Bryan Reimers and Jack Stoll each found himself the unlikely recipient of a touchdown catch in Nebraska's 31-24 loss to Northwestern on Saturday at Memorial Stadium.
They'd both trade the catches for a win.
"I'm not sure I'd quite say (I'm excited)," said Stoll after collecting his first career touchdown catch. "I'd definitely say that if we came out of here with a win, but obviously the team goal is to go out there and beat Northwestern. Unfortunately, we weren't able to do that, so I would say I'm walking out of here pretty upset."
Stoll's three catches Saturday tripled his career total. The touchdown, a 32-yarder with 8:21 left in the second quarter that pulled the Huskers into a 14-14 tie, came with starter Tyler Hoppes battling an undisclosed injury.
"We’ve been a little nicked, and Reimers has practiced well and we had a good play for him. He has good range on those posts," NU offensive coordinator Danny Langsdorf said. "Hoppes was a little bit nicked, so he came out and we had Stoll in there, and he made some plays. It was good to see those guys that are younger or haven’t played as much making plays."
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Reimers' only catch of the game came late in the second quarter. With Nebraska lined up in what has traditionally been a run formation, the 6-foot-5 junior from Lincoln East beat his man on a post route, then adjusted in the air to make a tumbling, 22-yard catch in the south end zone.
"I got a certain coverage, and I knew it had a shot to come to me. Tanner threw a great ball, back shoulder, and it worked out well," Reimers said. "About halfway there I knew it was going to have to be one of those catches."
The catch helped a little to ease the frustrations of a season that has seen the walk-on Reimers go back and forth between the field and the training room while battling injuries.
"Definitely. That Rutgers week and then Ohio State was tough, but this week really helped out bouncing back and being able to help that way really boosted my confidence," Reimers said.
Stoll finished with 41 yards on his three receptions one week after Hoppes had a career game. But the disappointment for both players lingered.
"When you play all four quarters and then lose in OT, there's nothing much worse than that," Reimers said. "But I think we fought the entire game. We'll come back next week and get ready for Minnesota."