It wasn’t flashy, it wasn’t pretty. But it was coming up big-time when needed most for a one-score victory.
Does anyone drink Pepto-Bismol anymore?
I stopped at the tender age of nine or so, because an upset stomach hit me in the middle of the night at my grandparents’ house one summer and I was given a couple tablespoons of the pink cure-all and was assured all would soon be well.
What actually ended up up happening was a run to the bathroom which would have made Ahman Green proud but still came up short as the pink froth flew out my mouth and nose in a dizzying spray as I cut hard into the bathroom painting the floors and the walls. The toilet remained untouched.
I was never offered PB as a cure again and I only bring this up, because – oddly enough – the subject came up when Cyrus Allen caught a 14 yard toss from Brendan Sorsby to give Cincinnati a first down on their 31 with plenty of time left to get into field goal range and give Husker Nation yet another belly ache of a season-opening loss to a P5/P4 team.
Shortly after, stomachs dropped again after the gutsy, but undersized , Malcom Hartzog put the Bearcats in field range with a 10-yard defensive holding call. On the the next snap, Sorsby went for the win letting one fly into the end zone.
And Hartzog forced his way in and picked the damn thing off, can I get a Hallelujah???
Feeling clever, I immediately tweeted my comparison to one of the great redemption stories ever, but not even Lloyd Christmas turned things around this fast.
Giving me a chuckle before the final gun was Matt Rhule quickly calling a timeout before the Huskers took the field for a final snap with Cincinnati out of timeouts and only 0:34 remaining. I’m sure it wasn’t, “Now don’t you dare f**k this up,” he said exactly, but I’m betting things were along those lines.
They didn’t.
And now they’re 1-0 and almost certainly headed toward 3-0 before a matchup against the Michigan Wolverines in Lincoln. And I imagine, despite the joy over this win, talk of things like going 10-2 and challenging for a CFP spot will cool for a couple weeks as we add the Bud Crawford-Canelo fight to our radar as the Huskers hopefully cruise through the next two games.
Things started the opposite of expected with the offense struggling some and the defense hogtying Sorsby and the Bearcats. Then the offense began to put drives together finishing with 353 yards to 271 allowed by the defense including only 69 through the air. Raiola and company did not take a three and out all night, although a brutal 1st half false start by Elijah Pritchett inside the 1 was tough to take as it brought back memories of Horrible Flags Past.
Memories of tonight’s defensive performance, while excellent on paper, were sullied by Cincy’s next-to-last drive in which they gashed the Huskers for 75 yards and a TD in just over three minutes followed by 58 more yards on the final try before Hartzog leapt up and finally clinched the Huskers “W”.
Raiola was spot on and protected well while completing 33 of 42 passes, if only for 243 yards – hopefully, a deep threat will emerge. Emmett Johnson ran for 110 hard-fought yards on 25 carries, but couldn’t quite spring a long one despite being close several times. Newbie WR transfers Dane Key and Nyziah Hunter snagged 6 grabs and a touchdown apiece. On defense, Williams Nwaneri debuted well with 6 tackles, a 1/2 TFL, a pass break-up and a QB hit.
From what we saw, there’s talent there, even if the rough edges still need sanding. The defensive front seven has to clean up the holes in the run defense if the Huskers are to make a run themselves up the Big 10 ladder, but the defensive backfield looks solid – Donovan Jones had three tackles and big pass break-up as his upside was showing.
But at the end of the night, the Huskers stepped up in the closing seconds and made a big play to lock down a one-score game. That right there might be the biggest victory of all.
And another solid reason to keep that sweet, pink crap in its bottle. For now.
Category: General Sports
