Husker Thoughts?

[FBWillie]

Was curious to know what you guys think of this article. Sorry if it has already been posted. Would you feel nearly as optimistic if you hadn't had that 3 game streak to end the season?

 

July 30, 2006

 

Nebraska's momentum hanging on fragile kick

 

BY RICH KAIPUST

 

 

WORLD-HERALD BUREAU

 

LINCOLN - Of the 19 field goals that Jordan Congdon made last season for Nebraska, his 40-yarder against Kansas State wouldn't get good marks for its aesthetic beauty.

Click to Enlarge

Jordan Congdon's game-winning kick against Kansas State wasn't pretty, but it sent the Huskers on a three-game winning streak to end the season.

 

It never got very high. It wobbled a little. The wind even banged it around some.

 

"I've watched that film over and over," Congdon said. "I'll be like, 'That was a pretty low-trajectory kick, but they didn't block it.' It just went in and we won. When it comes down to it, nobody's going to talk about what it looks like."

 

But had it not found a place between the Memorial Stadium uprights, and had Nebraska not gone ahead 27-25 with 1:05 left, people might have talked about it plenty.

 

Congdon's kick started a three-game winning streak that resulted in an 8-4 final record for Nebraska, a little breathing room for head coach Bill Callahan and optimism for the coming football season.

 

"Obviously, as a kicker, you always get a hard time, always get guys saying things like, 'You're so lucky that went in,'" Congdon said. "I don't know what to say other than, 'Well, it did.'"

 

Think now about the situation if it didn't.

 

A 25-24 loss to Kansas State would have dropped NU to 5-5. Do the Huskers still go to Colorado and win to become bowl eligible? Even with a win at CU, do they follow with a bowl victory that could carry the same clout as the upset of Michigan in the Alamo?

 

And right now, in that short gap between summer conditioning and the start of preseason camp, are the Huskers feeling the same confidence and momentum they have been building the last seven months?

 

"You never know," senior defensive end Adam Carriker said. "There's always 'what ifs.' Obviously, it was huge. It vaulted us into the Colorado game, it vaulted us into the Michigan game, it vaulted us into this year.

 

"You know, if we don't make that kick, maybe things turn out totally different. I've not really thought too much about it. We won, it was a very close, very competitive game, and we were lucky to win."

 

Nebraska spent a good portion of Big 12 media days answering questions about being the North Division favorite. Being asked if Year Three is the time when Callahan and his rebuilt staff and roster put the Huskers back in BCS contention.

 

NU fans would shudder to think what questions might be swirling had an 18-year-old freshman not willed a kick through a frisky wind and over the crossbar.

 

"It definitely could have changed things," sophomore receiver Nate Swift said. "Sometimes you do think about it, but we're trying to leave that in the past and look forward to this season. We had a lot of close games last year, and luckily we were on the right end of most of them."

 

Swift would be referring to the close calls against Pittsburgh (7-6), Iowa State (27-20, two overtimes), K-State and Michigan (32-2 , where you could point to one or two plays that saved the Huskers. To be fair, home losses to Texas Tech (34-31) and Oklahoma (31-24) also could have gone either way.

 

But none came at a more crucial point than the great escape vs. KSU.

 

Starting quarterback Zac Taylor was out, nursing a concussion, when backup Harrison Beck threw an interception that led to the Wildcats kicking a go-ahead field goal. It then took Beck's only career completion and a 15-yard penalty on KSU to give Congdon a chance.

 

Callahan only days before had been asked about his job performance and security, stemming from a three-game losing skid that had culminated with the 40-15 embarrassment at Kansas.

 

There were no such questions at Big 12 media days last week. Callahan instead talked specifically about how the Huskers' finish booted them through winter, spring and summer programs.

 

"Now it's a matter of how we use that motivation as we head into the last quarter of our offseason, that being training camp," Callahan said.

 

"We talk to our team about starting fast and finishing strong, and that's one of the signs we have up in our locker room. But last year somewhere in the middle we forgot to win consistently. So we're going to build on that aspect as well."

 

Considering the close games, Congdon became an important weapon for NU. The sophomore-to-be hasn't spent too much time reminiscing about those kicks he made or didn't make, but understands the magnitude of the game-winner against Kansas State.

 

"Once or twice I've been like, 'Whoa, what if that ball wouldn't have gone through?'" he said. "What would our season have been like? I just thank God it went in."

 

Carriker said you can't dwell on close calls or close plays. You accept what happened and move on.

 

"Just like the Super Bowl five or six years ago, when they lost it by a yard," Carriker said, referring to Tennessee receiver Kevin Dyson being tackled at the 1-yard line as time expired in a 23-16 loss to St. Louis. "One yard can make all the difference in the world."

 

It ain't over till ...

 

• Half of Nebraska's football games last season were decided by a touchdown or less. A look at how those six played out:

 

• Nebraska 7, Pittsburgh 6

• Go-ahead score: Quarterback Zac Taylor's 1-yard run midway through the second quarter gives NU a 7-0 lead that holds up.

• Turning point: Pittsburgh kicker Josh Cummings has a 46-yard field goal blocked as time expires, which also follows the Panthers blowing the snap on the previous try but throwing an incomplete pass.

 

• Nebraska 27, Iowa State 20

• Go-ahead score: Taylor swings an 8-yard pass to Cory Ross as NU strikes first in the second overtime. ISU is then stopped.

• Turning point: After ISU starts the first OT with a touchdown, the Cyclones have a good chance to win but defensive lineman Nick Leaders drops a screen pass by Taylor that's right in his hands.

 

• Texas Tech 34, Nebraska 31

• Go-ahead score: Texas Tech quarterback Cody Hodges finds Joel Filani on a 10-yard pass play, coming on fourth down with two seconds left.

• Turning point: NU nose tackle Le Kevin Smith had intercepted Hodges four plays earlier. Smith tried to run with the football, was stripped and fumbled back to the Red Raiders.

 

• Oklahoma 31, Nebraska 24

• Go-ahead score: KeJuan Jones' 17-yard run with 10:58 left supplies OU with a 31-17 cushion.

• Turning point: There are two: 1) OU keeps alive the aforementioned drive with a fake field goal. 2) Down 31-24, Taylor overthrows an open Nate Swift deep on NU's final possession.

 

• Nebraska 27, Kansas State 25

Go-ahead score: Jordan Congdon kicks a 40-yard field goal with 1:05 left, preserving a game NU had once led 24-12.

• Turning point: Playing for an injured Taylor, NU's Harrison Beck lobs an interception with 5:40 remaining that sets up KSU's go-ahead field goal.

 

• Nebraska 32, Michigan 28

• Go-ahead score: Taylor connects with Terrence Nunn on a 13-yard TD pass with 4:29 to go, helping NU overcome a 28-17 deficit.

• Turning point: Michigan botches its first two fourth-quarter series with lost fumbles by receiver Jason Avant and quarterback Chad Henne, the latter setting up the Huskers' winning score.

-Rich Kaipust

[GSG]

No. With a one-point loss to KState, I don't see the team rebounding well enough to beat CU, let alone destroy them. I think that it would have changed the outcome of the entire season so dramatically that we would all be questioning BC and Stevie P right now.

[pigsonthewing]

No. With a one-point loss to KState, I don't see the team rebounding well enough to beat CU, let alone destroy them. I think that it would have changed the outcome of the entire season so dramatically that we would all be questioning BC and Stevie P right now.

exactly.

[gamecocks]

IF we would of beat Tech, it might of let us roll right through the season and propelled us to win the Big 12 Championship.

[FBWillie]

Also found this... Not really relevant to to the thread but thought it was an entertaining read:

 

Big 12 survey

[DJR313]

IF we would of beat Tech, it might of let us roll right through the season and propelled us to win the Big 12 Championship.

I dunno about championship, but definitely the north. However, that KSU win was big for momentum. It rolled after that. If NU lost that game, it may have been another 5-6 season with the whole offseason to question whether or not Callahan was the guy.

[ttheKid1*18]

I think the one game that really could have changed something was the Mizzou game. We were tied with them at 24, and driving. Nunn caught a pass, went into the red zone and fumbled. Had he not fumbled, we probably would have won the game, which would have made us 6-1 going against OU. After that anything could have happened.

 

But on the original question, we probably would have lost against Cu and not made a bowl. We would have been questioning putting in Beck more than ever, and Callahan would be on the hot seat.

 

Luckily they won, ended with a 3 game win streak, and are expected to do great things this season. GBR!!

[skersfan]

Shoulda coulda woulda.

 

I would have still supported BC period. I don't think there was a chance of losing to Colorado either way. But the real thing is we would not have ended up with Michigan. Beating Michigan at strength was the real motivation here. Not a victory over KState or Colorado, neither of them belonged on the same field with Michigan. In honesty I did not feel we did. If we ended up with TCU or someone else the motivation would not have been as strong

 

Beating Michigan is what is driving this team and me as a fan.

[ttheKid1*18]

Shoulda coulda woulda.

 

I would have still supported BC period. I don't think there was a chance of losing to Colorado either way. But the real thing is we would not have ended up with Michigan. Beating Michigan at strength was the real motivation here. Not a victory over KState or Colorado, neither of them belonged on the same field with Michigan. In honesty I did not feel we did. If we ended up with TCU or someone else the motivation would not have been as strong

 

Beating Michigan is what is driving this team and me as a fan.

That is definately true. I wonder if the motivtion would have come with a game against Iowa, that almost happened in the Alamo Bowl. They have a lot of talent, but not the tradition like Michigan. I'm just happy everything ended like it did. Let the Order Restoration Project begin!!!!

[skersfan]

It has my young man, It has.

[BIGREDIOWAN]

There is a lot of things that if this would of happened and that would have happened that would have changed the season. The only game I see (besides that game) is when we played Texas Tech and screwed up the interception. That to me was an attitude changer. If we would have won that one it would have been great.

[huskernumerouno]

The tech game was where our team showed what it is made of. yes we lost a game that we should have won, but our players rallied to come back and finish the season like they wanted to prove to people that things were changing in HUSKER NATION. This team will and begin a new era in HUSKER history.

 

GBR

[BIGREDIOWAN]