Nebraska holds off Wake Forest

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. -- Sam Keller nearly gave away the game during his first road start for Nebraska. Zack Bowman jumped up to take it back for the Cornhuskers.

Three plays after Keller threw an interception deep in Nebraska territory, Bowman intercepted a Wake Forest pass in the end zone and the 16th-ranked Cornhuskers held on to win, 20-17, on Saturday.

“Sometimes you’re going to have to come away with a character win, and we did that today,” Keller said. “Somebody had to step up, and we did. . . . You come into the defending ACC champions’ house and take one from them -- that’s big time.”

Nebraska (2-0) lacked the gaudy offensive numbers of last week but withstood its first real challenge of the season and now can focus on next week’s visit from No. 1 USC.

Keller completed 24 of 41 passes for 258 yards with two interceptions and led an impressive scoring drive late in the second quarter.

“There’s a couple of plays I think he’d like to have back . . . [but] in the two-minute drill, that’s where I thought he really emerged,” Nebraska Coach Bill Callahan said. “He made some outstanding plays under duress.”

Wake Forest fell to 0-2.