Penn State Sports Magazine
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/901348
P R E G A M E R E P O R T N E B R A S K A @ P E N N S T A T E T I M E 4 P . M . , N O V . 1 8 | T V F S 1 NEBRASKA FACTS COACH Mike Riley (Alabama, '75) COACH'S RECORD 19-17, 12-12 Big Ten, in three seasons at Ne- braska; career record: 112-97 2017 RECORD 4-6, 3-4 Big Ten RECORD VS. PSU Nebraska leads the series, 9-7. MOST RECENT MEETING Allen Robinson caught eight passes for 106 yards and Zach Zwinak rushed for 149 yards, but it wasn't enough to prevent Nebraska from rallying for a 23-20 overtime vic- tory on Nov. 23, 2013, at Beaver Stadium. GOOD NEWS Tanner Lee, a transfer from Tu- lane, has thrown for a lot of yards in his first season as Nebraska's starting quarterback. Through 10 games, he's ranked fourth in the Big Ten with an average of 253.9 yards per game. BAD NEWS Lee might not be able to play against Penn State. He was knocked out of last week's game against Minnesota with an appar- ent concussion, and it was un- known as of Wednesday morning whether he would be medically cleared to see action vs. PSU. DID YOU KNOW? Nebraska needs to win its last two games against Penn State and Iowa to become bowl-eligi- ble. The Cornhuskers haven't missed out on the postseason since 2007, when they finished 5- 7 in Bill Callahan's final season as coach. Only twice since 1969 have they failed to qualify for a bowl. The other year in which they fell short was 2004, Callahan's first season. M A T T H E R B | M A T T @ B L U E W H I T E O N L I N E . C O M Nobody was expecting miracles when Nebraska kicked off its season in September against Arkansas State. The Cornhuskers had lost four-year starting quarterback Tommy Armstrong and several of his top receiving targets to graduation. On the other side of the ball, they were installing a new system under first-year defensive coordinator Bobby Diaco, and they had decided to split up the special teams coaching duties after firing the assistant who had previously overseen their kicking game. Coming out of preseason camp, the 2017 season had the look of a transitional year. But expectations at places like Nebraska never really dip too far. The RED ALERT It's been a tough year in Lincoln, but Nebraska could change the narrative with a win over the Nittany Lions Wideout J.D. Spielman has had a very pro- ductive debut season. The red- shirt freshman has amassed a team-best 49 catches for 734 yards. Photo courtesy of the University of Ne- braska 1 N O V E M B E R 1 5 , 2 0 1 7 B L U E W H I T E O N L I N E . C O M