Gophers use timely big plays to stun Nebraska 13-10 in Big Ten football opener

Given a second chance to make a spectacular touchdown catch, Daniel Jackson seized the moment.

Tyler Nubin and Dragan Kesich made sure it didn't go for naught.

Kesich kicked a 47-yard field goal as time expired, giving the Gophers a 13-10 victory over Nebraska and a thrilling fourth-quarter comeback on Thursday night in the season opener at Huntington Bank Stadium. The winning kick was set up by Nubin's second interception of the game, coming with 58 seconds left.

"We were poised, and we kept saying on the sideline, 'It's gonna hit, we're gonna get opportunities, we will have a chance,' '' Gophers coach P.J. Fleck said. "And nobody stopped believing on that sideline.''

Athan Kaliakmanis completed 24 of 44 passes for 196 yards and was at his best on Minnesota's final two drives, leading his team to 10 points in the final 2:32 in front of a sold-out crowd of 53,629.

Jackson caught nine passes for 68 yards. Three plays before his tying TD catch, he almost made an even-more-spectacular diving catch while dragging a toe just barely out bounds. Then, he hauled in a 13-yard touchdown pass from Kaliakmanis by leaping high and dragging his left foot in bounds as the rubber pellets stirred.

That play, and Kesich's extra point, tied the score 10-10 with 2:32 left in the fourth quarter.

"We trust Daniel with the ball in his hands,'' Kaliakmanis said, "and you know he's gonna make that play.''

Added Jackson: "I'm just happy I could do it for my brothers and that I could come through when my name was called. It feels really good.''

So good that Fleck has a special place in mind for it in his office.

"That's a catch that goes on the wall forever,'' the coach said.

Nebraska looked as if it might spoil the Gophers' party when it flipped momentum on a trick play in the third quarter. The gamble looked as if it would blow up for Nebraska when quarterback Jeff Sims pitched the ball to running back Anthony Grant on his right, then drifted to the left.

Grant threw a lateral Sims' way, but the quarterback let the ball slip through his hands, and surely it would lead to a busted play, right? Nope. Because the football is oblong and produces odd bounces, it hopped back up into Sims' hands. The Georgia Tech transfer then spotted a wide-open Alex Bullock for a 34-yard touchdown pass and a 7-3 lead.

Tristan Alvano added a 27-yard field goal to give Nebraska a 10-3 lead early in the fourth quarter. Sims rushed 19 times for 91 yards and completed 11 of 19 passes for 114 yards with a TD and three interceptions. Rahmir Johnson's 63-yard kickoff return to open the second half set up the Nebraska go-ahead TD.

The Gophers rushed 25 times for only 55 yards, including just 16 in the second half. Nebraska's four turnovers, however, gave Minnesota life.

One of those turnovers — cornerback Justin Walley forcing fumble by Anthony Grant that Aidan Gousby recovered at the Minnesota 47 — set up the tying touchdown.

"He wasn't really looking at me,'' Walley said of Grant. "We practice 'punch time' so much that it's really instinctual. The ball was out, so I punched it out.''

Ten plays later, Jackson made his big catch. Another key in the march was Bryce Williams' fourth-and-1 conversion with 3:53 left that included a facemask penalty on Nebraska's Cameron Lenhardt that moved the ball to the 28. Kaliakmanis' hookup with tight end Brevyn Spann-Ford for a 15-yard gain to the 13 put the Gophers in business.

With 2:32 to play, the Huskers took over and drove to the Minnesota 46. Nubin, however, picked off Sims again and returned the interception 14 yards to the Gophers 49.

"It's always been a dream of mine to make a play and hear Gus Johnson's high-pitched voice on TV,'' Nubin said of the Fox play-by-play announcer.

Three completions by Kaliakmanis for 19 yards and an 11-yard run by Sean Tyler moved the Gophers to the Huskers 29 with 3 seconds left. In came Kesich, who nailed the kick and sent the stadium into a frenzied celebration.

"Nubin gets the pick, the offense does what they do and got us into field-goal range,'' Kesich said. "From there, everything went black. That's the moment kickers dream up — a nice walk-off field goal like that.''