Week 8 was about as much of a nightmare as it could have been for Minnesota.

The Golden Gophers were traveling to face a win-less Nebraska squad, and everybody knew the Huskers would get a victory eventually. Minnesota, of course, wasn’t expecting it to come on Saturday.

Nebraska’s offense completely rolled in the game and got the Huskers out to a 28-0 lead early. Minnesota would eventually make it an interesting game, but the Huskers closed it out with a 53-28 victory.

By halftime, the Golden Gophers trailed 28-8. Quarterback Zack Annexstad was trying to lead the way.

In the second half, however, Annexstad didn’t play. After the game, coach P.J. Fleck explained:

The news itself is alarming, but as Andy Greder of the Pioneer Press said, the expectation is that Annexstad will be released from the hospital soon. The loss as a whole is terrible, of course, but if Annexstad is OK long-term, that will be important for the Golden Gophers.