Nebraska's comeback effort fails as it loses its third game in a row

LINCOLN, Neb. (KLKN) – Nebraska's comeback effort failed Saturday afternoon, losing to UCLA 27-20 at Memorial Stadium.

The Huskers (5-4) lost their third straight game and are still one win away from bowl eligibility.

Freshman quarterback Dylan Raiola left the game late in the fourth quarter with an apparent back injury.

Raiola finished the game completing 14 of his 27 passes for 177 yards, one touchdown and one interception. Backup quarterback Heinrich Haarberg attempted to complete the comeback, but threw an unfortunate interception that bounced off Jacory Barney's knee, ending the game.

Isaiah Neyor led the Huskers through the air with four catches, 89 yards and a touchdown. Barney also added four catches for 78 yards.

Dante Dowdell paced Nebraska on the ground with 61 yards and two touchdowns on 17 carries.

The Blackshirts struggled on defense early in the game, allowing the Bruins to rush for more than 100 yards for the first time this season.

Quarterback Ethan Garbers led the Bruins on the ground with 56 yards on six carries. Running back TJ Harden rushed for 46 yards on 11 carries.

Garbers completed 17 of his 25 passes for 219 yards and two touchdowns. Kwazi Gilmer led the Bruins with 88 yards and a touchdown.

The UCLA defense had four sacks, while the Huskers only managed two sacks.

Nebraska enters its second bye week with a lot of work to do before the final three games of the season.

The Huskers will travel to Southern California to take on the Trojans on November 16th.

First quarter

UCLA opened play with an impressive 14-play performance. The Bruins were able to get to the 10-yard line, but ended the drive with a 25-yard field goal from Mateen Bhaghani, giving the Bruins a 3-0 lead.

Nebraska's biggest challenge in the first quarter was driving the Bruins' offense off the field. UCLA held the ball 13:21 in the quarter and is 4-5 on third downs.

Second quarter

The Bruins used their second drive of the game to score more points. UCLA capped an 11-play, 85-yard drive with a 10-yard touchdown pass from Ethan Garbers to Jalen Berger to make the score 10-0.

Thanks to a 40-yard bomb from Dylan Raiola to Jacory Barney Jr., Nebraska's offense finally came to life. Three plays later, Dante Dowdell ran in from 4 yards out, making it 10-7 for the Bruins.

The Bruins responded with another long drive, helped by a 53-yard run by Garbers. The drive ended with a 26-yard field goal by Bhaghani, extending UCLA's lead to 13-7.

Nebraska struggled on offense in the first half, managing just 71 total yards.

Raiola completed three passes for 47 yards, while Dowdell led the rushing attack with 17 yards and a touchdown.

UCLA did whatever it wanted on the offensive side of the ball.

Garbers completed 15 of his 19 passes for 149 yards and a touchdown. He also leads the Bruins in rushing with 64 yards on five attempts.

Eight different receivers caught a pass in the first half, with Kwazi Gilmer leading the way with his 40 yards.

Third quarter

On the first play of the second half, Raiola threw a ball directly to the defense and Kain Medrano brought it to the house, making the score 20-7.

The Bruins' first offensive attack of the second half also ended with points. Garbers found Gilmer on the corner route for a 48-yard touchdown, extending UCLA's lead to 27-7.

Nebraska found a way to answer that. Another deep pass to Barney set up an 8-yard touchdown pass from Raiola to Neyor, cutting the Bruins' lead to 27-14.

Fourth quarter

Nebraska drove to the 5-yard line but was stopped on fourth down, handing the ball to the Bruins with 11 minutes to play.

The Huskers were able to get the ball back and got right back into the red zone. A 1-yard touchdown rush by Dowdell and a missed extra point made the score 27-20 for the Bruins.

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ORIGINAL ARTICLE: The Nebraska football team returns to Memorial Stadium on Saturday for the first time in four weeks to take on UCLA.

The Huskers (5-3, 2-3) come into this game following a 21-17 loss to No. 4 Ohio State a week ago, while the Bruins (2-5, 1-4) are coming off a bye week and a 35-32 win over Rutgers two weeks ago.

This will be the first meeting between the two schools as Big Ten opponents and the first meeting since 2015, in which Nebraska earned a 37-29 win in the Foster Farms Bowl.

Nebraska looks to maintain its defensive momentum from last week and hold Ohio State to season-lows in points (21), rushing yards (64) and total yards (285).

The Blackshirts have been particularly good at Memorial Stadium this season, holding four of their five opponents to 10 or fewer points.

UCLA Trivia

UCLA is definitely better than its record suggests, but it has many weaknesses that Nebraska should exploit at high speed.

The Bruins rely on a strong passing game, averaging nearly 240 yards per game through the air.

Their passing game is led by quarterback Ethan Garbers, who has completed 124 of his 191 passes for 1,484 yards and eight touchdowns this season. Garbers also threw nine interceptions.

Moliki Matavao leads the Bruins' receiving core with 20 catches for 251 yards, followed by running back TJ Harden with 26 grabs for 238 yards and a touchdown.

Harden carried the ball 62 times for 180 yards and a score.

Defensively, the Bruins are allowing 29.0 points and 367.3 yards per game. Carson Schwesinger leads the Bruins with 72 tackles, 6.5 tackles for loss and two sacks.

Nebraska injury report

OUT: Tristan Alvano, Barrett Liebentritt (season), tuner Corcoran and Sua Lefotu (season).

QUESTIONABLE: Malcolm Hartzog and Micah Mazzccua

Tommi Hill will play against the Bruins.

This week's numbers

3: Redshirt freshman kicker John Hohl made three field goals of 39, 54 and 47 yards for Ohio State. Hohl's 54-yard kick set a Nebraska record for the longest field goal in a road game.

20: Nebraska's defense has allowed just 20 points in the first half of its five home games this season, including shutting out Colorado and Rutgers before halftime.

56: Nebraska sixth-graders Bryce Benhart and Ty Robinson will both play their 56th games as Huskers on Saturday. With 56 games played, Cameron Meridith has the most games played in Nebraska history.

Struggles with the Bruins' pregame show

Outcome predictions

Nate Johnson: Huskers win, 35-13

Jake Homan: Huskers win, 27-16

Mark Fischer: Huskers win, 24-10