SMITH: Road victory in Ames avenges last year’s losses

AMES, Iowa — Remember that fourth-quarter collapse against Virginia Tech last fall? How about "fumblefest" in the 2009 edition of Nebraska vs. Iowa State? And surely you recall the final second of last year's conference championship game?

Well, Cornhusker fans, consider those heartbreaks avenged.

Walking out of Jack Trice Stadium after Nebraska's 31-30 overtime win on Saturday, an exhausted fan muttered, "To win a national championship, you're going to have to win a couple games like this."

And while the No. 9 Huskers will need five more wins and losses by teams like Auburn, Oregon, TCU and Boise State to hoist a crystal football in Arizona this January, that fan had a point: Great teams win tight games.

In fact, the last Nebraska championship in 1997 involved a fluke catch after the ball was deflected off a foot to stay alive on the road against Missouri.

This year's Huskers — who need two wins in games against Kansas, Texas A&M and Colorado to clinch the Big 12 North — eked out a victory in the ugliest of fashions Saturday. Iowa State's failed two-point conversion in overtime might well be the 2010 equivalent of Matt Davison's foot-assisted catch 13 years ago.

With quarterbacks Zac Lee and Taylor Martinez and starting cornerback Alfonzo Dennard sidelined, Nebraska patched together a slow-and-steady Wildcat offense that reminded fans of the days before Taylor Martinez, who was an emergency backup Saturday after suffering an ankle sprain against Missouri, broke multiple scoring runs in the same game.

But what the Huskers lacked in style points, they made up for in grit.

Playing an underrated Iowa State team that would have taken control of the North with a win, sophomore quarterback Cody Green nabbed his third career start and quickly reminded fans why Martinez beat him out for the job this summer.

Still, Green battled. He avoided big mistakes, hit short passes and kept the offense in the game.

And in the fourth quarter, Green showed maturity both by helping the Huskers build a 14-point advantage and by not panicking when that lead evaporated.

A game like this was bound to happen some time. Last year, with three would-be wins squandered in the fourth quarter, the Huskers still managed to have a successful season. But, as that relieved fan and defensive coordinator Carl Pelini said, great teams win tough games.

Saturday showed that Nebraska might be a great team.

The stakes were high in Ames. After losing to a Texas team which has since established itself as putrid, a road loss to the Cyclones would have blown almost any chance of a conference title, let alone a national one.

That said, Iowa State isn't the last quality opponent on Nebraska's schedule. Kansas, despite its 3-6 record, beat a top-15 team in Georgia Tech and had one of the best single quarters in recent memory with five touchdowns in the final quarter on Saturday against Colorado. Texas A&M has shown flashes of greatness and just beat Oklahoma. Oh, and the last time a Nebraska team with national title aspirations played a seemingly outmatched Colorado squad in 2001, the Buffs won.

But Husker coach Bo Pelini said, at this point the season, he'll take a win however it comes. And after three kidney-bruising losses last season, the Huskers more than earned a win like Saturday's.

This year, instead of suffering heartbreak, the Huskers the ones dishing it out. Consider last year's losses avenged.

Mitch Smith is a junior news-editorial major. Reach him at mitchsmith@dailynebraskan.com.