There was no disguising it. Those were boos, and those were glances over to the sideline to see if the man who is always the most popular in town, the backup quarterback, was going to get off that stationary bike and become a main actor in this latest Husker drama.

Mike Riley, though, knew that wasn't going to happen. No, he did not consider pulling Tanner Lee in favor of Patrick O'Brien during Nebraska's 27-17 win over Rutgers. The Husker head coach did not pause in giving that answer after his team rallied for the last 13 points at Memorial Stadium to win its Big Ten opener and get to 2-2 overall.

Riley had no hesitation sticking with his junior quarterback and team captain even after his third pick six in two games, and ninth interception in four games, which is one more INT than the Huskers threw all of last season.

"Just by the fact this is now a three-point game, he's played so much more," Riley said of why Lee was his man. "We've got a lot of faith he'd bring it back, and he did. And he made some real good throws after that. Having nothing to do with what we think of Patrick either. Don't get that wrong. But this guy has been in the games, and like I said, he sucked it up and made some throws."

After Lee was intercepted for the second time on Saturday, and had it returned 33 yards for a touchdown by Kiy Hester (brother of Husker redshirt freshman Quayshon Alexander), it was 17-14 Rutgers with 14:07 left in the third quarter.

Offensive coordinator Danny Langsdorf took it on himself after the game. He said he could have called a better play there. Even so, it was a bad decision by the QB.

And it wouldn't be overboard at that point for Husker fans to fear the season could be on the brink of collapse. The frustrations came out when Lee took the field on the next series. The crowd booed, and then Nebraska promptly followed it with a terrible offensive series that included a three-yard loss on a run, a penalty, and ultimately a punt on fourth-and-16.

Riley said he's been in games at Oregon State where the home crowd booed Derek Anderson and Matt Moore. "What they did was just fight back and play," the coach said. "So I was just impressed."

Fortunately for Lee and company, the defense allowed them that chance to fight back, holding Rutgers to just 194 yards and 10 points if you take away the pick six. And Bob Diaco's crew especially came through on a critical possession at midfield in which they forced a three-and-out after Nebraska's two woeful offensive possessions to start the half.

"It was something we were stressing on the sideline. Last week we got in that opportunity where the offense finally took the lead. Then we ended up giving up a long drive," said senior linebacker Chris Weber. "So it's something we were talking about. 'We need to get the ball back and get it back to our offense.' It was a huge moment that we were able to do that."

This was the sequence of the game where the Huskers at least saved their Saturday.

Because Lee and the offense got off the mat, delivering what prior evidence suggested was an unlikely 17-play, 97-yard march that took 8:10 off the clock.

"Us being able to get it together, drive the ball and really impose our will with that 97-yard drive, it was just a great time for us," said right guard Jerald Foster. "I was happy to be able to be a part of it with my O-line, and we were just feeding off of each other throughout the whole thing."

To his credit, Lee stepped up on that drive too. He was 6-of-8, including three critical third-down throws. He hit Tyler Hoppes for nine on a third-and-8. He hit De'Mornay Pierson-El for 10 on a third-and-four. He found Pierson-El again on a third-and-7 from the 8 to give the Huskers a lead they wouldn't relinquish.

It was the highlight on a day in which Lee finished 13-of-26 for 109 yards, with two picks that led to 10 points.

Teammates still express the utmost belief in Lee. "He really does play by next snap, where the snap before doesn't matter..." Foster said. "I'm am happy having a quarterback in Tanner, having somebody that understands the game, as serious as he is to keep us going."

Senior wide receiver Gabe Rahn said the 97-yard drive showed "resolve" from an offense that, aside from an impressive opening touchdown drive, had been inconsistent up to that point.

"We've had a lot of ups and downs this year on offense," Rahn said. "We're honestly kind of used to it, so we just knew what we had to do. We had to resolve and get it done, and I feel like we really got it done today with a lot of guys (out)."

That last part is true and is worth noting heavily in analysis of this game.

Of course, the Huskers should be expected to beat Rutgers at home. Rutgers has now lost 15 Big Ten games in a row. But after last week's loss to Northern Illinois, and the firing of athletic director Shawn Eichorst on Thursday, nobody knew quite what to expect.

Then, there were the injuries. Nebraska played the game without wide receivers Stanley Morgan and Bryan Reimers, running back Tre Bryant, center Cole Conrad, and started true freshman Brenden Jaimes at right tackle because two guys were injured there.

On defense, the Huskers were without safety Joshua Kalu, linebackers Marcus Newby and Tyrin Ferguson, and then senior safety Aaron Williams was ejected from the game in the first quarter for targeting.

There were players pushed into key roles you might not have expected back in early August. But no one is about to feel sorry for Nebraska, which now must go win another game at Illinois on Friday off a short week.

Saturday's win was ugly, but Riley was proud his team found a way when difficulties arose.

"When adversity snuck right up on us again, the guys just kind of came back and stuck to it and won the game," Riley said. "That was pretty special."