The Nebraska Cornhuskers jumped out to a commanding 24-7 halftime lead over the Pittsburgh Panthers, but needed a last second dfensive stand to thwart a Pitt comeback as Nebraska raised its record to 2-1 on the season with a 24-17 road win.

The Huskers kept Pitt pinned deep in their own territory for most of the first half and forced three interceptions to set the offensive table.

Nebraska earned a 10-7 lead after the first period. Both Nebraska scores were set up by a pair of Blackshirt interceptions that come just minutes apart. Fabian Washington grabbed an interception and returned it 19-yards to the Pittsburgh 4-yard line. That set up a 26-yard field goal by Sandro DeAngelis that gave NU a 3-0 lead with 7:16 to play in the first quarter.

Minutes later, Wali Muhammad snagged his first career interception and returned it four yards to the Pittsburgh 2-yard line. I-Back Cory Ross ran it in from there for his first touchdown of the season to give NU a 10-0 lead. Ross finished the day with 73 yards on 24 carries despite losing his footing often on the sloppy Heinz Field turf. Pittsburgh had been ravaged by the remnants of Hurrican Ivan, causing the nearby rivers to overflow and causing hazardous conditions on the field.

"It was like I was sliding on ice," Ross said.

Pittsburgh amended for their errors on the ensuing kickoff when Marcus Furmanreturned the kickoff 96-yards for a touchdown with 52 seconds left in the opening stanza.

A third Pittsburgh error, this time on a fumbled punt reception, allowed Nebraska to widen the lead to 17-7 late in the first half. Quarterback Joe Dailey hit Ross Pilkington with a six-yard strike for the tally.

Nebraska's offense finally assembled a sustained drive on their next possession, covering 70 yards in eight plays. Dailey capped the trek with a 17-yard run to lift the Huskers to a 24-7 margin with 5:46 left in the half. Dailey finished with 142 yards on 11 completions in 22 attempts. He added one touchdown passing and threw just one interception.

The wild first half didn't end there. Pittsburgh's Adam Graessle added a 38-yard field goal with four seconds left in the first half to trim NU's lead to 24-10 at halftime.

The two defense's controlled the action for the first 25 minutes of the second half, setting up a suitably nail-biting finish.

With just five minutes left in the contest, Dailey made his first major mistake when his pass was intercepted by H.B. Blades at midfield. On the next snap Pitt quarterback Tyler Palko hit Gregg Lee with a 44-yard touchdown to cut the lead to 24-17 with 4:44 left on the clock.

The Huskers maintained a seven-point lead after picking up a crucial first down thanks to a pass interference penalty on third-and-long to leave Pittsburgh with just 1:18 to play and 76 yards of field to cover in order to send the game to overtime.

Pitt battled back with big plays of their own, including a fourth-and-ten conversion play down to the NU 15-yard line with six seconds left in the game.

On the game's final play, Palko scrambled back to nearly the 30-yard line before lofting a desperation pass into the endzone. A hoard of Husker defenders were ther to bat the ball down harmlessly and preserve the Nebraska victory.

For the day, Nebraska pounded out 265 yards of total offense, including 142 yards threw the air and 123 yards on the ground. Pittsburgh managed 258 total yards, including 228 yards passing while managing just 30 yards rushing.