Nebraska football at No. 4 Ohio State

The horseshoe was silent. The game took place in a situation that no one had expected before the first game began. Buckeyes quarterback Will Howard, shotgun on 4th-and-1, trailing by three points.

Looking back, that was the game. Everything that happened in the last 52 minutes led to this moment. Ohio State converts, they walk away with at least a field goal and a tie. If they fail, they give the Huskers the ball with seven minutes left in the game and, most importantly, the momentum and the chance to pull off a season-saving upset

Every Husker fan knew this was it. Any fan who had experienced countless painful close defeats over the last decade knew how important this moment was. They had seen opportunities like this before. They had seen so many chances and opportunities missed to finish big games.

That moment was the game. Stop them and win. Stop them and secure your biggest success as a program in 20 years. Stopping them will sweep the embarrassing defeat from a week ago under the rug. Stop them and a team labeled as cheats seven days ago would become media darlings again. Stop them and complete one of the biggest surprises of the year.

The moment was lost.

Howard dropped back in the shotgun and hit future NFL wideout Emeka Egbuka for the first-down conversion. The Buckeyes did the inevitable. They marched down the field and scored seven goals, giving them a 21-17 lead.

From that point on, it was an uphill battle for NU. Within minutes, Ohio State went from having its back against the wall to having a four-point lead, the home crowd behind it and all the momentum.

Nebraska got the ball back two more times and had a chance to take the lead, but failed on both attempts. A win that would turn around not only the season but the entire program turned into a valiant performance as the Huskers lost 24-17 to the Buckeyes.

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