Picture this.
It’s September 7th, 2019. Nebraska is nationally ranked on the road at Colorado. Sophomore quarterback Adrian Martinez is coming off the kind of freshman year that has national media members mentioning his name in the same sentence as the Heisman Trophy.
Nebraska loses by 3.
The heartache— palpable. The rest of the season— abysmal.
That feeling of dejection and failure embedded itself within the gut of Husker nation for five entire years. It was a disease with no cure; a cloudy day that stuck around.
It was everything that it wasn’t for Nebraska on Saturday night.
After being led out of the tunnel walk by boxing legend and Omaha native Bud Crawford, Nebraska came out punching.
For the first thirty minutes the Huskers picked apart Colorado on both sides of the ball. The defense swarmed Shedeur Sanders, pressuring him on virtually every single pass attempt. The offense, commanded by true freshman quarterback Dylan Raiola, time and time again ran the ball into the teeth of the Buffaloes defense. It was true complementary football, and to end the first half, Nebraska led 28-0.
It was the kind of dismantling that makes your opponent look inward, and the kind of victory that has the power to begin healing the hearts of an entire fanbase.
Have no doubt, there were reasons for concern during the second half. The offense felt stagnant, the special teams play was questionable, and sure, the refs may’ve had a chronic case of the flag throwies, but if Nebraska wants to have sustained success down the road, it will require improvements across the board.
While all of that is true, Nebraska fans last year would’ve probably happily taken a stagnant (at times) offense and a questionable special teams unit. It’s sure better than sloppy and dysfunctional. Nebraska fans would’ve probably also taken a 2-0 start and a national ranking of 23. Instead they were 0-2 and broken. But this team is flat-out better than last year, and there is a synergetic confidence that’s been absent in years past.
This is said to remind people to not be so quick to look ahead. Enjoy this moment in history. It’s a feeling that Husker nation has been deprived of for far too long. We deserve to feel the type of joy that is beating Colorado by way of knockout.
Let’s have some perspective. It’s a beautiful day, and Nebraska is 2-0.
