College Football
BOXSCORE | RECAP
Nebraska 55, Florida Atlantic 7
When: 3:30 PM ET, Saturday, August 30, 2014
Where: Memorial Stadium, Lincoln, Nebraska
Temperature: 81°
Head Official: Greg Blum
Attendance: 91441


No. 22 Nebraska 55, Florida Atlantic 7: Ameer Abdullah rushed for a career-high 232 yards and a touchdown while Jordan Westerkamp added personal bests of seven catches and 125 yards as host Nebraska extended the nation’s longest winning streak in season openers to 29 games.

Tommy Armstrong Jr. accounted for 333 total yards (career-best 271 yards passing, 62 rushing) and three touchdowns in 2 ½ quarters of action for Nebraska (1-0), which rolled to a Big Ten-record 784 total yards in the second all-time meeting between the schools. Terrell Newby ran for a career-high 107 yards and two second-half touchdowns while Imani Cross also scored as the Cornhuskers amassed 498 yards on the ground.

Jay Warren paced the Owls (0-1) with 77 yards rushing while 2013 Conference USA Newcomer of the Year Jaquez Johnson connected with Lucky Whitehead from 20 yards out in the first quarter for their only score. Johnson threw for 61 yards before leaving early in the second quarter with a left shoulder injury and was spelled by Greg Hankerson, who finished 5-for-18 for 34 yards.

Nebraska scored on each of its first five drives as Armstrong followed a 5-yard TD run on the opening possession with a 36-yard strike to a wide-open Westerkamp late in the first quarter after Whitehead’s touchdown. After Drew Brown drilled a 44-yard field goal, Abdullah broke loose for a 47-yard scoring run and Cross made it 31-7 with 2:30 left before the break with a 3-yard TD plunge.

Newby scored from 3 yards out on the opening drive of the third quarter and Armstrong capped off his strong effort with an 8-yard TD toss to De'Mornay Pierson-El before Newby completed the Cornhuskers’ fourth consecutive scoring drive to begin the second half with a 1-yard run. Nebraska, which surrendered 75 yards on the Owls’ first possession, allowed only 125 totals over the remainder of the contest.

GAME NOTEBOOK: Nebraska All-Big Ten DE Randy Gregory (left knee) did not return after playing part of the opening series and Johnson was spotted in street clothes with an ice pack on his shoulder before the half. … The Cornhuskers went 8-for-12 on third down, converting one of those opportunities in spectacular fashion early in the third quarter when Owls DB Christian Milstead deflected a pass from Armstrong to Westerkamp, who reached behind his back with both hands and made the catch right before going out of bounds. … Nebraska went over 700 total yards for the 10th time in school history and has scored more than 40 points 21 times during its season-opener winning streak.

Top Game Performances
Rushing
Florida Atlantic   Nebraska
Jay Warren Player Ameer Abdullah
14 Attempts 21
77 Yards 232
5.5 Avg Yards 11.0
0 Touchdowns 1
0 Long 0
Receiving
Florida Atlantic   Nebraska
Lucky Whitehead Player Jordan Westerkamp
5 Receptions 7
40 Yards 125
8.0 Avg Yards 17.9
1 Touchdowns 1
0 Long 0
Team Stats Summary
 
  Yards Scoring Defense
Team Tot Rus Pas TD FG INT Sck FF
Florida Atlantic 200 105 95 1 0 0 0.0 0
Nebraska 784 498 286 7 2 0 1.0 1