Nebraska came into the season having lost 35 of its last 45 one-score games, a dubious distinction that inspired a popular T-shirt for fans that reads, “We Almost Always Almost Win.”

The tens of thousands of Cornhuskers fans who filled up Arrowhead Stadium on Thursday night must have had that familiar here-we-go-again feeling as Cincinnati drove the field in the final minutes.

For a program that believes it's on the cusp of breaking through in Matt Rhule's third season, it would not be a stretch to say a crisis was averted when fourth-year safety Malcolm Hartzog Jr. intercepted Brendan Sorsby's pass to the end zone to secure a 20-17 win.

“Everybody says we can't finish games,” running back Emmett Johnson said, “and that's what we did tonight.”

The Huskers had been 2-10 in one-score gam

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