MADISON, Wis. - As Tommy Armstrong’s fourth-down heave to Stanley Morgan fell incomplete to seal a 23-17 overtime loss to No. 11 Wisconsin, Nebraska’s undefeated season came to an end and its lead in the Big Ten West took a notable hit.
But in the immediate aftermath of the defeat, the Huskers were hardly demoralized. In fact, the game actually furthered the belief within the team - and for much of the fan base around it - that NU’s rebuilding process is still right on course.
“Everything about our team that I know was confirmed, which is they’ll continue to fight,” head coach Mike Riley said. “We’ve certainly got to improve some things to finish out the way we want to, there’s no doubt about it. But as far as what we have to work with, it’s all good.”
There’s no denying that a win on Saturday night would have been huge for Nebraska not only in terms of taking another step closer to a division title, but in boosting its perception nationally.
As it turned out, the Huskers still managed to accomplish the latter even in defeat. One of their harshest national critics - ESPN college football analyst Kirk Herbstreit - had nothing but praise for NU for its effort on the road against a very good Badger squad.
“More impressed with Nebraska tonight despite their loss,” Herbstreit tweeted on Saturday night. “Great effort going into OT in Madison… Hard to lose ground with that performance on the road coupled with so many other losses.”
Herbsteit was right. The Huskers only dropped four spots from sixth to 10th in the USA Coaches Poll and two spots from seventh to ninth in the Associated Press poll on Sunday.
Nebraska’s players haven’t been shy about acknowledging the lack of respect they had received during their 7-0 start. While it seems like Saturday night’s effort certainly helped change that perception, the Huskers say what they proved to themselves was far more important.
“The only thing that’s going to change is public opinion,” senior linebacker Michael Rose-Ivey said. “As we saw coming into it, people were doubting us anyway, so it is what it is… We’re only worried about our long-term goals. Us losing this game tonight doesn’t affect that.”
Added senior center Dylan Utter:
“It showed that we can play with the best of them. I think moving forward it shows that this team has a lot of fight and we’re not going to give up no matter who we play…
"We’re going to use this as motivation. Everything that we want, a Big Ten Championship, is still in our hands. So we’re not going to lay down and die.”
To be clear, Nebraska’s players and coaches weren’t clinging to the idea of a moral victory after losing a game they know they could have won.
But for a team that had seen so many disastrous results in similar situations in recent years, this was about as close to finding a win in defeat as it could get.
“We just learned how much heart this team has,” senior linebacker Josh Banderas said. "That’s the thing that’s going to take us where we need to go. The result might not have showed it, but we are on the right path and we’re going where we want to go.”
