Nebraska-Texas Tech: Fans Have "The Feeling" Back Despite Loss

Ouch baby, very ouch.

Nebraska losing to Texas Tech hurts.

This loss really hurts, and it’s tough to be positive after a loss, but weren’t you surprised by:

• The Huskers' fight
• The brilliantly executed game plan
• Bo Pelini and the entire coaching staff
• Marlon Lucky
• The pride
• Joe Ganz
• The coaching staff
• The fake field goal
• The heart of the Nebraska Cornhuskers
• The offensive line
• The running game

We could go on and on. HG saw a lot of things we haven’t seen in the Huskers in years. I actually got "the feeling" back.

You know what I’m talking about: the feeling that the Huskers are putting it all on the line and are playing to win.

That you just knew the Huskers were going to drive down for a touchdown in the fourth quarter. The feeling that we were outsmarting one of the best coaches in the Big 12. The feeling that we could move the ball at will. The feeling that the coaching staff was a plus. The feeling that the team was improving before our very eyes.

The feeling that we could be competitive in the fourth quarter.

The feeling that even in defeat, that we can all be proud of the Nebraska Cornhuskers.

Basically, everything you used to feel but haven’t been feeling the past four years!

It would easily have been the biggest win since the 2001 win over Oklahoma and may have given the Huskers a chance to enter the Top 25 by the Oklahoma game. Instead, we are just a 3-3 team that hasn’t beaten anyone of substance.

But let’s take some perspective: During one of the toughest stretches any college football team will face this year, the Nebraska Cornhuskers went 0-3.

That’s the bottom line. Yes, we may have gotten a "moral victory" in the sense that we were competitive, but sometime you have to cash those moral victories in for a real W.

The good news is they rebounded from a blowout loss from Mizzou with a gutsy effort and a better game plan. Make no mistake about it: The Nebraska Cornhuskers came to Texas Tech with victory on their mind.

Going for it on fourth down, going for seven points.

For that, we should all be proud.

From here on out, there are no such things as moral victories.

HG expects the Huskers to be competitive in the rest of the games, including Oklahoma.

Moral victories are done. The bar has been raised. We’ve seen enough glimpses of what this team can do, and the Huskers have a lot of room for improvement (penalties anyone?).

Shawn Watson’s game plan was brilliant in strategy and almost perfect in its execution.

HG will never go back and say "we should've won that game," especially when we hurt ourselves as much as we did. We lost, and we accept that.

But we can’t help but be optimistic that this team is on the path to go bowling.

As Sipple put it today:

"

2. Bowl ramifications. Remember, nobody was giving Nebraska a chance to beat Tech (6-0, 2-0 Big 12). Iowa State obviously is a different story. But NU needs to roll up its sleeves, as beating the Cyclones isn’t a given, their bad loss Saturday at Baylor notwithstanding. If the Huskers prevail, their bowl chances suddenly would look very promising. And getting to a bowl would be a significant accomplishment after last season’s 5-7 debacle. It would be a tangible sign of progress.

Plus, those 15 bowl practices are crucial for a Nebraska team with 20 freshmen and sophomores on its preseason two-deep.

Let’s say Nebraska manages to win at Iowa State and then does the expected and beats Baylor in Lincoln. That would place the Huskers one win from bowl eligibility with four games to play—road games against Oklahoma (Nov. 1) and Kansas State (Nov. 15) and home games against Kansas (Nov. 8) and Colorado (Nov. 28). You’d have to like NU’s chances to go at least 1-3 in that stretch.

Perhaps Nebraska would be sent to Phoenix for an Insight Bowl matchup against a middle-of-the-pack Big Ten team. Dear old NU wins the bowl and everybody in red goes home happy.

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