LINCOLN, Neb. -- De'Mornay Pierson-El retreated to catch the punt from Peter Mortell at the 37-yard line. The Nebraska sophomore ran left and cut right. He split three Minnesota players by the 40 and left seven Gophers spinning before he crossed midfield.
Just like that on Saturday, Pierson-El was back.
He returned from surgery to repair a broken bone in his right foot, suffered Aug. 18 in practice, two weeks earlier at Illinois. But with this 42-yard return, stopped when Mortell knocked Pierson-El out of bounds at the Minnesota 21, he was actually back.