Who saw this coming?
Seriously, Nebraska taking a 17-3 third-quarter lead on Texas was almost like a gift from God to an angry, impatient Husker Nation.
Then Texas decided to show up.
With Jamaal Charles putting up more than 200 yards in the fourth quarter, Texas came from behind to defeat Nebraska 28-25.
But let's face it—Nebraska looked like a completely different team.
The players finally took some advice, went balls-out, and played with reckless abandon, like they had nothing to lose.
That fire was back—even if only for three quarters.
The Blackshirts finally looked like they deserve to be called Blackshirts—even if only for three quarters.
The only problem for Nebraska was they couldn't pull it out.
We've seen this before out of Bill Callahan's teams. Last year against Texas, NU was up 20-19 and had the ball, only for Terrence Nunn to fumble. That set the plate for Ryan Bailey to etch his place in Texas history with a game-winning field goal in a snow-fest at Lincoln.
It looked like Texas wasn't even trying for three quarters. Their play-calling was stupid at best sometimes, and their players didn't seem to care.
Maybe that was because Nebraska didn't give Texas a reason to care, give the way the Huskers looked ever since the Iowa State win.
Texas looked like they thought they could show up and walk out with a 56-3 win. I'll be honest—that's what I was half-expecting to happen.
But Nebraska finally showed the energy to fly all over the field and make plays. If they can bring that showing to Lawrence, KS, the NU-Kansas game next week will be interesting to watch.
Sam Keller also has to play balls-out like he did Saturday. He needs to keep finding his open receivers, and not make any dumb throws.
Keller's a good quarterback, but he needs to play like he's got something to prove to Arizona State and to the rest of the country.
Another memo to Callahan: When you're an underdog and you've got a lead, kick the opponent while they're down, so to speak. Keep coaching aggressively. Don't act like a two-touchdown lead is enough. It never is.
Especially if the defense doesn't show up, like the haven't for most of the season.
It really hurt to see Texas come back and win the way they did. But this is the Nebraska team we've been waiting to see for most of this season.
Better late than never.
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11 months ago
Watching the game, it seemed that Texas had no intention of running the ball to win for 3 quarters. Nebraska has struggled against the run, and it took until the 4th quarter for the Horns to realize the ticket to a comeback was Charles.
I was impressed by the effort of the Huskers yesterday, they will spring a surprise or two before the season is over.
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