What a wonderful, beautiful mess of a game.
Let’s start with the beautiful. The Huskers found themselves trailing 21-14 with 2:37 left in the third after grunting and scrapping into the wind for two straight
quarters and finally losing the 14-0 lead they jumped out to in the first quarter. With 2:32 left in the 3rd quarter and their faces still into the wind after seeing the Spartans score on consecutive possessions, I was just hoping they could either hold the ball till the end of the quarter or at least most of it if they had to punt again.
Dylan Raiola, Jacory Barney Jr. and Emmett Johnson had different ideas.
After a pair of incompletions, Raiola found Barney open deep and zipped him one through the 25mph wind which was good for 45 yards and 1st down on the Spartan 29. Johnson bulled up the middle for 7 on the first carry and then bounced right and outraced everyone to the pylon for 22 yards and a tie game on the second.
And the stadium had just felt the momentum change. 21-21 and the wind was going to be at the Huskers’ backs.
After coming up scoreless on a long opening drive against Michigan, Nebraska this time capitalized on midfield position from a Jacory Barney Jr. 14-yard punt return and drove 48 yards with Emmett Johnson punching in from the 2 for the 7-0 opening score.
Michigan State was forced to punt again right away and Ryan Eckley found both he and his punt destroyed by a bull-rushing Jamir Conn. Carter Nelson and the ball both loped toward the Spartan end zone where Nelson corralled it for the second score and Nebraska was cruising 14-0.
There ended the Huskers offensive highlights for a long stretch.
For the remainder of the 1st half, the Huskers would only net -4 yards and enter the break with 54 total yards.
Following Nelson’s blocked punt recovery, the Spartans grabbed the momentum with a 17-play 75-yard scoring drive which ended with a 2-yard scoring pass from Aiden Chiles to Jack Velling close to three minutes into the 2nd quarter as they gained the wind advantage.
It wouldn’t help them as they only managed 3 more total yards before halftime even with the wind at their back. Chiles didn’t help his cause after being picked off by DeShon Singleton in consecutive possessions before ending the 1st half with a kneel down.
Optimism was rising, however, as the Huskers would have the ball to start the second half and they jumped quickly with Raiola hitting Nyziah Hunter for 14 yards to kick things off. However, on an ensuing 4th and 2, the decision to run a fake punt with Heinrich Haarberg came up and let the air out of that teasing optimism balloon.
The Spartans would jump at the opportunity taking 7 minutes to drive those 48 yards, mostly on the strength of Chiles scrambling ability – and haven’t we heard that before? – and he finished it off making Husker defenders miss on a 16-yard scoring slither.
On the ensuing drive, Raiola, perhaps tiring of once again running for his life on the way to being sacked five times – and, yes, that will come up a great deal this week – perhaps just decided he wanted a few more moments to himself undecked and tossed a pass to Michigan State on the first play. With only 38 yards to navigate this time, Chiles finished it off by sneaking in untouched on a 2nd and 1 from the Husker 4 for the 21-14 lead.
Then it was Dylan, Jacory and Emmett’s turn to tie things up and set the table for their turn with the win.
Obviously, the heroics weren’t over with the game tied.
The Huskers went with a high, short kickoff and the gambit worked as the confused Spartans muffed it and running back Mekhi Nelson pounced on the loose ball. The Huskers were back in business. And although the offense sputtered a bit, the 19 yards they managed were still enough to give Kyle Cunanan a 27-yard chip shot which he popped through the uprights for the lead, 24-21.
The next MSU drive started with Chiles trying to give it away by grounding a dangerous pass which the Huskers scooped and scored before the review determined – correctly – it was a forward pass. When the drive petered a couple plays later, Eckley punted to Jacory Barney who housed it for 60-65 yard TD.
Except he didn’t – illegal block in the back, also correct. After trading punts with the enemy, Nebraska took over on their own 41 and, after the two close calls, were pretty much in “F..k this,” mode as Raiola zipped a short one to Hunter on a quick inside pattern. He escaped contact in the middle before turning it outside and jetting 59 yards for the 31-21 lead.
On their next drive and down to their last gasp, Michigan State was forced to go for it on 4th and long and Cam Lenhardt blew around the left side and dragged the left tackle, who had his jersey in a Johnny Lawrence Eagle Fang lock, and crashed into Chiles from behind for a 10-yard sack, the 4th of the night for the Blackshirts, who also redeemed themselves holding the Spartans to 67 yards rushing.
Two plays later, Johnson weaved in from 11 yards out and it was 38-21. There would be a Spartan garbage time touchdown, but with all timeouts emptied at the 2:00 mark, it was time for a some kneel-downs and a celebration.
The takeaways?
- This is a team doesn’t fold when the going gets tough, they dig in. Against Michigan they kept coming back and coming back. Against Michigan State, after giving up 21 straight? They came out and scored 24 straight over the next 15 minutes or so.
- Raiola, stymied and harassed most of the afternoon went 8-10 for 99 yards and a TD pass in the 4th quarter. Make it 9-11 for 144 if we include the Barney pass at the end of the 3rd. Coach Rhule spoke of seeing blood in has eyes and knowing the team would rally around him. They did.
- Emmett was 13 for 83 on the game with 3 touchdowns, 2 of them in the crunch time.
- The clamoring on the offensive line will grow. It should. But in that same crunch zone, Dylan had time and Emmett had holes. But the sacks have to stop.
- John Butler’s defense answered the bell. The above-mentioned rushing yards and only 240 yards total allowed including a pile of 3 and outs when the Spartans had the wind and complete shutdown when the Huskers came back. Now, can they keep it going against Maryland?
And did anyone notice it was Michigan State, not Nebraska, who was muffing kicks and trying to throw the ball away with the game on the line? That may have been the best thing of all.
Go Big Red
