Since you were little you've been told that it's dangerous to "put all your eggs in one basket." That's especially true in the world of college football, and yet I see it over and over again: a team and its fans load their entire season's worth of hope on one game.
The Aggies do it every year... but those inferiority issues aren't even interesting anymore... so let's move on. Recently I've actually heard a Sooner fan say, "I don't care if we go 1-11 this year as long as we beat Texas." Really?
As a Longhorn fan I'm not saying we're immune. I cringe every time I hear our fans chant "OU Sucks!" after putting another touchdown on Wyoming. Doesn't make sense to me, but I know it happens. Sometimes one game feels bigger than the season. This year, for the Nebraska Cornhuskers, that game came this past Saturday in Lincoln.
There are plenty of reasons why the Texas game was the one to circle on calendars all across the corn belt: Losing the Big 12 Championship on the final play after the 1-second controversy. Leaving the conference and making no bones about the fact that part of the reason was they were tired of being treated like Texas' little stepbrother. Their crazy-easy schedule to start the season providing no real competition until the Longhorn game... and speaking of schedules, there's the fact that Oklahoma isn't on the Nebraska slate this year. It definitely adds up to a big game.
So ok, circle it on your calendar. That's all right. We all have big games we look forward to seeing. But Nebraska took it several steps too far. There's the "Beat Texas" video that surfaced during the offseason - not posted by some crazed fan, but actually produced by the University! There's the "redoutaroundtheworld" website that launched with a banner across the top with the date October 16, 2010 - pointing to the Texas game. There are RED-emption t-shirts with a :01 clock on the front. I saw a LOT of those on the game telecast this week. They went all-in.
So what happens when you lose that game? At home? To a 2-loss team? What happens when all those preparations, all that smack-talk, all that expectation goes flying out the window? Well, first of all, it devastates your season. Most pundits agree that Nebraska just went from National Championship contender to precarious BCS hopeful. But more than that, it sucks the wind out of what should be a very nice season. The Huskers are doing some special things this year with a freshman quarterback that has the potential to become one of the biggest weapons in the game. Husker Nation was talking about him as the Heisman frontrunner this week. When he wasn't beating Texas they put him on the bench. That's how much this one meant to Nebraska. They're a program that is seemingly on the way up, and yet I heard one Husker fan quoted as saying that they may "never be good again." Come on, guys. It was only one loss.
And so the Huskers leave the Big 12 after this year with a 1-9 record against Texas. Maybe THAT's why they REALLY wanted out. They lost those games in just about every way imaginable - and there were definitely days when they were the better team. This year, however, it was different. This year they made it personal. This year they decided it was going to mean everything. I'll say it again - it was only one loss. But it was the one they couldn't afford... because they set it up that way.
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