Exhale, Nebraska fans. You won’t have to suffer like this again for 9 months.

The Huskers somehow packed an entire lifetime’s worth of excruciating losses into 1 season. Parents, let your kids know: This is not normal; this is not what it’s supposed to be like as a sports fan. Even if you root for Nebraska. In all likelihood, you’ll never see a season as strange as the one Nebraska just completed.

The Huskers’ 28-21 loss Friday to No. 16 Iowa defied logic, which was fitting because this season defied logic. Nebraska finishes the 2021 season at 3-9, with all 9 coming by single digits (the first time that’s been done in college football history) and 8 of them coming by 1 possession. Even at 1-8 in the Big Ten, the Huskers finished with an even point differential.

You might be wondering, how is that even possible?

Well, watch the fourth quarter of Friday’s game to understand. An optimist may think Nebraska is unlucky with all of these close losses, but truth be told, the Huskers make their own luck. They self-destruct every week, and they were kind of enough to condense it all into one quarter for those who haven’t watched closely. Leading 21-6 late in the third quarter and still leading by 12 with the ball in the fourth quarter, Nebraska somehow lost in regulation. The highlights:

  • There was the special teams miscue, which seems to happen to Nebraska more than any team in all of college football, or any level of football. William Przystup’s punt on the third play of the fourth quarter was blocked and returned 14 yards by Kyler Fisher for a touchdown.
  • There was the sloppiness, which is a hallmark of Scott Frost’s teams. Backup QB Logan Smothers committed an unforced error when he dropped the ball and fumbled to give the ball back to Iowa just 4 plays after the blocked punt. He also didn’t know where he was on the field when he committed an intentional grounding penalty in the end zone for a safety.
  • There was false hope ultimately killed by poor decision-making from the QB, which has been a regular occurrence in the fourth quarter this season by Adrian Martinez. After driving Nebraska to the Iowa 28 on the Huskers’ final possession, Smothers threw an interception on which there was no receiver in the area.

The Huskers dominated for 3 quarters; Smothers played really well, the defense didn’t allow many big plays and limited Iowa to field goals, and Nebraska didn’t make any mistakes. But as this season has shown, it doesn’t matter how well Nebraska is playing, or what kind of lead it has. Once something goes wrong, Nebraska melts down and it snowballs. After watching how bad Nebraska had to play to lose Friday, it’s almost no wonder they were 3-9 this season.

This was a perfect summation of Frost’s tenure. The Huskers haven’t beaten anyone of note, and they’re 5-20 in 1-score games. Per The Athletic’s Matt Brown: Among Power 5 teams, only Boston College, Kansas and Rutgers have gone longer without beating an AP-ranked team than Nebraska.

Say this, Nebraska sure knows how to make an entrance — and an exit. Remember how the season began? Nebraska was in complete control against Illinois in the season opener and unraveled in Week 0. It was noteworthy because Nebraska was the marquee game when a ton of general college football fans were tuning in because their teams didn’t play until the following week. Friday was the same; with most teams playing Saturday, those same fans probably got a good chuckle at this debacle and thought, “Nothing has changed.”

Friday’s meltdown served as the perfect book-end to a forgettable season for Nebraska fans. For their sake, let’s hope they never have to endure a season like this ever again.