Dana Holgorsen had a line ready after Nebraska’s 31-13 road win in Big Ten play: “But at the end of the day, it didn't all suck.”
That was the kind of summary that fit the afternoon. The Cornhuskers got the result they wanted on the road, but Holgorsen spent Tuesday working through the messier parts of it, too.
There were things to clean up, sure. There were also enough good moments to keep the win from feeling like just another box-score exercise.
One of those moments belonged to Vince Genatone.
Holgorsen revisited the sequence on Tuesday and explained how the short-yardage situation unfolded. Nebraska faced a third-and-1 from the 16, and Holgorsen wanted to keep the pace moving with no personnel changes. He needed a play, then the next one right away.
That meant Genatone was headed into the game for the short-yardage snap.
“He looked at me like, 'Oh no.' I said, don't worry about it.
He's going to know what to do. He's a reliable kid.
Probably not going to throw it to him anyway."
Nebraska did not need to throw it to him. Genatone turned the chance into a touchdown, going 13 yards to the end zone after he had picked up three yards on the previous play.
Holgorsen said the sideline reaction stood out to him.
“I just thought it was super cool, the team's reaction to that on the sidelines. It may have juiced us up so much for about the next 20 minutes during halftime where we forgot to come out and play football. That's my only explanation for having all the momentum in the world, then coming out and playing bad in the third quarter."
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