Nebraska breaks out in second half to defeat North Dakota

LINCOLN, Neb. (KLKN) — After playing in fits and starts in the first half, Nebraska found a rhythm and defeated North Dakota 38-17 on Saturday.

Quarterback Casey Thompson found Marcus Washington twice on the Huskers’ first possession, and Anthony Grant ran 19 yards for a touchdown.

But Thompson was sacked on NU’s next two drives. One of those resulted in a fumble, which was recovered by North Dakota.

At the end of the second quarter, the Fighting Hawks made a 16-play drive that ended in a TD to tie the game.

But the Huskers began to turn things around in the third quarter.

After halftime, Nebraska quickly marched down the field, and Thompson threw for 19 yards to Ian Boerkircher, who ran in the end zone.

North Dakota later picked off Thompson and scored a TD, but a 46-yard touchdown run by Grant on the next possession put NU back in front.

In the fourth quarter, Nebraska put the run game to work to ice the game.

In total, NU rushed for 244 yards, compared with 193 passing yards.

Grant racked up 189 yards on 23 carries.

Trey Palmer led the receivers, with four receptions for 82 yards.

The Huskers (1-1) needed a decisive win to bounce back from their close loss to Northwestern last week.

This was the season opener for the Fighting Hawks, an FCS team that was coming off a 5-6 season in 2021.