‘A little short’: Missed chances and missed kicks haunt Huskers in 23-16 loss to No. 3 OU | Football

NORMAN, Okla. — Scott Frost stood in front of his team in the visiting locker room at Gaylord Family Memorial Stadium, this old building where Nebraska and Oklahoma have done battle so many times in history but not since 2008, and thought his Huskers were about to pull a shocker on the No. 3 team in the country.

The fourth-year Nebraska coach, still searching for a signature victory at his alma mater, told his team before the game started that if the Huskers got to halftime either leading or “right in the game,” he thought they’d win.

In the game, Nebraska most certainly was, thanks largely to its defense, as the Huskers trailed 7-3 at halftime. 

Instead of a shocker, though, Nebraska came up short by a 23-16 margin on an afternoon that simultaneously looked and felt and proceeded like a blow-for-blow contest but also will test the extent to which silver linings or moral victories are still worth something to a team that’s been close so many times in three-plus seasons and has lost more times than it’s prevailed.

“I’m proud of our players, I’m proud of our team,” Frost said after the game. “And I’m disappointed for them because we had a chance there and that would have been pretty special.”

It certainly would have been.

The head coach said Nebraska set out to minimize the number of possessions for both teams in the first half. NU won the toss, deferred and put the Blackshirts on the field, eventually getting to halftime in great shape even though the Sooners marched 75 yards on 14 plays for an opening touchdown in 6 minutes, 8 seconds.