What is the worst season you have seen by your favorite team? If you are an Ohio State fan, you might say 2011, when your team went 6-7 due to injuries to Pryor. If you are an Alabama fan, 1955 is what you think of: your team did not have a win, going 0-10 and only averaging 4.8 points per game on offense. For Oklahoma in 1996, under John Blake, is what you think of: going 3-8. For Nebraska fans, it is fairly clear where you go; the 2021 season is infamous at this point among any fans of College Football. A team with so much talent and so much pressure to finally perform. A team that had a +63-point differential should be better; they should be a team in a bowl game. Instead, with questionable coaching and late-game collapses, it is considered one of the worst seasons by a team in a long time.

2021:

To start the season, the Nebraska Cornhuskers would start in Champaign, Illinois, for a game versus the Fighting Illini in a Week 0 matchup, which was supposed to be in Ireland but instead got moved to Illinois for less travel with COVID still being a worry. Illinois, under new head coach Bret Bielema, was looking to start the new era with a win at home. To start the game, all looked fine for both teams until another quick stop by the Huskers after 6 plays allowed Illinois to punt back to the Huskers. The Huskers would bobble the punt and grab it in the end zone on the ground for an Illinois Safety. Illinois would get the ball back from the safety and go down the field to miss a field goal, leading to the Huskers getting the ball and, behind a strong rushing attack by Martinez, push one into the end zone. Conner Culp would then miss the extra point. More scoring in the 2nd, including a fumbled snap taken to the end zone, would end the quarter at a score of 16-9 favoring the Illini. To come out of the locker room, the Illini would put up 2 scores in a row, putting the game at 30-9. Some garbage time points for the Huskers would mark the first 1-score loss of the season, with a 30-22 loss going into the books. Many fans pointed to the poor play calling and the unnecessary overuse of Martinez in the run game, with him having 17 carries during the game for 111 yards. Most of those yards came on a 75-yard rush for a TD during the 3rd.

Nebraska, after taking their first loss, would move into the easiest part of their schedule with 2 home games against Fordham and Buffalo, where they would win both. The Fordham game was a blowout 52-7, and the Buffalo game was closer, but still dominated on the field with a 28-3 win. Nebraska then moved into the final Non-Conference game of the season, and this was one of the biggest ones in recent Husker history. To celebrate the 50th anniversary of “The Game of the Century,” the Huskers and the Sooners would go head-to-head in a home-and-home matchup for 2021 and 2022. On Fox Big Noon Saturday, Gus Johnson got ready as Boomer Sooner chants rang through the cameras in Norman. Oklahoma was ranked #3 in the country and was quarterbacked by Spencer Rattler under Lincoln Riley. The start of the game was extremely slow, with only 2 drives and 2 scores in the first quarter. The 2nd quarter would be marked by 2 missed opportunities, with 2 back-to-back missed field goals by both the Huskers and Sooners, ending the 1st half with a score of 7-3 for the Sooners. The Huskers would get the ball coming out of the half and put together a strong drive to set up Conner Culp for a 35-yard field goal… which would be missed again. The Sooners would use this mistake and drive for a touchdown, which would then be answered again by Martinez when he rushed one into the end zone, but nothing could go perfectly, as the extra point was returned for 2 points. The 3rd would end with a score of 16-9. The 4th would start with Oklahoma scoring another touchdown to go up 23-9. Nebraska would get another shot at keeping it to one score and get to the OU 24-yard line before the greatest INT of all time occurred (I mean, just look at it). Nebraska would put up another score after a quick 3-and-out by the Sooners. Nebraska would have a shot to put up a score, but 2 sacks would put it away, and the Sooners would escape 23-17 in the 2nd 1-score loss of the season.

The next would be the rebound; if we were so close, this game would be against #20 Michigan State in East Lansing. Another late-night game we would be playing, and this one would start the same way as the Illinois game with not a lot of scoring. That would be broken by Jayden Reed when he would catch a 35-yarder from Peyton Thorne. Field goals by both teams would make the score 10-3 before Adrian Martinez, once again with his legs, put one in the end zone to tie it up. Michigan State would get the ball and kick another field goal and miss one as the half expired, leaving the score at 13-10 at halftime. Nebraska would lead another field goal drive at the half, and that would be the only score of the 3rd. In the 4th, it would start with a fumble by the Huskers, and then after a quick 3-and-out, would be an 80-yard touchdown drive put in for another Martinez rushing touchdown for the Huskers to go up 20-13. It looked like all but a sure thing, with the Huskers having bottled the Spartans up the whole game, including Kenneth Walker, who was having an MVP season for them. A punt by the Spartans allowed the Huskers to run down the clock, but they were stopped, forcing them to punt back to the Spartans with a little under 4 minutes left. Jayden Reed would take the ball and, due to a miscommunication, would house the kick and tie the game up. Nebraska would fail to score in 2 drives they were given, forcing overtime. Nebraska would be able to put together a couple of good throws before Martinez would force a throw that would be intercepted. Michigan State would take the chance and kick the field goal to walk it off and win 23-20 in another 1-score loss.

The next game, Nebraska was able to better the score differential for the final time this season. The Huskers would be able to score 56 to Northwestern's 7 in a blowout in Memorial Stadium. The defense would have 3 forced fumbles in this game and really take the MVP.

Nebraska would not get another win this season… We enter the zone of no return

The next game, Nebraska would play another ranked opponent, only this time it was at home. Michigan was coming into Memorial Stadium on a huge upset watch as #9 in the country. This would be the first game Memorial Stadium would do the light show with a complete change to the way they did the night games at Memorial. Nebraska fans were looking for anything, and this was the perfect opportunity on national TV to take down a powerhouse. Michigan would get the ball to start the game, and the stadium would help the Blackshirts shut down the Wolverines and then lead the offense down the field to the Michigan 11. After 4 straight rushing plays, the Huskers were shut down at the 3 and turned it over to the Wolverines. Nebraska and Michigan would then trade punts the rest of the 1st, ending at 0-0. The 2nd was the complete opposite, with the Huskers shutting down with an INT to start and then allowing the Wolverines to score on all 3 drives they had, with pass interference helping them get in the end zone for the first time. Going into halftime, it looked like it was slowly getting out of reach, with the score being 13-0. Coming out of halftime, the Huskers would get a long passing touchdown to Austin Allen to get on the board before a bad fumble the next drive allowed for Hassan Haskins to get in for his second score of the game. Michigan would fail the 2-point conversion, leaving the game at 19-7

The Huskers would then go on the offensive. They would start with a 41-yard touchdown by Rahmir Johnson, and then, after an interception after 3 plays, would push another 13-yard touchdown into the end zone. Martinez would rush in on a 2-point conversion to give the Huskers a 22-19. The next drive, the Wolverines would beat the Huskers again on the ground with Blake Corum, this time putting in the 29-yard rushing score. The Huskers would punch back with a 5-yard Martinez rushing score. Michigan would drive and have a Jake Moody field goal to tie the game with 3 minutes left. The next drive, the Huskers would get the ball. Adrian Martinez would take the ball on 3rd and 1 and push forward in the pile. He would be stuffed and start to be pushed backwards when the ball would pop out and be recovered by Michigan and returned. Boos rained down from the stands as they ruled his forward progress was not stopped and instead he was stripped. The strip-call miss would lead to the final score of the game, which would be a 39-yard field goal by Moody to give the Huskers a 32-29 heartbreaker under the lights at Memorial Stadium. I was personally at a wedding during this game and huddled around a single phone in the back of the reception watching the game. I remember it was just a couple of my close cousins and me. As more people continued to see the score, more and more gathered until there were 20 people standing around watching the heartbreaking fumble.

The next 2 games would be away at Minnesota and back at home versus the Boilermakers, both of which would turn out to be 1-score losses with 4th quarter scores. The Minnesota game came down to not being able to stop the run, and in my opinion was one of the only times this season the Huskers truly didn’t make a mistake that cost them the game. In the Boilermaker game, it is easier to point to the 4 INTs by Martinez, which caused a complete meltdown by the offense most of the game.

Nebraska, reeling after 5 straight losses, had 3 ranked teams to finish the season. If you know anything about the Huskers, all of them would be close.

Ohio State was ranked #6 in the country, led by CJ Stroud, and this was one of the very few games that was not one-score this season. A Jaxon Smith-Njigba master class with 15 receptions and 240 yards would slam the door shut, as most drives they were able to put up at least a field goal and would result in a 9-point win for the Buckeyes, in which they led by double digits most of the 2nd half.

The next game was against Wisconsin… If you know anything about this rivalry, you know whoever was running for Wisconsin probably had a good day. Braelon Allen would have a 22-carry, 228-yard, and 3-touchdown day. You would think this would mean it was a blowout, but instead it came down to the final 53-yard burst by Allen to give the Badgers a 35-28 win. Nebraska focused less on the rushing attack, which led to 2 INTs at crucial times.

Finally, the Huskers, as is tradition, would face Iowa on Black Friday. If anything could keep the fanbase engaged, it would be a win against their rival. After an injury to Martinez in the Wisconsin game, he would sit the final game of the season and look to next season, bringing in backup Logan Smothers to lead the charge in Memorial Stadium. To start the game, it looked like the Huskers would finally get in the win column with 3 long touchdown drives and only 3 field goals; it gave the Huskers a 21-9 lead… As happens with Cinderella, the bell chimed when the 4th quarter started with a blocked field goal starting the party, making it a 21-16 game. Smothers would then have an awful return, which would leave him right on the goal line, and the Hawkeyes would take him down in the end zone. Nebraska would kick the ball to the Hawkeyes, and by the time there were 7 minutes left in the game, the Hawkeyes had tied it. Logan Smothers wouldn’t be able to do anything as the ball would be given back after 3 plays and then pushed in after a 55-yard Tyler Goodson rush left them inside the 10. The Huskers had blown a massive 12-point lead in the quickest way possible, but still had a chance. The Huskers would drive into Iowa territory before a bad read by Smothers would end up in the hands of the Hawkeyes, ending the season with 1 final 1-score loss to finish the season at 3-9 with a new FBS record of 8 1-score losses.

2022:

It was a long offseason for most Husker fans; it was clear Frost wasn’t going to be the answer, but the buyout for another head coach in the program would not look good. Many called for another year, as the team was going to have a lot of talent. The 1 major change was that this was going to be the first season that Frost would not have Martinez at the helm, with Texas transfer Casey Thompson taking the reins of the offense.

To begin the season, the Huskers would be going to Ireland to play against Northwestern to open the 2022 season in Week 0. Casey Thompson looked amazing, and the rushing attack with Anthony Grant was very powerful. The team was looking so good until an onside kick… UP IN THE 3RD QUARTER, an onside kick took place. Frost would go on record after the game saying he called the play, but it didn’t save him from being pointed at for the reason the Huskers blew another double-digit lead to lose once again by 1-score in a 31-28 game.

Game 2 would be against North Dakota, who we would handle, and then would come Georgia Southern… Those in the program did not know, but this would be the final game of the Scott Frost era. The game would start out with a Georgia Southern score and would be a back-and-forth affair the entire game. The defense could not stop anything, but there was hope that maybe there would be some way for the Huskers to pull it out… Some way for the hometown kid to still be the answer, but as always, the bell chimed. Georgia Southern would put in a touchdown to go up 45-42 over the Huskers with just 30 seconds on the clock. Nebraska was able to manage a drive to give them a shot at a long field goal. The snap was off, and Frost watched his job sail in the air as it pushed to the right…

The next day, Scott Frost was fired and bought out for the rest of his 15-million-dollar contract. You can point to a lot that Frost did during his time. Frost lost 1-score games, going 5-22 during his time at Nebraska. He lost in ranked games, going 0-14 against AP-ranked opponents. I truly believe there was only one reason he was fired: he didn’t own up to the team he was building. He built a team with no direction, no drive, and instead a team claiming to be the golden one to finally get Nebraska back to the promised land.

Nebraska was fully frozen over in an ice age.