In a game where the Huskies were picked as the underdogs, NIU became the first division one football team since 2004, not in a power-five conference, to beat the University of Nebraska Cornhuskers at Memorial Stadium, as they won with a final score of 21-17.

With this win, the Huskies have now won four out of their last five games against Big-10 opponents, with the loss being Sept. 19, 2015 against Ohio State, 20-13.

“We were able to make enough plays offensively to win the game in the end, and the defense set the tone for the entire team [and] the entire day,” said Head Coach Rod Carey, according to NIU Media Services. “[Our defense] got us out to a 14-0 lead, and we really fed off that energy.”

The day got started with an interception from senior cornerback Shawun Lurry who picked off a pass from Cornhuskers junior quarterback Tanner Lee and returned it 87 yards for the touchdown.

The defense was not done as redshirt junior linebacker Juwan Johnson intercepted a pass and ran it in for the 25-yard running touchdown.

With a 39-yard field goal attempt miss by senior kicker Christian Hagan, the Huskies were still in command at 14-0 as the defense was providing all of the scoring.

The defense kept it going with a 37-yard blocked field goal by sophomore defensive tackle Ben Leroy to put the Huskies up 14-0 heading into halftime.

Coming into the second half, with Nebraska leading 201-88 in total yards, the Huskies were looking to close out Nebraska, who had a +41 second half scoring differential coming into the game, according to ESPN.

After redshirt junior cornerback Jaylen Embry failed to catch a punt from Nebraska on the Huskies own 24-yard line, the Cornhuskers capitalized for the first time with a four-yard rushing score by Lee.

Nebraska then converted on a fourth down, leading to a 36-yard field goal to narrow the Huskie lead to 14-10.

The Cornhuskers took their first lead of the day with about eight minutes left in the fourth quarter with another quarterback sneak by Lee for the touchdown to take a 17-14 lead.

The Huskies responded with a 47-yard pitch-and-catch from redshirt sophomore quarterback Daniel Santacaterina, set up a running touchdown for Jordan Huff, redshirt senior running back.

Huff had the lone offensive touchdown for the Huskies in the game and tallied 105 yards and the game-winning touchdown.

“We definitely needed [the Huff touchdown] offensively, it got us going,” said Santacaterina, according to NIU Media Services. “We knew we were just fine; we were in the game, [and] we were going to go win.”

NIU put together a six play, 75-yard drive to take the lead back at 21-17.

While running the clock out with handoffs to Huff, redshirt senior linebacker Bobby Jones and Sutton Smith, redshirt sophomore defensive end, each had sacks in the final minutes to seal the game.

Junior defensive end Josh Corcoran sealed the deal for NIU as he intercepted Lee’s third pass of the day to run out the clock and give the Huskies a 21-17 victory.

The Huskies will have two weeks off before returning to action to face the San Diego State Aztecs 9:30 p.m. Sept. 30 in San Diego.