2 weeks Ago By Sam McKewon World-Herald Sports Editor
COLUMBUS, Ohio — Dante Dowdell leapt toward the sun and potential history, reaching his apex just before the stripe that separated Nebraska football from an infuriating, fruitless drive and a touchdown. At that point, he was caught by several Ohio State defenders. For a split second, Dowdell body surfed on their silver helmets before the wave crested and he fell to the turf.
No points for the Huskers. No quit, either. NU lost 21-17 Saturday afternoon to No.
4 OSU, with the failed fourth-down leap, a couple defensive busts and several questionable officiating spots as culprits. The Huskers’ final offensive drive, too, descended into chaos and crowd noise before ending an interception. But Nebraska (5-3, 2-3) entered Ohio Stadium — its 104,830 fans at full, vicious noise by game’s end — as a 251⁄2-point underdog.
It left playing the Buckeyes’ $20 million roster to a virtual stalemate. It left with coach Matt Rhule sermonizing to start his press conference. At one point, Rhule even said “this is why the Lord put me on this earth — to work with young people.
” He said plenty more, too. “I was proud of that football team today — I was proud,” Rhule said. The speech included a seven-second pause, right at the beginning, as Nebraska Athletic Director Troy Dannen looked on.
“They didn’t back down, they had some really tough breaks, they had some things really go against them — even the way we started. And they competed. It was the first time — the first time, the first time — since I’ve been here that I’ve felt a championship mindset in the locker room.
” The Huskers began the game with a muffed kickoff, a fumbled exchange on the first offensive play and a shanked punt. They responded by repelling the Buckeyes (6-1, 3-1) on an early fourth down. The Blackshirts, bedraggled last week at Indiana, thus set a tone, holding OSU’s explosive offense to 64 rushing yards — 144 under its season average.
“We got a working man’s mindset — we don’t back down from nobody,” said linebacker MJ Sherman, who had two tackles for loss. “I thought our defense was dominant all day,” Rhule said, “save three plays.” Two of those, 40 and 60-yard touchdown passes, came in the first half, as OSU quarterback Will Howard — 13 of 16 for 221 yards and three scores — hit receivers Carnell Tate and Jeremiah Smith behind chasing Husker defenders.
Smith’s 60-yarder was particularly devious, a go route from a tight set that looked seamless. Smith, a 6-foot-3, 215-pound, 18-year-old, glided past safety Isaac Gifford. The bombs gave OSU a 14-6 halftime lead as NU’s two good first half drives ended in field goals from walk-on John Hohl, who connected from 39 and 54 yards.
Nebraska got a quick third quarter stop, the ball, and commenced a 12-play, 58-yard drive for another Hohl field goal — this one from 47 yards. Howard, the OSU QB who transferred in from Kansas State, made his lone mistake right after, throwing a pass into the arms of Husker corner Malcolm Hartzog, who returned the interception to the OSU 7. It’s here where Nebraska needed to deliver — and didn’t.
NU ran the ball four times. Two were plunges into the OSU defensive line designed to set up a quick jet sweep to Husker receiver Jaylen Lloyd. Rhule thought that play would score.
It didn’t. He also thought Lloyd landed inside the 1-yard line. Officials didn’t agree.
So the play Nebraska sent in — Dowdell’s leap, behind defensive tackle Ty Robinson and offensive tackle Micah Mazzccua — was unlikely to succeed. “A ball you think is spotted somewhere (and) gets moved back, really affects the playcalls that you have,” Rhule said. “.
.. the spot got us.
I didn’t want to use a timeout there. Maybe I should have.” At a moment when NU controlled the game, it tightened the margin for error.
Sometimes, the meek need better spots to inherit the upset. Nebraska did take a lead, though, on a fourth quarter touchdown drive that featured quarterback Dylan Raiola’s best work, as he threw for 55 of his 152 yards, not including a nifty two-point conversion shovel pass to Nate Boerkircher after Dowdell scored from the 1. With 10:47 left, the Horseshoe was silent.
OSU woke it up with an eight-play, 75-yard drive that featured the third defensive bust of the day when Tate, on a double move, snuck by NU safety DeShon Singleton for 37 yards. “They’re good receivers but, at the end of the day, I’ve got to go out and guard them,” said Singleton, who led Nebraska with 10 tackles. “I don’t think of them how y’all think of them.
I’ve got to go out there and do my job.” Singleton and Co. did get a late stop of Ohio State, which punted back to Nebraska with 3:36 left on the clock.
Chaos ensued, complete with a long review for targeting — which the Big Ten replay experts upheld — followed by a conniption from the Ohio State fans, who threw bottles onto the field in anger. “I loved it,” defensive lineman Ty Robinson said. “I was egging on the fans.
” “I’m from Philly,” Rhule said. He had to pull his team to the middle of the field for safety. “I’m for all that.
” Raiola said the moment “disrespects football.” After the bottle-throwing incident, NU got called for a false start, Raiola threw two short passes that lost yardage and, finally, he threw a game-ending interception. “It was loud, it was a cool environment, but we knew that coming in,” said Raiola, who at one point committed to play QB at Ohio State.
“It’s definitely a learning point, but we’ll be excited to watch the tape and get better.” Indeed the mood after the loss, if not festive, seemed far different than things after a 56-7 loss to Indiana. Robinson said it’s “most proud” he’s been in six years to “show what we’ve been working on” since Rhule arrived.
And Rhule, after a “hard” week of explaining the Indiana debacle, saw a team turn a key corner. “I didn’t have to be a cheerleader today,” Rhule said. “I didn’t have to be ‘c’mon, you can do this!’ They were like ‘get out of the way.
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