The average number of plays in a given college football game is 180. Each snap brings an opportunity, but each one is not held equal. One snap every game creates one play made by one or several players, affecting the rest of the contest. This play is the turning point. The turning point makes or breaks a team’s game and sometimes their season.
Thursday night’s turning point was an Anthony Grant fumble with 4:53 left in the game. Before the play, Nebraska had just made a defensive stand and gained momentum with a seven-point lead in the fourth quarter. Grant, with the ball, cut to the right side of the field, broke a tackle and looked to have plenty of grass in front of him until Justin Walley burst from behind to force Grant to cough up the ball. Gopher defensive back Aidan Gousby recovered it. Minnesota capitalized on the turnover, taking the ball 53 yards down the field, tying the game at 10.
Minnesota carried the momentum to the defensive end, intercepting Jeff Sims for a third time and winning the game 13-10. The play propelled the Gophers to victory and handed the Huskers their 14th one-score loss since 2021
According to head coach Matt Rhule, Grant had ball security problems in fall camp.
“When the ball’s in his hands, he’s elite running the football,” Rhule said. “He’s put the ball on the ground too much, he’s fumbled the ball too much. No matter how talented you are if you fumble football you can’t play for us.”
Rhule said that on Aug. 19.
After the game, Rhule reinstated his previous statement about Grant.
“We know that Anthony can make a ton of plays,” Rhule said. “But he has to protect the football, especially in those moments.”
No one can deny that Grant is a playmaker. But what cannot be denied is that the rumblings of his protection issues are no longer rumblings.
They are reality.
It will be a question from now until Nebraska’s next matchup against Colorado how much playing time Grant will get. But what is not a question is that when Grant has the ball in his hands, he could be one of the best runners in the entire Big Ten. The fact is if he can’t hold onto the ball, he isn’t, and the Huskers need him to be.