On Cincinnati’s final possession Thursday night at Kansas City’s Arrowhead Stadium, Nebraska running back Emmett Johnson encouraged nickel Malcolm Hartzog Jr. to make a play.
Nebraska was clinging to a 20-17 lead when the Bearcats took over at their own 9-yard line, after an Archie Wilson punt. With no timeouts, Cincinnati had driven to the Husker 33-yard line, first down, the last 10 yards the result of a Hartzog holding penalty.
Although they were within field goal distance and a potential tie, the Bearcats opted to go for the win. Quarterback Brendan Sorsby threw a pass, which Hartzog intercepted and fell into the end zone. Only 34 seconds remained in Nebraska’s one-score victory.
“I told him on that last drive, I said, ‘Go make a play, man. It’s your moment, go make a play.’ He’s doing what he’s trained to do,” said Johnson. “He makes big plays in practice.
“And that’s what he did tonight.”
Until the interception, it appeared Cincinnati might be up to the task.
But “I had so much faith in them (the defenders), I was actually smiling on that last drive because I knew those five senior DBs, man, and just that whole group on defense, plays hard,” Johnson said. “They play to the end. Everybody said we can’t finish games, and that’s what we did tonight.”
The interception, the second of two Bearcat turnovers, “felt unreal,” Hartzog said. “Coach JB (defensive coordinator John Butler) had us in the right call.
“I did my assignment, looked up, see the ball … yeah, I just made the play.”
Johnson did his assignment throughout the game, carrying 25 times for 108 yards and catching a team-high seven passes for 27 yards. Wide receivers Nyziah Hunter and Dane Key each caught six passes, including touchdowns thrown by Dylan Raiola, who finished 33-of-42 for 243 yards without an interception.
It was among Raiola’s “more mature games,” Coach Matt Rhule said.
Kyle Cunanan scored Nebraska’s first six points, on field goals of 52 and 22 yards.
Johnson credited the offensive linemen for his success. They “block their butts off for me every single day, so I give all credit to them,” he said. “I’m going to do whatever it takes for this team to win. So I’m going to just keep working hard and whenever my opportunity comes, just keep going with it.”
Nebraska’s defense stifled the Bearcats’ passing game. Sorsby completed 13-of-25 for only 69 yards and had to use his legs to spark the offense. He carried 13 times for a team-high 96 yards.
Cincinnati scored first, a field goal, but the Huskers led at halftime 13-3. The Bearcats cut the lead to 13-10 in the third quarter, before Nebraska scored what would be the winning touchdown, on Raiola’s 3-yard pass to Key with 10:36 remaining in the game.
Cincinnati cut the lead to three on a Sorsby touchdown with 7:15 remaining.
“We pride ourselves on playing four quarters of football,” Johnson said. “We believe in body blows as a program, wearing the defense down, and so I had a lot of faith (if) we just keep trusting our technique and trusting our reads, it was going to keep moving the chains toward the end of the game.”
The Huskers’ fourth-quarter time of possession was 10:03 to Cincinnati’s 4:57.
As projected, the crowd of 72,884 was overwhelmingly Husker fans, and they provided an advantage with their deafening cheers. It was “amazing, absolutely amazing,” said Rhule.
A note of sadness: Thursday’s game was the first in 16 years without the late Greg Sharpe on the call for the Huskers Radio Network.
Another: Johnson ended his post-game media availability by, showing the person he is, referring to the school shooting in Minneapolis: “Can I say one more thing before we leave? Just (can) you guys pray for some families back home in Minneapolis, Minnesota … It was right by my high school back home, so I just want you guys to pray for them, and I had it written on my wrist during the game, so please pray for Minneapolis if you’ve got some time. I appreciate you guys.”
