New angle of the game-saving Nebraska INT is absolutely electric

On Thursday night, as Nebraska opened its season with a Week 1 matchup against Cincinnati at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City, it looked like Matt Rhule was going to do it again. And though he took the Cornhuskers back to a bowl game for the first time since 2016 last season, that wasn’t a good thing. What it looked like his team was going to do again was lose a one-score game, which they’ve done 11 times across his first two seasons in Lincoln. 

Then, Malcolm Hartzog Jr., who one play earlier committed a penalty to move Cincinnati in range for the game-tying field goal, saved the day with a game-sealing interception that allowed Dylan Railoa to kneel out a 20-17 win to start his highly anticipated sophomore season at 1-0. 

The play was impressive from the TV angle, but a new video, which was shot from the sideline and surfaced on social media on Thursday night, is even more electric. The video is courtesy of Darren Winberg, sports director of NTV News in Northern Kansas.

The best part is the view of the sea of Big Red in the stands of Arrowhead. The game on Thursday night was originally scheduled to be a home game for Cincinnati at Nippert Stadium, but was moved to a neutral site. However, aside from the Kelce brothers and Taylor Swift, it appeared that nearly everyone in attendance was supporting the Cornhuskers, maybe even Travis Kelce’s quarterback, Patrick Mahomes. 

Matt Rhule keeps hope of third-year bump alive with Week 1 win

Everywhere Matt Rhule has gone, in college at least, it has taken him three years to turn the program around. At Temple, he improved from 2-10 in Year 1 to 10-4 with a conference title in Year 3. Then, the same at Baylor, going from one win in 2017 to 11 wins and a Big 12 championship in 2019. 

Now, it’s Year 3 at Nebraska, and though the Cornhuskers didn’t enter the season ranked, there are high expectations for Rhule’s third year. However, with Michigan, USC, and Penn State looming on the Big Ten slate for Nebraska, a Week 1 loss to Cincinnati would have all but squashed any outside chance that the program has of contending for a spot in the College Football Playoff. Hartzog’s interception kept that all intact. 

Rhule, however, thought it was slipping away, according to his comments postgame. “I just saw the guy running wide open,” Rhule said. “And then the sudden Malcolm shows up, and that’s what Malcolm Hartzog does. He doesn’t talk a lot, he just makes plays.”