Counter Read

Counter Read

Ryan Gosling ruined Huskers' game plan and other weekend observations

Nebraska's ongoing effort to disprove turnover randomness, a strange struggle on defense and Logan Smothers is killing it.

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Brandon Vogel
Sep 11, 2023
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Ryan Gosling as Ken in Barbie. | Courtesy Warner Bros.

Maybe you shouldn’t like “I’m Just Ken” for a while. Not forever. Just until the Huskers get through this. It will make sense soon enough.

Fox’s Saturday telecast of Nebraska-Colorado came back from a second quarter break with an aerial shot of Folsom Field. You could hear Ryan Gosling’s hit song from Barbie blaring in the stadium, and it was a charming scene—beautiful campus, packed stadium, quirky song and a tight ballgame.

To that point, with 5:38 left in the first half, Nebraska’s defense had held the vaunted Colorado offense to 2.1 yards per play. On four drives, the Buffs had gone three-and-out twice and punted four times. Here’s what I was thinking at that very moment:

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