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Nebraska Football Tied with USC at Halftime

With bowl eligibility on the line for Nebraska football, the Huskers are tied at the half in L.A.

Kaleb Henry

Joseph Maiorana-Imagn Images
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The hunt for bowl eligibility will continue to be a battle for at least another 30 minutes.

Nebraska football and USC are tied 14-14 at the half. The Huskers are searching for that elusive sixth win while the Trojans need to win two of their final three games for bowl eligibility.

NU got on the board first with a pick-6 from Ceyair Wright. The former Trojan grew up and went to high school just up the road from the L.A. Coliseum.

USC's offense got rolling after that interception, though. After starting 2-for-7, new starting quarterback Jayden Maiava completed his next nine passes for 100 yards and two touchdowns.

Nebraska answered with a nine-play, 75-yard touchdown drive. Emmett Johnson caught a Dylan Raiola pass and outran his defender to the edge and took the ball upfield for the score.

Neither team did much in the way of productivity over the final 9:21. USC punted the ball three times while Nebraska threw an interception, punted once, and ran out the clock into the half.

Raiola completed 12-of-18 passes for 105 yards, one touchdown and one interception. Over the first five games of the year, Raiola had a 9-to-1 touchdown to interception ratio. Across the last four-and-a-half, that ratio is 2:7.

Nebraska ran for just 33 yards in the first half, led by 25 yards from Emmett Johnson.

Maiava has thrown from 131 yards, two touchdowns and an interception. The Trojans are up to 85 rushing yards, with 55 of those coming from Woody Marks.

Nebraska will have the ball to begin the third quarter.

Nebraska Athletics Notes

  • Nebraska cornerback Ceyair Wright opened the scoring with a 45-yard interception return for a touchdown in the first quarter. It marked Wright’s second interception of the season (also vs Rutgers) and the third of his college career. Wright played the past two seasons at USC.
  • Wright’s interception for a touchdown was Nebraska’s third pick-6 of the season, joining a Tommi Hill TD against Colorado and John Bullock’s pick-6 at Purdue. The three interceptions for a touchdown are the most for Nebraska since Nebraska had four interceptions for touchdowns in 2013.
  • Running back Emmett Johnson caught a 29-yard touchdown in the second quarter, marking his first career receiving touchdown. Overall, it was Johnson’s second touchdown of the season and the fourth of his career.
  • True freshman receiver Jacory Barney Jr. caught two passes in the first half, increasing his season total to 40 receptions. That ties the Nebraska season record for catches by a true freshman, matching Wan’Dale Robinson’s total in 2019.
  • Senior OT Bryce Benhart and senior DL Ty Robinson both played in their 57th career game today, setting a Nebraska record for games played. The previous record was held by Cameron Meredith who played in 56 games from 2008 to 2012.
  • Benhart made his 51st career start in today’s game, moving him within two starts of the Nebraska career record for starts.
  • Today’s game captains were WR Jahmal Banks, CB Marques Buford Jr., DL Ty Robinson and DE Jimari Butler.

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Kaleb Henry
KALEB HENRY

Kaleb Henry is an award-winning sports reporter, covering collegiate athletics since 2014 via radio, podcasting, and digital journalism. His experience with Big Ten Conference teams goes back more than a decade, including time covering programs such as the Nebraska Cornhuskers, Oregon Ducks, and USC Trojans. He has contributed to Sports Illustrated since 2021. Kaleb has won multiple awards for his sports coverage from the Nebraska Broadcasters Association and Midwest Broadcast Journalists Association. Prior to working in sports journalism, Kaleb was a Division I athlete on the Southern Illinois University-Edwardsville Track and Field team where he discussed NCAA legislation as SIUE's representative to the Ohio Valley Conference Student-Athlete Advisory Committee. 

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