Nebraska vs. Wisconsin: Score and Twitter Reaction

If Saturday's showdown between No. 16 Nebraska and No. 20 Wisconsin was a Heisman Trophy elimination contest for contenders Ameer Abullah and Melvin Gordon, it's safe to say Gordon's campaign is more alive than ever after the Badgers' 59-24 victory.

On a snowy field, the Wisconsin rusher set an FBS record for rushing yards in a game. He amassed a whopping 408 yards on 25 carries and added four touchdowns to blow the lid off a one-score game at halftime.

ESPN SportsCenter noted Gordon's historic performance:

Take a look at the quarter-by-quarter final score:

Team	1	2	3	4	Final
Nebraska	10	7	0	7	24
Wisconsin	3	21	28	7	59

Nebraska shot out of a cannon early with a 17-3 lead, but Wisconsin quickly tightened up on defense and leaned on its unstoppable rushing attack to rattle off 56 unanswered points. The Badgers simply couldn't be stopped on the ground, rushing for 581 yards and only passing for 46 yards.

Saturday's showdown in Madison was undeniably huge with the Big Ten West's two top teams facing off in a game that could decide the division champion. But as far as storylines go, folks couldn't ignore the Abdullah vs. Gordon battle.

The two top Heisman Trophy running back contenders were all the hype heading into Saturday, but the focus for the players remained solely on winning, per Lincoln Journal Star's Brian Christopherson.

"Let’s say Ameer rushes for 100 yards and Gordon rushes for 300, and we win, I’d be much more happier with that result," Nebraska offensive tackle Jake Cotton told Christopherson. "We’re really just trying to go out and get a ‘W’ against a really good Wisconsin team."

Ronald Martinez/Getty Images

The Cornhuskers' mind was certainly in the right place out of the get-go.

After forcing a fumble from Wisconsin receiver Kenzel Doe on the team's second play from scrimmage, Nebraska pushed through a 32-yard field goal by Drew Brown to take a 3-0 lead. 

Morry Gash/Associated Press

One Wisconsin three-and-out later, the Badgers gave the ball back to Nebraska only for Abdullah to rush them down the field and set up a 12-yard touchdown pass from Tommy Armstrong Jr. to Kenny Bell. 

Wisconsin answered back to get on the board with a 26-yard field goal from Rafael Gaglianone, but Nebraska got right back to it. This time, it was an eight-play drive capped off by Armstrong's five-yard touchdown run aided by an earlier Gordon lost fumble.

USA Today's Nicole Auerbach was taken back by Nebraska's early success:

Meanwhile, CBS Sports' Tom Fornelli noted Wisconsin's shortcomings played a big role in those points:

"

Nebraska has 17 points and they’ve all come courtesy of Wisconsin screwing up.

— Tom Fornelli (@TomFornelli) November 15, 2014"

Early in the second quarter and with their Big Ten hopes slipping away, Gordon took things into his own hands despite his early fumble.

He exploded for a 62-yard touchdown on the very next Wisconsin drive, abusing Nebraska's defenders who had solid angles and sprinting into the end zone. 

That made it 17-10, and Wisconsin forced a three-and-out followed by a fumble from Nebraska's Terrell Newby. On the resulting play, Gordon scampered for 39 yards before Corey Clement ran it in from 17 yards out to tie the game at 17-all.

After early struggles, Wisconsin's defense stood tall and shut out Nebraska for the rest of the first half. That allowed Gordon to continue doing his thing, en route to historic first-half numbers as Big Ten Stats Guys noted:

Behind Gordon's dominant first half, Wisconsin was able to add another score with less than four minutes to go. He had three rushes for 57 yards in a drive capped off by a touchdown pass from Joel Stave to Sam Arneson that made it 24-17 before half.

At that point, it was no contest between the two Heisman contenders, as Sports Illustrated's Zac Ellis demonstrated:

Armstrong had a first half to forget (1-of-10), and it didn't get much better to start the second. He threw an interception to Peniel Jean, but Nebraska's defense tightened up to force a three-and-out. 

With a chance to get back level, the Cornhuskers committed a crushing mistake and it was from their offensive juggernaut. Abdullah fumbled on his second touch of the second half, giving Wisconsin the ball near midfield.

Gordon did the rest, running 43 yards to the goal line before bursting into the end zone from one yard out. 

ESPNU said it best:

As the game wore on, Gordon's production didn't taper off—although at any point he could have called it a day and still finished with ridiculous numbers.

Instead, he only continued his dominance. As Tanner McEvoy scampered home for a 5-yard touchdown to make it 45-17 late in the third, Gordon's numbers continued to defy all realistic possibilities as Sports Illustrated College Football noted:

In the midst of a historically bad performance from their run defense, Nebraska saw an early 17-3 lead balloon into a 45-17 deficit. The Cornhuskers had allowed 42 unanswered points. 

Heading into the fourth quarter, few Nebraskans had reason for optimism but Fake Bo Pelini remained one:

But before the fourth quarter even came, Gordon effectively ended the contest with one final run. He burst forward for a 26-yard touchdown run that put him over 400 yards for the day and made it 52-17.

That made it official—in one day, Gordon had rushed for more yards than Wake Forest had as a team all year, per ESPN Stats and Info:

But as 247Sports' Ryan Bartow noticed, his rushing has as much to do with a dominant offensive line as anything else:

"

Melvin Gordon has a lethal blend of speed & size. The key to his production is running behind what's traditionally the nation's best OL

— Ryan Bartow (@RyanBartow) November 15, 2014"

The continuing snowfall made for a white gridiron for the final 15 minutes of play, but it did nothing to change what had been brewing for three quarters. 

Wisconsin's dominance continued into the fourth with Gordon resting for the remainder of the contest. Dare Ogunbowale ran it in from eight yards out with 5:34 left to make it 59-17. That would prove to be the finishing touches on an unstoppable performance as a team from Wisconsin.

With the victory, Wisconsin moves to 5-1 in conference play and that makes the Badgers the top team in the division. They face Iowa and Minnesota down the stretch, who could both play their way into the conference title game but look to be no match for Wisconsin at the moment.

A 10-win season is still very much alive for Wisconsin, as it is with Nebraska—who can get to 11 wins with a bowl victory. The Cornhuskers have Minnesota and Iowa as well on the slate to finish out, but lost their control of the divisional race on Saturday.

There's still the opportunity for Nebraska to finish out 2014 on a high note, but Wisconsin made no mistake of its place atop the Big Ten West on Saturday.