SAN FRANCISCO — The game against Iowa had ended just 15 minutes before, delivering a loss that clearly stung Mike Riley and staff. A November of building momentum now closer resembled that scene in "The Graduate" when Dustin Hoffman's red car loses its last drop of gas and dies on the side of the road along with a Simon & Garfunkel tune.
Yet even in that moment, the Husker head coach perked up as a question arrived about whether this staff could fix the mistakes over the course of the next offseason.
"It's a little early to say this right after the game, but the next phase of this thing will be exciting to me," Riley said.