Special Teams Lift Huskers Over Cincinnati

There’s only one play from Nebraska’s 20-17 win over Cincinnati that’s considered to be the game-winning play.

With 34 seconds left in the game and Cincinnati trailing 20-17, Bearcat quarterback Brendan Sorsby took a shot at the end zone. Nebraska senior Malcolm Hartzog Jr. made sure it was a game-winning play that went the way of the Huskers.

He pulled in Sorsby’s heave for a game-sealing interception. Nebraska kneeled it out just one play later and the Huskers escaped Kansas City with the 3-point win — yes, a one-score game that Nebraska won!

However, if you think about how Nebraska’s lost all of those one-score games in the past, you might be able to reason that it actually wasn’t the late interception that sealed the deal for NU. Instead, an argument could be made the game was won back in the second quarter — stick with me.

Nebraska was held scoreless in the first quarter, and Cincinnati wasn’t a whole lot better. Nonetheless, the Bearcats entered the second frame up 3-0. After only 12 yards of offense on their first possession of the game before punting, Nebraska put together an 11-play drive that got them into Cincinnati territory, but barely.

Facing a 4th & 9 from Cincinnati’s 33-yard-line, Nebraska coach Matt Rhule decided to introduce his new kicker — sophomore Kyle Cunanan. His first attempt as a Husker was from 52 yards out, and once it cleared the line, it had plenty of leg and snuck inside the right upright to tie the game at 3.

Obviously, no analyst will tell you that was a game-winning field goal for the Huskers, but with Nebraska’s special teams struggles for well over the past decade, the amount of open jaws in Arrowhead Stadium after that went through were in the thousands. Husker fans have been holding their breath on PAT’s let alone a 52-yarder to start the year.

Even Nebraska head coach Matt Rhule knew there was a shift after Cunanan made the field goal.

“To be able to kick that field goal in that time was a crucial play,” Rhule said. “That was a big change in the game.”

Nebraska’s special teams success didn’t stop there. New punter Archie Wilson also shook off some early butterflies to make an impact for the Big Red. On two separate punts in the game, Wilson used both his left and right leg to pin the Bearcats inside their own 10-yard line.

The punts not only flipped the field, but they helped flip a script Nebraska fans have become all too accustomed to. Instead of costing themselves points in tight games, they were preserving the few they had.

The Mike Ekeler-led special teams units still weren’t without their own blemishes. An early kickoff sailed out of bounds, setting Cincinnati up with great field position in the tightly-contested showdown, and it gave Rhule and his staff a talking point to keep their feet on the ground.

“It’s like the rest of the team — there’s going to be a lot of good, and there’s going to be a lot of things we want to correct,” Rhule said.

Nebraska opened up a halftime lead of 13-3, but Cincinnati’s offense eventually found their stride thanks to an up-tempo approach. They twice got within three points of the Huskers, but with no timeouts and trailing by three, desperate times called for desperate measures.

Without Cunanan converting on both of his field goals (he also made a 22-yard field goal in the second quarter) and Wilson leaving the Bearcats with long fields, that fourth quarter and the pressure that came with it would have likely been on Nebraska, not Cincinnati.

Ultimately, it’s the pressure put on the Bearcats that led to the game-winning interception by Hartzog Jr.. If the game was tied, Cincinnati likely would have been plum happy to run the clock down and attempt a game-winning field goal. If they had the lead, the Blackshirts would have needed to make a late stop and utilize their timeouts.

Instead, Sorsby pushed the envelope, Hartzog Jr. made a play, and Nebraska left with the W. The 1-0 Huskers now have a long week before their next test against Akron in Lincoln on Saturday, Sep. 6. While the Huskers will use the holiday weekend to rest and recover,  Rhule is making sure his guys are getting better and stronger in the process.

“I think the good thing is, is we’re going to go right back to work (Friday),” Rhule said. “We’ll be in the weight room at 11 o’clock. This is no ‘Happy (Labor) Day’ because of the game — that’s just the plan. We’ll start getting better for next week.”

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