LINCOLN, Neb. -- High above a vast stretch of Illinois and Iowa farmland starting to wither in chilled air late on the afternoon of Oct. 13, Tre Neal shifted nervously in his window seat, eyes focused on a comeback playing out similarly -- albeit in much more pleasing style for him -- to the game in which he'd just participated.
It was UCF on the screen. Live TV on a charter flight rates as a nice perk, but Neal's Nebraska teammates were hardly in the mood to enjoy a moment en route home to Lincoln from playing Northwestern in Evanston, Illinois, where they'd blown a 10-point lead with 2½ minutes to go in regulation and lost in overtime to fall to 0-6.