Nebraska 27, Missouri 12. I was ready to thoroughly castigate Nebraska's offense after three quarters, and the Huskers thoroughly deserved it: After 45 minutes, the Big Red attack had accounted for almost as many yards in penalties as total offense, with eight punts, one lost fumble and a botched punt snap for safety to show for their efforts. They flubbed two more punts in the rain for good measure. With Mizzou leading 12-0 and thoroughly in control at the start of the fourth, I was beginning to scan the stats for the last time Nebraska had been shut out, the last time Missouri had pitched a shutout, etc., and condemning the Huskers for failing to reach the end zone for the second straight game against non-Sun Belt competition.

Less than a dozen snaps into the fourth quarter, Tiger quarterback Blaine Gabbert had thrown the first and second interceptions of his career, previously inept Nebraska QB Zach Lee had thrown three touchdowns to put his team up 20-12 and the raindrops had resumed falling like tiny daggers on the stunned Missouri crowd.

It's not like Nebraska's offense suddenly "came to life" in the usual sense -- their three fourth quarter touchdowns were the result of one big play, a 56-yard post from Lee to Nile Paul, and two short field "drives" (of 13 and 10 yards, respectively) following turnovers by the defense, which is the real hero in this thing. Missouri finished with 225 yards, the first time any defense has held the Tigers below 300 since November 2005, i.e. since the oldest players in the lineup tonight were sitting through their redshirt seasons as true freshmen; 12 points was Mizzou's lowest output since being held to 10 by Oklahoma in October 2006.

And frankly, the best thing about the Huskers' comeback was that it prevented their butterfingery ineptitude from overshadowing the breakout star of the night, defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh, who spent all night shooting into the Tiger backfield, fought off double teams, swatted down passes, hustled to create an early turnover on a blindside hit that left Gabbert limping for the rest of the game, made the improbably nimble interception that set up the go-ahead touchdown early in the fourth, pressured Gabbert into hurling the ball out of bounds on Mizzou's last gasp fourth down attempt with a little over five minutes to go and generally looked destined for the first round and an irritating nickname from Chris Berman in his immediate future, as advertised. If there was any justice to the Heisman race, Suh would be near the top of the list after a nationally-televised effort like this; he'll have to settle for the subtler pleasures of constant double and triple-teams and certain All-American status instead.

The turnaround couldn't have been more complete, not just in a sloppy, rain-soaked game for the early lead in the division, but for the trajectory of both teams' seasons. For Nebraska, the triumph was the exact opposite of the collapse at Virginia Tech, a game the Huskers essentially dominated until going to sleep on defense at the worst possible time; Missouri looked like it was en route to 5-0 without a significant challenge in the lot. So Nebraska isn't a choker, and Mizzou has a few issues on offense (only 91 yards rushing for the night, and less than three yards per play for the game) that can't be explained away by the rain. That's why you play four quarters.