"Being Nebraska fan is a torture": Fans have wild reactions to Cornhuskers' OT loss to Illinois in Week 4
The No. 22 Nebraska Cornhuskers suffered a tough overtime loss against the less favored No. 24 Illinois Fighting Illini on Friday. A 6-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Luke Altmyer to Brandon Henderson tied the game 24-24 for Illinois in the fourth quarter.
In overtime, Altmyer connected with Pat Bryant for a 4-yard touchdown pass, sealing a 31-24 come-from-behind victory over the Cornhuskers at home.
Fans on the internet couldn't take in the loss, especially the Cornhuskers fans, who had high hopes after the team's strong start to the season with convincing wins over UTEP, Colorado and Northern Iowa coming into this game.
"Being a Nebraska fan is torture," one fan said.
"Both the offense and defense played like crap tonight and the refs were pathetic losers," another fan said.
"Yes it is. Defense had so many penalties and gave them 2 scores, essentially with them. Them, refs missed a couple calls… And implode at the end," another fan said.
Some fans talked about missed opportunities that contributed to overtime losses.
"I’m so tired of bad field goal kickers," one fan said.
"Should of went for it on 4th and 3rd don't put a 2nd string kicker in," another fan said.
"And once again I have been metaphorically disemboweled by the Huskers, on a night game nonetheless," one fan said.
Matt Rhule's one-line answer summarizes Nebraska's overtime loss
Entering Friday's game, Nebraska was the better team on the field, with freshman quarterback Dylan Raiola leading the charge. Despite Illinois getting back to tie the game 24-24, there was ample amount of time left in the quarterback to complete a successful drive in the fourth quarter.
Missed opportunities down the stretch meant coach Matt Rhule had to digest his first loss this season. A loss that could have well been avoided.
"The moment showed up and we didn’t make the plays you need to make to win the game," Rhule said.
While Illinois struck first in overtime, Nebraska loosened up under pressure. Nebraska's final drive was hampered by a false start, followed by Dylan Raiola getting sacked twice before the third-down pass to Jahmal Banks. However, the officials didn't call the penalty, deserting the Cornhuskers to unfathomable 4th- and 29.
Missed penalty calls and opportunities led to the loss. Now, in Week 5, they'll face Purdue on the road. However, it would have been better if they went down there 4-0 instead of 3-1.