LINCOLN — Crazy day in college football. No place wilder or crazier than right here on 10th Street, at the corner of Hope and Heartbreak.
Nyziah Hunter had just delivered what his teammates called the knockout blow when, standing in the end zone, he looked down.
“Wait, why is my shoe off?” he said after Nebraska’s 38-27 win over Michigan State.
It was late in the third quarter when Nebraska trailed Michigan State 21-14. The offense appeared broken, fans were booing and Matt Rhule’s third season already looked like it was on the brink.
Before you could return from the beer line, the Husker offense suddenly found a rush of answers and points — a 24-0 windfall that calmed the Red Sea and brought a 38-27 dose of sanity to the day.
Who are these guys? The team that looks so improved in so many areas? Or the group with one foot still in the quicksand?
These Huskers are both. But here’s the only update that matters on a mad, mad, mad Saturday of college football.
Nebraska is 4-1.
They won ugly. And it was a thing of beauty.
Ask Penn State. Or Texas. Or next week’s opponent, Maryland, which blew a 20-0 lead at home and lost to Washington.
Nebraska would have worn its own badge of misery had an early 14-0 lead at home turned into an inexplicable defeat, with the Big Red staring at two road games with a 3-2 record and the bulk of the heavy lifting still ahead.
You know the drill. You’ve lived it. You’ve seen the movie too many times.
But this ending was, well, different.
Happy.
Check out Sam McKewon’s Husker Report Card after Nebraska’s win over Michigan State.
The Huskers flipped the script twice in this game, looking in control and then appearing inept and then ended with an emphatic streak to the finish line.
You want progress?
This was, well, progress.
“A lot of games in the past have not gone our way,” quarterback Dylan Raiola said. “That was encouraging.”
Exactly.
The bottom line is the place to be today, because if you start nitpicking this one, you’ll drive yourself batty.
It was a tale of two teams, three teams, four and five teams. All of whom are the same team.
There were Mike Ekeler’s special teams, leaving an imprint on the day. Special teams that giveth (blocked punt touchdown) and taketh (fake punt that was stopped, long punt return for a touchdown called back by a penalty) and finally a well-executed onside kick recovery.
There was an offense that doesn’t make any sense — until it does.
Start with the second quarter series that began at the Michigan State 26, with NU looking to extend a 14-7 lead before halftime.
Sack. Sack. False start. Fumbled snap and loss of 15 yards.
What in the wide world of sports is going on here?
On a windy day built for scorched earth, was the running game not worth a try? And if the sky is falling in on Raiola again, why keep going to the same thing?
Nebraska got another shot on the next drive and moved to the MSU 28. But a field goal into the stiff wind was not the play on fourth down.
Instead, a 10-yard sack.
Check out Tom Shatel’s three takes from Nebraska football’s win over Michigan State.
Film study this week will no doubt show what the human eye could see from the stands and press box. The protection slapstick wasn’t all on the offensive line. There were times when Raiola held the ball too long. Another when the back whiffed on a chip block.
And where were the open receivers? Hard to find.
John Butler’s defense played admirably in this one. But the weight of a missed fake punt and a Raiola interception were too much. Suddenly, Michigan State and quarterback Aiden Chiles were up 21-14 and looked like another team ready to steal victory from the jaws of Memorial Stadium.
Then it happened.
One play. All it seemingly took was one play to unlock this game and break the dam.
On third and 10 from the Nebraska 25, with the shock of Michigan State taking the lead still in the hot October air, Raiola and Jacory Barney made the play of the game.
A failed third down and a punt back into the wind to MSU might have broken their backs.
Instead, it was backbone time.
Raiola moved out of the pocket and away from the rush and slung it to Barney, who was open at the Spartans’ 46. He caught it and flashed to the 30.
Big play. Big noise.
Then the run game came alive. Emmett Johnson for seven and then 23 yards to tie the game at 21.
Their timing was impeccable. Minutes later, the fourth quarter began and the Huskers had the wind and the momentum at their backs.
Magically, receivers were now getting open. Raiola was on fire. He was getting time to throw flinging accurate arrows. All of a sudden Nyziah Hunter caught a short pass, made a move, lost a shoe and sprinted to daylight for an electric 59-yard touchdown to make it 31-21.
The avalanche happened that quick. The offense that looked broken was humming with confidence. The defense kept making plays and tackles in the open field.
And a season that looked on the brink had new life.
There will be attempts to explain it or over analyze it this week. Forget it. Don’t even try.
Which team is this? It’s both.
Wilson Moore breaks down the three things we know and don’t know after Nebraska’s win over Michigan State.
Nebraska’s madcap 38-24 win was the picture poster of its team. There’s progress everywhere, real progress, a better team. A team with a chance to win more games.
There’s also that team from recent years, the one that couldn’t avoid mistakes at the absolute worst times. The one that broke their own hearts because they didn’t know how to win.
There’s some flaws that still exist, some holes that haven’t been covered up, and Rhule and the coordinators are going to have to coach around them. That’s what they get paid for.
But this team has some lightning it can summon — playmakers that can get them out of a tough jam if they’ll just show up. On a crazy Saturday of college football, the heroes arrived to save the day, and maybe the season, just in time.
Afterward, Rhule talked about how Raiola got mad and an “angry Dylan is the best Dylan.” Raiola said he had “blood in my eyes.”
It made as much sense as anything. And it made for a great story and ending.
Sure beats the other kind, right?
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Tom Shatel
Sports columnist
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