullah returned from a knee injury he suffered in the Cornhuskers’ win over Purdue on Nov. 1 and finished with 69 yards rushing for Nebraska (8-2, 4-2).
Nebraska took advantage of two first-quarter fumbles – including one by Gordon – and an 18-yard punt to race out to 17-3 lead early in the second quarter when Nebraska quarterback Tommy Armstrong Jr. strolled into the end zone untouched from 5 yards out. Gordon made up for his miscue four plays later, breaking loose for a 62-yard TD sprint before adding another 39-yard run two drives later to set up Clement’s 17-yard score.
Sam Arneson gave Wisconsin its first lead at 24-17 with 3:31 left in the first half on a five-yard touchdown catch and Gordon scored on runs of 1 and 6 yards in the third quarter. McEvoy converted from 11 yards out on the next drive and the Badgers recovered a fumble from Armstrong on the ensuing possession, leading to Gordon’s record-breaking run two plays later.
GAME NOTEBOOK: Gordon, who ran for 216 yards on only nine carries in Wisconsin’s 70-31 rout of Nebraska in the 2012 Big Ten Championship Game, has rushed for 624 yards on 34 attempts in his last two contests against the Cornhuskers. … Nebraska has dropped five of its last six on the road to ranked foes and is 3-9 in such games under coach Bo Pelini. … The temperature at kickoff was 26 degrees – the coldest game-time temperature in Wisconsin since 1964.