Just as things started to take a dark turn in the broadcast, Nebraska flipped the script.

“What you’re seeing right now is Fordham’s gaining confidence,” BTN analyst Matt Millen said as the Rams picked up 2 big gains and were on the brink of the red zone. “They’re saying, ‘Look, we can do this.’ They came in here as a huge underdog. No one was expecting them to have any kind of success.”

It was almost halfway through the first quarter and scoreless.

Then, as if Millen’s quotes went directly to a virtual bulletin board, a ball bounced off a Rams receiver right into the hands of JoJo Domann for his 1st career interception. The Huskers embarked on a 13-play, 75-yard drive capped by an Adrian Martinez 4-yard touchdown run.

But not all of Nebraska was off and running. Nothing’s that easy for Scott Frost’s crew just yet, even in front of 85,938 faithful at home.

The Huskers were still tied with the FCS team until the 11:36 mark of the second quarter, giving up Fordam’s first touchdown against a Power 5 school since 1969 in the process.

Nebraska was still searching for that “spark” Frost spoke of after last week’s loss to Illinois. The media was, too. Was it Domann’s pick?

Not quite. Fordham worked its way into range for a 46-yard field goal attempt to tie the game at 10, but Marquel Dismuke ran through the line untouched and blocked it.

Is this it? The sought-after spark? We’re getting desperate here:

Yes it was — for this game at least. The Rams would score no more, and scare no more.

However, the Huskers defense and special teams were far from done sparkling.

The earlier interception led to a touchdown. This blocked field goal immediately led to a 31-yard pass from Martinez to Samori Toure and turned the field around from the 31 to the 38. The score swung 10 points, too, as the 8-play, 69-yard drive ended with another Martinez 4-yard touchdown run and a 17-7 lead.

The trend continued:

Interception, 9-play, 83-yard drive, touchdown.

Interception, 9-play, 64-yard drive, touchdown.

Not exactly short fields, but all hit paydirt.

Along the way, Martinez hooked up with Toure for gains of 30 and 23. Toure had 6 receptions for 103 yards in the first half alone. He finished with 133 and added a rushing touchdown in the second half on a 10-yard option play, which he called “super fun.”

“I have all the trust in Adrian to make the right read,” Toure said after the game. “If I get the ball, it’s for a reason. I’m just trying to make something happen. I think it’s something that definitely opens up our offense a little bit.”

The defense and special teams came up big and it paid immediate dividends with big plays on offense.

What once seemed ominous at 0-0 and 7-7 and almost tied at 10-10 was 24-7 at the half on its way to a 52-7 final.

It got comfortable enough that Logan Smothers put in some work, much to the delight of Millen’s partner Mark Followill, who loved the sound of his hometown of Muscle Shoals so much he named it twice.

As for Millen, he had changed his tune by game’s end. (In all honesty, it was probably before the first interception’s celebration ended.)

“This is the best I’ve seen Martinez play,” Millen said. “This is a really good day for Adrian Martinez.”

Let’s hope so. It’s Fordham. And not Vince Lombardi’s “seven blocks of granite” Fordham.

It was supposed to be a blowout, and it was.

But did Nebraska absolutely have to have this? Yes.

“Running out of the tunnel, looking out at 90,000-plus — this is why I came here, to play on the big stage in front of big crowds,” Toure said. “We definitely needed this one.”

Frost agreed: “We needed it.”

And what is “it”? That simple spark, courtesy of the defense and special teams.