Nunn Still an Asset

1 comment so far October 22, 2006 by Steve Hanway

Two of the most enduring images in the history of college sports involve Fred Brown, a point guard for the Georgetown Hoya basketball team in the early 1980's. With eight seconds remaining in the 1982 national championship game and the Hoyas trailing by a bucket, Brown mistakenly passed the ball to North Carolina's James Worthy costing Georgetown a chance to win the game. It's a highlight that's been replayed thousands of times. John Thompson, coach of the Hoyas, hugged Brown after the game and told him he'd won more games for him than he'd lost and not to worry. Two years later, the Hoyas and Brown won the national championship and the image of Thompson and Brown embracing in victory has become one for the ages.

I don't know if Bill Callahan hugged Terrence Nunn after the Texas game, but I hope he reminded Nunn that he's won more games than he's lost in his time at Nebraska. Two that come to mind immediately are the Alamo Bowl win over Michigan last year and the overtime win over Kansas in September. As a fan, would you want to trade those two wins for today's game at Texas? You'd be crazy to.

Against Kansas, Nunn had 3 catches (all of which went for first downs) for 98 yards and a touchdown. His 29-yard punt return helped minimize the damage caused by a Marlon Lucky fumble two plays later. Take Nunn out of the equation and Huskers likely lose to the Jayhawks. You think a loss to the Longhorns is tough to swallow? Imagine back-to-back losses to Kansas.

In the Alamo Bowl, Nunn led the team with 4 catches for 91 yards and two touchdowns. Without him, the Huskers would not only have lost the game but ended the season 7-5 and unranked. All of the momentum both in terms of recruiting and team confidence that the Huskers gained would have been lost. Yes, there would be plenty of momentum with a victory over Texas Saturday, but it's not nearly the critical juncture the Alamo Bowl was a year ago.

If any player has earned the right to a critical mistake, it's Nunn. I'm hoping Husker fans can look past this one unfortunate play and see Nunn for who he's been - a great contributor to the team.

At 3-1, the Huskers are still on pace to win the Big XII North. A rematch against Texas isn't nearly as frightening as it was before the game in Lincoln. What poetic justice it would be if the Huskers would win the Big XII title game on a Nunn touchdown. That would be an image to remember.

But there are a lot of tough games for the Huskers first, if they want to get to Kansas City. It's a good bet, they'll need Nunn to win them.

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