LINCOLN, Neb. — Briean Boddy-Calhoun ripped the ball out of Nebraska receiver De’Mornay Pierson-El’s hands at the Minnesota 2-yard line after Mitch Leidner scored the go-ahead touchdown, and the Gophers overcame a 14-point halftime deficit to defeat No. 21 Nebraska 28-24 on Saturday.

The Gophers (8-3, 5-2) can win the Big Ten West and go to the conference championship game on Dec. 6 with a victory at Wisconsin next week.

The Cornhuskers (8-3, 4-3), humiliated at Wisconsin a week ago, lost back-to-back conference games for the first time since 2009 and were eliminated from the West race.

Nebraska led 24-14 in the middle of the third quarter. But Minnesota, with running back David Cobb on the sideline with his left leg heavily wrapped, churned out a couple of long drives to take the lead.

The Huskers started their final possession with 3:25 to play and drove to the Minnesota 30. Pierson-El caught Tommy Armstrong’s third-and-9 pass at the 2, but Boddy-Calhoun stripped him of the ball with 1:19 left.

Minnesota ran out the clock and secured its first road win against a Top 25 opponent in 21 games since 2000. It’s also the Gophers’ second straight win over the Huskers and their first in Lincoln after seven straight losses since 1960.

Leidner ran 22 times for a season-high 110 yards and two touchdowns and completed 8 of 17 passes for 135 yards. Cobb had 15 runs for 80 yards and a touchdown before leaving the game in the third quarter.

Nebraska’s Ameer Abdullah had 98 yards and a touchdown on 20 carries. Armstrong was 12 of 19 for 233 yards.

The Gophers were down 21-7 at half after Randy Gregory blocked Ryan Santoso’s 30-yard field-goal attempt and Nate Gerry scooped up the ball and ran it 85 yards down the Nebraska sideline to the end zone.

Minnesota pulled to 21-14 early in the third quarter after two sacks and a short punt set them up at the Nebraska 35, with Cobb scoring from the 17.

Drew Brown’s 30-yard field goal made it a 10-point Nebraska lead in the middle of the third quarter.

With Donnell Kirkwood and Rodrick Williams filling in for Cobb, the Gophers went 73 yards in 10 plays to pull to 24-21. Leidner completed third-down passes to Maxx Williams and KJ Maye before Rodrick Williams bounced outside for a touchdown on a fourth-and-1 from the 19.

On the winning 10-play, 80-yard drive Leidner hit Maye for 38 yards before he pushed his way across the goal line from the 3.

The comeback was Minnesota’s biggest in a win since it rallied from 14 down to beat Northwestern 42-17 in 2003.

The Huskers had hoped to bounce back on Senior Day from their 59-24 loss at Wisconsin in which Melvin Gordon ran for a Bowl Subdivision-record 408 yards and the Badgers had 581 on the ground.

With Leidner hurting the Huskers on zone-read option keepers, Minnesota ran for 281 yards.

The Huskers, at least for a half, were sharper offensively than they were against Wisconsin even though they lost center Mark Pelini and all-time leading receiver Kenny Bell to injuries two plays apart on their first possession.