Gus Johnson’s ‘Nebraska makes chicken salad!’ was a great start to CFB Week 1

Over the years, Gus Johnson has delivered a lot of memorable college football calls. It’s only Week 1 of the 2023 college football season, but he added to that list Thursday night with a tremendous call of a busted play that turned out unexpectedly well for the Nebraska Cornhuskers in their Fox-broadcast road clash with the Minnesota Golden Gophers.

Trailing 3-0 in the third quarter, Nebraska started this play with quarterback Jeff Sims pitching the ball to running back Anthony Grant, who drew the defense, then lateraled it back across the field to Sims. Sims couldn’t make that catch, though, and it looked like this would turn into a loss or even a turnover. But he didn’t give up on the play, retrieving the ball after two bounces and then throwing a touchdown strike to Alex Bullock despite defensive pressure. Here’s the play, and Johnson’s call of it:

https://twitter.com/thecomeback/status/1697430546413138404

“Second down and nine. They’ll pitch it, now they’ll throw it back to Sims. Sims can’t grab it! And he does, finally! Delivers! IT’S A TOUCHDOWN! WOW! ALEX BULLOCK! WIDE OPEN! NEBRASKA MAKES CHICKEN SALAD!”

For those who don’t get the reference, the impossibility of constructing chicken salad out of chicken excrement has been a frequent reference since at least the 1920s, and former U.S. president Lyndon B. Johnson famously discussed his ability to tell the difference between the two. But Nebraska pulled off the seemingly-impossible here.

However, the more actually-impossible thing for the Cornhuskers appears to be winning close games. They dropped this one 13-10 in the end. That came after some remarkable plays from the Gophers, and some further remarkable calls from Johnson (the announcer, not the former president). Here’s his call of Daniel Jackson’s incredible catch inside the final three minutes to tie the game:

https://twitter.com/thecomeback/status/1697449343228461108

And here’s his call of Dragan Kesich’s last-second game-winning field goal:

https://twitter.com/thecomeback/status/1697452254784336378

That started Nebraska head coach Matt Rhule’s tenure 0-1, and meant the Cornhuskers are now 7-26 in one-possession games since 2018. At least their fans have volleyball. And at least Johnson got to add to his body of notable calls.