Final: Nebraska 39, No. 7 Michigan State 38

Key play: What do you think?

I still can’t believe it. For once, Nebraska got lucky in stunning fashion. It should not have counted. Brandon Reilly stepped out of bounds and officials ruled that he was forced out. Clearly, he was not. But either way, Reilly went up and made the play of the year for Nebraska to give the Huskers an unbelievable upset of unbeaten Michigan State. I still can’t believe I just typed that paragraph.

Telling stat: Teams combine for nearly 1,000 yards

There was little to no defense played for most of the night, especially in the passing game. All we’re going to remember is Tommy Armstrong’s last pass, but he managed to move the chains with another 300-plus yard passing game. Connor Cook did the same, and appeared to have led the Spartans to their ninth victory. Before that last possession, the story of the game was Cook connecting with Aaron Burbridge and Macgarrett Kings all night. But despite the fact that Michigan State nearly eclipsed 500 yards, it still wasn’t enough to knock off lowly Nebraska.

Worth noting:

-Jordan Westerkamp goes down twice

Two different times the Husker star receiver went down with an injury. It appeared that both times he just got the wind knocked out of him. But the second one he laid on the field after he set up Nebraska’s game-winning touchdown. You could tell he was hurting throughout the night, despite the fact that he racked up 143 yards receiving. The Huskers lost De’Mornay Pierson-El for the season and Alonzo Moore re-injured his shoulder on Saturday. Westerkamp needed to step up for the Huskers in the fashion that he did. Nebraska’s guttiest playmaker delivered his guttiest performance to date.

-Gerald Holmes dominates carries

Interesting was the fact that on a night where L.J. Scott and Madre London were both healthy, Holmes dominated the ball. He racked up 22 of the 30 carries and picked up 117 yards and a score. We were expecting to see a lot more of Scott, who appeared to be the emerging feature back. Instead, this was a game in which Holmes looked like a feature back. With Mark Dantonio, it probably doesn’t mean much long-term. Holmes hadn’t even had more than 10 carries in a game this season. Nobody is going to want to talk about anything other than that finish, but the MSU running game is still an interesting storyline moving forward.

What it means: Mike Riley can stay in Lincoln, MSU’s season isn’t dead

Just when you think you have college football figured out, that happens. I mean, SEVEN DAYS AGO, Nebraska lost to one-win Purdue. By double digits! Everyone was calling for Mike Riley to be fired immediately and what does he do? He delivers Nebraska’s first win as an unranked team over a top-10 team since 1977. Saturday night was not about the crushing losses. For once, the Huskers got to play Cinderella. And by doing so, they spoiled Michigan State’s waltz to the Ohio State game. That, obviously, will lose some luster now. But Michigan State could still have a shot to go to the B1G Championship if it runs the table. It felt like a season-ending loss, but it isn’t completely the end of the world in East Lansing.