Huskers’ win eases Pelini’s, Slauson’s anxiety

Both senior offensive lineman Matt Slauson and Nebraska Coach Bo Pelini breathed sighs of relief after Nebraska came from behind to beat Colorado 40-31 on Friday, but for two different reasons.

Pelini thought he may have lost the game by calling a fake field goal that was intercepted and returned for a Colorado touchdown.

Slauson was worried that he would have to eat the words he said in the weeks of preparation leading up to the game with the Buffaloes - Slauson was quoted in the Denver Post saying Colorado was "irrelevant" in the Big 12 Conference.

He was also quoted saying he had a strong distaste for Colorado football.

The bulletin board fodder nearly worked as CU forced NU sophomore kicker Alex Henery into having to make a 57-yard field goal to keep Slauson on the good side of things, and Pelini, too.

"Alex saved me, he really did," Slauson said. "In that situation I don't know how he was able to focus. The normal man would have cracked, but he did a great job for us."

Slauson joked after the game that Henery might receive invitations to attend the offensive linemen dinners now, but he's not the only one thankful for the final outcome of win number eight on the year.

Pelini thought he may have made the call that gave Colorado the momentum it needed to pull off the upset and become bowl eligible. With just under two minutes left in the first half, Nebraska was in Colorado territory, but faced a fourth down.

Pelini brought Henery and the field goal team on the field to execute a fake field goal that had resulted in a Nebraska first down weeks earlier.

However, on Friday, Colorado sniffed out the play from the start as CU's Jimmy Smith ran in between place-holder Jake Wesch and Henery to intercept the flip and take it 58 yards to tie the game at 24 going into halftime.

"I felt like we were in control, and then I made the bone-headed call," Pelini said. "I'm a grown man, and I made a mistake. I wanted to jump on them, and I would have been really upset if we would have lost. It would have been hard for me to live with that."

Instead, Pelini is living with an 8-4 Nebraska team that can only sit and wait to hear where they will be playing for their postseason.

The final chips will fall after the Big 12 Championship Game this weekend, which allows Pelini and the Huskers a chance to soak in its last game and the season that was.

It sure ended with fireworks on Saturday as Colorado jumped to an early 14-0 lead on Nebraska. CU quarterback Cody Hawkins launched a 68-yard touchdown pass to receiver Riar Greer in the first minute of the game and silenced Memorial Stadium.

Less than five minutes later, it was Colorado's Demetrius Sumler who ran for a 36 yards to put the Buffs up 14-0 and in control early.

After that, though, Nebraska quarterback Joe Ganz and the offense awoke and drove right down the field on a scoring drive capped off by a 2-yard touchdown catch from senior receiver Nate Swift.

Just a short while later, Nebraska had the ball again, and it took just one play for Ganz to find NU tight end Mike McNeill right down the middle for a 53-yard touchdown pass to knot the game up at 14.

After that point, the two teams jostled for position all the way to the dramatic finish, as Henery launched a school-record field goal to put Nebraska up for good.

It was an unexpected ending even for the player who kicked it.

Henery said he couldn't remember anything of what he said or what he was thinking after the kick went through. He said all he could remember was seeing the ball go through then somehow finding his way back to the sideline.

Henery's kick was a kick that not only kept Colorado at home for this year's bowl season, but it also gave Nebraska a record few Husker fans would have thought possible heading into 2008.

After the thrilling win, Pelini still used the routine train of thought. A win was a win.

"You take them any way you can get them," Pelini said. "I give Colorado a lot of credit. They played hard, they made some plays and it was a hard-fought football game. It was a wild game. I know one thing-the fans got their money's worth (Friday)."

spencerschubert@dailynebraskan.com