ExCYted!

Oct 24, 2009 will go down in history.

That was the day the Iowa State Cyclones beat Nebraska at home. In Lincoln.

The last time this happened was in 1977, under Coach Earle Bruce. I was a freshman in high school at the time. Yes, I'm old.

It wasn't pretty. I had all my rally hats on. I've watched so many Cyclones games where they'd take a lead into the fourth quarter and blow it. A missed field goal. Stopped short of the goal line. Turnovers. Yet another heartbreak.

Not today.

My wife said I had this incredulous look on my face when it happened. I looked over at her and asked "Did we win this game?? Did we REALLY win this game??" The celebration began.

I work in Omaha, Nebraska so of course I work with a majority of Husker fans. One particular Husker fan told me we 'would have trouble' with the Huskers. I calmly informed him they'd need to play 60 minutes of football to win this game. I should have kept my mouth shut, since this comment unleashed a firestorm. They predicted victory by a wide margin. Another Husker fan interrupted a conference call to ask for my cell phone number so he could call me during the game.

The call never came.

The Nebraska defense played a great game. Ndamukong Suh was everywhere making plays, definitely one of the top players in the country. And playing at Memorial Stadium in Lincoln is never easy. We knew it would be tough going in, especially with our starting quarterback and running back (leading rusher in the Big-12) out of the game.

It was an ugly game. Nebraska turned over the ball eight times. The Cyclones hung in there, played tough, ground it out and left with a win. A wacky game for sure, but a WIN for the Cyclones!

GO ISU!!!