The insecurities that surrounded the Nebraska football team were not quelled by the uneven performance the Huskers put on the field vs. the Southern Mississippi Golden Eagles Saturday afternoon. The Eagles, mind you, are not the same 0-12 crew that rolled in here two years ago and were summarily dismissed. This crew had pluck, moxie, even.
The Huskers jumped out to 22-0 halftime lead, scoring on all six of their first half possessions. Unfortunately for NU, however, the last five of those were on the leg of Drew Brown. The Huskers, counting by three instead of seven, left the door open for the Eagles to get back in the game, and it nearly cost them the game.
Southern Miss converted an early third quarter interception into a touchdown. After answering a Husker touchdown with one of their own to pull the score to 29-14, the Eagles converted an onside kick into a touchdown and the Husker fans started popping antacids by the handful. The much maligned Nebraska defense was able to get a stop when they needed one, however, turning Southern Miss over on downs before driving 39 yards for the game winning score.
The final result wasn't without a little more drama, however. Brown had a field goal blocked that would have put the Huskers up by 11 with :29 seconds to play. Southern Miss quarterback Nick Mullens moved the Eagles 40 yards on back-to-back completions but was sacked on the games final play. Out of timeouts, Southern Miss watched the clock run out before they were able to run another play.
The Huskers were finally able to exhale, holding on for the 36-28 victory and pushing their record to 2-2 as they head into conference play next week in Champagne, Illinois.