intertribal | Nebraska 26, Clemson 21

[note: more football, so feel free to skip more - picture-heavy, but I'm not cutting it cuz it's my damn livejournal]

Senior Joe Ganz following a concussion

My mother and I were trying to decipher why the 2008 Huskers football team have meant so much to me. Was it because for the previous four years we had a coach I didn't care for (Bill Callahan) and an athletic director (Steve Pedersen), and now we've got good ol' Tom Osborne and the wonderful Bo Pelini back? Was it because I was busy adjusting to college in the past? My mother thinks it's two things: that I'm in a better mood these days, and thus more open to hope and excitement in general; and that I'm older - for the first time, I'm about the same age as the players. She's probably right on both counts. But whatever it is, I've never felt so connected to a Husker football squad. I've cheered for the Huskers since middle school, and I'd like to take this opportunity to thank my uncle for monopolizing the remote: if he hadn't insisted he watch college football when I wanted to watch Cartoon Network, I wouldn't have had to ask him to explain the rules of the game to me. But I digress. I've cheered for the Huskers since middle school. I've been tense and I've screamed and I've kept newspaper clippings. But I've never felt as much as I do for this team. Obviously I'm especially fond of the seniors, and obviously within the group of seniors, Joe Ganz (see earlier post). When I thought we were going to lose, with two minutes left in the game - after battling back admirably in the second half - all I could say was, "they don't deserve this, they deserve better, I can't watch this happen to them."

The defense, led by junior Ndamukong Suh (in the middle, wearing 93), makes a defensive stand

It would have been a heartbreaker if we lost then. Not like this, we were thinking. Not like this. Not after the offense rallied. Not after the defense had, prior to this series, played the game of its life - blocking field goals, blocking punts, sacking their quarterback, making interceptions. The defense had fallen asleep momentarily and Clemson was at our 10-yard line with four chances to score. If they had scored then it would likely be the ball game - we wouldn't have had the time, in all likelihood, to even get within field goal range, even though Alex Henery would have no doubt put all he had into an 80-yard field goal if Pelini asked him to. All Clemson needed was a touchdown.

Eric Hagg sacks Clemson's quarterback for a 16 yard loss

But just like the offense pulled itself together and came through in the third quarter, scoring 20 points, the defense pulled itself together and came through - they expected no less of themselves. Sophomore Eric Hagg, who lost his blackshirt recently, sacked Clemson's quarterback down at the 26-yard line. He later said he "had to make up for blowing the defense" on an earlier play. Well, he did make up for it. 16-yard sacks are not common - their quarterback was obviously flustered, and Hagg was obviously driven. He was not, I would say, as composed as our own QB. The well-thrown pass on third down was batted down by junior Matt O'Hanlon in the end zone - as soon as O'Hanlon got off one of the coaches shouted at him, "You saved the day, man! You saved the day!" That's what's amazing about football. Hagg and O'Hanlon and Castille, below, were not players you would have guessed would have saved the day. But everyone who gets out on that field has to be ready to save the day because that pass might be coming their way, because the starter might get injured, because you might be the one defender with a straight shot at the quarterback. Everyone has to be ready. And we were ready, I think, where Clemson was not. Our players knew well and deep what this game meant.

Matt O'Hanlon breaks up the last play of the game

On fourth down, the pass wasn't close. The Husker closest to the pass, junior Larry Asante, started jumping up and down, and on the sidelines, Coach Pelini lifted his fists. "That's it," said the radio announcer, "The Huskers will walk out of here Gator Bowl champions." The offense ended the game in victory formation - the offensive line crowded together, the backs basically making sure nothing unseemly happens to the ball, and Ganz taking a knee, three times. By then the celebration had already begun on the Nebraska sideline. Ganz took a knee one last time with about twenty seconds left, the ref extended his hand and asked for the ball - "No, I'm keeping this one," said Ganz, and the Husker players and coaches came pouring onto the field.

Ganz and the offense declare victory

After the turnovers in the first half, Ganz came out and completed two touchdown passes in the third quarter. He also led the offense to two field goals. Concussion threatened to sideline him - nope. He only ended up missing one snap, and got them down to another field goal. He was named the MVP. "You gotta be a pretty special guy to have a fumble returned for a touchdown, an interception returned for a touchdown, and still be the MVP of a game," said Pelini. "You gotta be a pretty special guy to do that." He said, too, that Ganz epitomized the team's ability to bounce back after getting punched in the mouth, as the offensive linemen like to say, and keep fighting.

Pelini, Ganz, and the MVP Trophy

There's this U.S. Open ad I really like that basically just says, "Walk it off. Shake it off. Walk it off. Shake it off," and we've been doing just that since way back in our close, heartbreaker losses to Texas Tech and Virginia Tech. Even when we're down by forty points we keep fighting. And when we lose? We come back the next week and play even harder. We never bounced back under Callahan - we just got depressed, got down. Bo Pelini changed that. God knows what he says to them in the locker room, but that man can obviously coach. As Osborne says, the players want to play for him. And recently, we've started to be able to pull out not just close losses, but wins.

Senior Nate Swift catches Nebraska's first touchdown pass

We were down 14-3 at the half of this game. We came out on the first drive of the second half and scored. So what the hell happened in the locker room? People on the Life in the Red blog were saying that to recover after a really god-awful first half and win would be as monumental as the volleyball team recovering from a bad start of the season to get into the Final Four semifinals. In other words: damn near impossible. Other bloggers said that whether we adjusted in the second half would show us whether we had a good coaching staff, or a great one. I guess we have a great one.

Pelini and the Gator Bowl Trophy

During halftime, nobody pointed fingers; nobody shouted. Everyone stayed calm. Well, almost. "I probably threw a chair or two in private," said Pelini, who's been trying to keep his emotions more disciplined as the season's gone on - but Osborne hired him in part, I think, because he was fiery - because he could light a fire under the players. He was caught on national television screaming at referees and then got all self-conscious of his sideline demeanor, not wanting to make Nebraska look bad - not that I think the players ever gave a shit. "Then I walk out and I act like everything's okay. But before we walked out, I said, 'Hey fellas, we've been here before, right?' And they said, 'Yep.'" I don't think anyone in Husker Nation was holding onto the hope that we could win this game when the second half started. The believers were all down in Jacksonville, in the Husker locker room.

Senior Todd Peterson, on catching Nebraska's second touchdown pass / Pelini gets Gatorade'd

And we should've known. We should've known how bad they wanted this win - for the seniors who had to endure the miserable Callahan era and rebuild the team from nothing as well as for the coaches. Bo Pelini and his brother, defensive coordinator Carl, lost their father last week right before the team was due to fly to Jacksonville, and in honor of Anthony Pelini the players wore AP stickers on their helmets. At the end of the game, Quentin Castille - the third-string runningback who had to step up and play a great game because the two guys ahead of him had injuries - pointed to the sticker on the back of his helmet and then pointed skyward. "He was here with us today," Castille said.

Quentin Castille

Add to that the promise of putting more cement on the foundation that this team and its seniors had laid for Nebraska's rise. And with all that incentive - with so bad a desire to win this game - we should have known that they would be able to pull it out. If this team has two things for certain, it's resolve and fortitude, as Pelini said. Essentially the same team that went 5-7 last year won three more regular season games this year, got itself to a January bowl game, and then won that. 5-7 to 9-4, thanks to Bo Pelini and his staff and the seniors that had to grow up fast and solidify their leadership of this team. At the beginning of the game, four prominent seniors - Ganz, Steinkuhler, Zach Potter, and Nate Swift - held hands as they led the team out of the locker room and onto the field. Again: they had to build this team from nothing. These seniors basically had to watch the Huskers freefall in the past couple seasons. They had to take that demoralized team, tied for last in the Big 12 North and the laughingstock of the conference, and make them believe. We tied for first in the Big 12 North this year. Make them Bo-lieve, as fans are fond of saying: I BOlieve! I BOlieve!

Ganz and Pelini

Thank God for Bo. Thank God for the seniors. I'm so proud of them. The Indonesian word for what they've got is ketabahan - essentially, the ability to "keep the faith". They didn't just keep it; they fought for it. The fans wanted to die in the stands and they went out and executed plays and made stands like they alone knew they could. Though they're leaving us I believe the impact of their enormous character and inner strength will stay.

So seniors, I'd like to say this: thank you for this season, for being a no-quit team, for playing with heart and soul and guts, for showing the younger players what Nebraska football at its best is like. I hope that Husker fans remember, as this season fades into the next, what you all did for us as a fan base, and what you did for the football program. You guys gave us our mojo back. It's not just that things are well in Huskerville - it's that things are pulsating, alive, and ready to bite. And that's thanks to you. Remember. As Pelini said to his seniors when he was handed the Gator Bowl trophy, "I love you all."

I love all you all, baby. I love all you all.