Just when you’re thinking, “I didn’t want to go to the Houston Bowl anyway,” the Nebraska football team decides to mess with the holiday schedule.

Yes, indeed, that was a fine, almost surreal mess the Huskers got themselves out of while pulling out a 27-25 decision against a bare-cupboard Kansas State team.

We may never see a better example of how hard a climb it’s been for Big Red to return to bowl eligibility than what took place in Memorial Stadium on Saturday afternoon.

If ever there was a lock for this Nebraska squad, you would have thought this was it: leading a team that had dropped its last four contests by a 24-12 count in the third quarter.

Silly us, we should know better than to believe the Huskers are at the point where they can hit the shutoff valve to an opponent’s oxygen supply. Still, it was almost as unbelievable (and comical) as having six plays needing to be reviewed how quickly they breathed life back in those Wildcats.

It was bad enough that Nebraska defensive coordinator Kevin Cosgrove got taken to school by Bill Snyder and couldn’t devise a plan to stop a quarterback counter play. But then there were the two safeties — one coming on, of all things, a swing pass to I-back Cory Ross — that allowed K-State to pull to 24-22.

It wasn’t long after that in the fourth quarter that quarterback Zac Taylor, who had taken every snap this season, suffered a concussion, and coach Bill Callahan was yanking a redshirt season from freshman Harrison Beck.

Guess what? That wasn’t the worst of it, either. Shortly after Beck had a sideline throw intended for Terrance Nunn intercepted by Bryan Baldwin, the Wildcats were in business at the Nebraska 9-yard line.

Lucky for Cosgrove, his defense applied the clamps to hold the Wildcats to a field goal.

Luckier for Callahan, Beck had the guts to stand in on his next pass and find Nate Swift for a 21-yard gain while taking an illegal hit to the helmet that netted the Huskers another 15 yards.

And finally, NU was extremely fortunate that freshman kicker Jordon Congdon didn’t come unglued after a timeout had to be called because not enough players were on the field when he was preparing to try a 40-yard field goal. After all, it was only THE play that would determine how Husker Nation felt about the direction Callahan has his bunch headed.

Earlier this week, athletic director Steve Pederson, in a letter to ticket holders, offered that “… we have seen some amazing and exciting games this fall.“

He got that right.

And this, too.

“I recognize that we are not where we want to be as a football program yet.“

What timing.

Saturday’s battle (and it was that in every sense) was a testament to how far the Huskers have to go before they become a serious challenger to winning the Big 12 North Division.

At the same time, on the heels of a performance at Kansas last week that left you wondering whether they had finally cracked, their fighting spirit was never more evident than Saturday.

Zach Potter blocked an extra point. Barry Turner got his mitts on a field-goal attempt to send it off target.

For all of its sloppy execution, those two plays alone bear proof of how badly the team wanted to take its season beyond a day-after-Thanksgiving contest (i.e. loss) at Colorado.

For that, Callahan, who appeared reserved in victory but claimed he was “jumping up and down inside,” should feel relieved.

And proud.

His much-hyped quarterback, whose game looked about as scruffy as the 2-week old growth on his face, came through with a big play in what could be his only opportunity to play this season.

“It was definitely worth it. … Now we get to go to a bowl,” Beck said.

Regardless of where that takes them, we all know it beats the alternative.

“It was all about resilience,” senior offensive guard Brandon Koch said. “Coming out in the second half we’re thinking, ‘OK, we can put these guys away.’ But some things happened and you get down, but you’ve just got to respond. We had a period there where we weren’t, but we came through at the end. That’s all that matters.”

Reach Curt McKeever at 473-7441 or cmckeever@journalstar.com.