Social Media Relishes a Rocking Night
Huskers Take Down #6 Spartans, 39-38
Randy York N-Sider
Official Blog of the Huskers
Amidst Nebraska’s Saturday Night Live joy and the sheer elation of Husker Nation, this begins with a question mark instead of an exclamation point. Because national replays feature unranked Nebraska scoring two touchdowns in the final two minutes to derail Michigan State’s national championship run, 39-38, at Memorial Stadium, let’s pretend like we’re broadcaster Chris “Boomer” Berman. Let’s go back, back, all the way back to 1977, the last time an unranked Nebraska team beat a previously undefeated top-10 opponent.
Anyone remember the foe? Go to the head of the class if you said Alabama. Talk about derailing a national championship and the ironic twists and iconic figures that go with it. The Huskers upset the Crimson Tide, 31-24, on that mid-September afternoon 38 years ago in Lincoln. It was the only loss of the 1977 season for the Crimson Tide, who went on to win the Sugar Bowl.
We frame this history lesson on the ever increasing fame of Tommy Armstrong Jr., who continues to show incredible nerve and a winner’s mindset. Even though Jordan Westerkamp remains Armstrong’s favorite target with his gritty leadership and Velcro hands, we pair Brandon Reilly’s game-winning 30-yard touchdown catch with 17 seconds left into our headline equation. The junior walk-on personified Nebraska’s offensive fight and comeback might.
Tommy Armstrong Jr.'s Prominent Performance Brings Tears to His Dad
It’s time to ask our first compelling question. Does Tommy Armstrong Jr.’s winning mindset and Brandon Reilly’s amazing magic equal a trending milestone? Another way to put it: Could Saturday night’s remarkable ending light the match that carries the hopes and cheers of Mike Riley’s upcoming years as Nebraska’s head football coach?
In my mind, both are legitimate questions but need to connect the dots to Husker history, which is on-deck, so be patient. Of course, a sizeable number of other names must be exponentially included in those questions. Armstrong and Reilly are Saturday’s heroes who saved the day, but they never would have become this weekend’s national spotlight without the Huskers’ measurably improved defense, plus an emerging offensive line that cleared the way, thanks to moving Zach Sterup from tackle to guard.
The Blackshirts set the tone. The offensive line answered the call. Without both rising up to meet the challenge of a memorable 1-minute and 47-second thrill against a team that had won 12 straight Big Ten Conference road games, neither Husker hero is basking in Sunday’s sunshine.
Husker Fans Celebrate Jordan Westerkamp's Heroics with B1G Smiles
Storybook finishes aren’t just for little kids. Saturday night turned droves of players and fans to wide-open smiles and rhythmic romps, dancing to DJ Cool’s Let Me Clear My Throat, not to mention open my eyes and pinch myself to make sure we’re not all dreaming. In the postgame celebration on Tom Osborne Field, I saw Tom Osborne’s son and one of T.O.'s grandsons grinning from ear-to-ear while watching everyone bob their heads to the resounding lyrics of keep makin’ noise and here we go now…here we go now.
Those words beg a critical question. Where's this 2015 team going now and why does it need to be tied to history? Turn the calendar back to a semi-similar scenario that Osborne faced in 1977. In his fifth season as Nebraska’s head coach, the Huskers’ had suffered a stunning nine-point home defeat to Washington State before hosting No. 4 Alabama. Those circumstances were incredibly similar to what this year’s Huskers faced – a 10-point road loss at Purdue followed by an undefeated top-10 opponent waiting in the wings the next week.
Jubilation describes Zach Sterup's (No. 57) move to guard next to teammate and fellow senior Ryne Reeves (65).
Huskers Set the Table for a Great Opportunity to Build the Program
Counting the end of the 1976 season, the Huskers had lost three of their last four regular-season games heading into the ’77 game with the Crimson Tide, just like the 2015 Huskers had lost three of their last four games heading into Saturday’s matchup.
That ‘77 season was a trying time for Osborne, whose teams did not win an outright conference championship in his first five seasons following fellow Hall-of-Fame legend Bob Devaney. Fans forget how Osborne huddled with his staff to consider accepting a job at Colorado during his darkest hours at Nebraska. Decades later, Osborne told me that a high-ranking NU official told him that if the Huskers had not beaten Texas Tech (27-24) in the 1976 Astro-Bluebonnet Bowl in Houston, he and his staff would have been fired.
Read that again and feel free to shake your head because it’s true. It might help you understand why I believe that Saturday night’s Tommy, Brandon and their friends' frolic can set the table for a great opportunity to build Nebraska's program. The 1977 upset of Alabama fueled Nebraska to an 8-3 finish and the next year, Osborne took his first Nebraska team to the Orange Bowl, which became Nebraska’s home away from home for the remainder of his career.
CELEBRATION: No. 6 Michigan State marked the highest ranked team a first-year Husker coach has ever defeated.
Freshman Stanley Morgan Jr. Celebrates Upset Win with Coach Mike Riley
Nebraska is one of college football’s premier programs. The Huskers have won 43 conference titles and claimed five national titles while ranking fourth all-time in victories and third all-time in bowl game appearances. Nebraska has won more games than any other team in the country over the last 40 years, but even the nation’s winningest program has not been immune to tough stretches over the last four decades.
In the past, when the Huskers hit a rough patch, it often only took one big victory to return Nebraska to its winning ways. Here’s wishing and hoping that history repeats itself after the Huskers’ 39-37 upset of the sixth-ranked Spartans. Somehow, I think recruits who became a part of Saturday night’s 346th consecutive sellout left Memorial Stadium knowing how Nebraska’s game day and game night atmosphere is second to absolutely no one.
Michigan State was the first undefeated opponent to visit Memorial Stadium in the month of November since Kansas State brought a 9-0 record and a No. 5 ranking to Lincoln in 1999. The Huskers upset the Wildcats that day, 41-15. While it’s true that 1999 represented a different era of Nebraska football – and a different century – the upset of Kansas State proved to be an opportunity for the program to bounce back from its equally relative recent “struggles”.
Locker Room Celebration Included One Hip Hip Hurray after Another
Nebraska finished the ‘99 season with a 12-1 record, capping a six-season stretch where the Huskers posted a 70-7 record and won four conference championships and three national titles. But entering that Kansas State game, the Huskers were 12-5 over their last 17 games. That’s a strong record, but far short of where Nebraska had been, winning 54 of its previous 56 games.
That ‘99 victory over K-State marked the last time Nebraska had knocked off an unbeaten opponent this late into a season before Saturday’s upset of Michigan State. The Huskers won their next 10 games after taking down the Wildcats, including victories over No. 6 Tennessee, No. 12 Texas and No. 23 Notre Dame.
A cynic may dismiss the comparison of Saturday’s upset of the Spartans to the victory over Kansas State 16 years ago. After all, the ‘99 Huskers were 8-1 and ranked seventh heading into their upset, while the 2015 Huskers were 3-6 and unranked before taking down Michigan State. But an optimist might say regardless of the circumstances, the point remains the same: a win over a top-10 program provides an opportunity to use the momentum created from that victory to catapult the program’s fortunes for the future.
Junior Alonzo Moore (No. 82) and freshman Stanley Morgan Jr. celebrate upset with receivers coach Keith Williams.
Opportunity Awaits at Rutgers, Iowa’s Visit to Lincoln, Possible Bowl
No one can predict what’s in store for the rest of this season – or for the 2016 Huskers – but this team’s performance Saturday night created an opportunity for the entire program – players, coaches and fans alike. Another opportunity awaits later this month, when Nebraska hosts an Iowa team that is on track to be another undefeated, top-10 opponent to visit Memorial Stadium the day after Thanksgiving.
Mike Riley has already led Nebraska to one victory over a top-10 opponent this month. Can he do it again if the opportunity presents itself on Nov. 27? Once again, history may be on the Huskers’ side. Saturday’s win over Michigan State was Riley’s sixth victory over a top-10 opponent in the past 10 seasons. Riley’s teams were an underdog in all six of those victories, but if Nebraska can build off the momentum it created with Saturday’s upset, the days of the Huskers once again being the favorites may not be too far from returning.
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