Game 12: Nebraska 32 Michigan 28
And if not for Titus Brothers and Zach Bowman, they would have not only be the talk of the nation, but also the laughing stock of the nation. Nebraska pulled out a come from behind win over Michigan in the Alamo Bowl, 32-28. (No the sponsorships won’t get any mention here) On a crazy last play, Michiganlateraled or “backward passed” the ball 8 times before Tyler Ecker was knocked out of bounds at the 15 yard line. All the while, Nebraska had stormed the field after about backwards pass #6. No, we don’t want to think about what would have happened if Michigan had walked into the end zone . So, just get that idea out of your head right now. While Nebraska had just a tad over the 11 people allowed on the field at the time, so did Michigan. Several players and coaching staff had made their way onto the field for Michigan. More importantly, the play wenttoward the Michigan sideline, not Nebraska’s. Had a Nebraska player or coach interfered with the play that originally was not involved in the play, Michigan would have either got a 15 yard penalty from the spot of the foul and an extra play, or even moredisastrous , been given the touchdown at the referees discretion. Many people have been wondering why there was no flag thrown on Nebraska. Well let’s get one thing straight, if a flag was thrown on Nebraska, one had to have been thrown on Michigan. The reason I think that a flag wasn’t thrown is that the play was neverinterrupted . So let’s say a flag would have been thrown on both teams...now what? Many people are saying (including Sun Belt officials) that the play wouldn’t have been replayed and it’s just offsetting penalties. I, myself, think they would have let them play the down over. In any football game if there is offsetting penalties, the down is replayed. Now the rules might say that the game is over, but I don’t know if the officials can make that call in that situation. Heck even the New York Times is talking about it.
Now, let’s move onto the officials. Awful. All game. Nebraska got MANY calls to go their way. Like I said, the crew was out of the Sun Belt conference. They had 1) never worked with each other and 2) never been a ref of a game with instant replay. The sun belt doesn’t have instant replay. There is no way that crew should have been a part of a game with a Big 12 team and a Big 11 team. (It’s 11...look it up) Why not anACC or SEC crew? Who ever scheduled that screwed up BIG time. Also on that crazy last play, it looks like backward pass 7 is not a backward pass, but a fumble. And there is a rule out there that says you can not advance a fumble inside 2:00 left in the game. Obviously this was lost on the officials in the chaos. Oh yeah, one more thing on them, before we move onto the game. At least one, maybe two were walking off the field while the play was in progress.
Now finally onto the game. Nebraska looked good. Zach Taylor was, once again, atruly gritty player. What he has done for this team is incalculable right now and won’t be known for a long time. Cory Ross capped his wonderful Nebraskacareer with 161 yards. Ross, coming into the game as the 10th most prolific rusher in Nebraska history, vaulted Derek Brown and came withing 2 yards of Dahrran Diedrick for 8th on the list to finish with 2,743 yards. He also became Nebraska’s most prolific receiving running back passing many of the stats that Jeff Kinney had held for over 30 years.
Nebraska did struggle and two Zach Taylor INT’s did put the game in doubt for a while early in the 2nd quarter. Nebraska showed true grit coming back in the 4th quarter. I thought the play calling for the most part, was excellent. After the Nate Swift touchdown cut the lead to 5, there was no question about going for two. Had Nebraska notconverted the conversion, then the 2nd Terrence Nunn touchdown would have only put Nebraska up by 2 or 3. Then, all Michigan needs is a field goal.
What a crazy way to end the year. Now, be honest, what did you predict Nebraska record would be at the beginning of the year? If I remember correctly, I predicted a 9-3 season with losses to Texas Tech, Oklahoma and Colorado.
So that wraps up another season of Cornhusker football. Memorial Stadium and Tom Osborne Field now stays quiet for about 2 1/2 months till the opening of spring practice and the culmination of the spring game sometime in April. Recruiting is now the hot topic as signing day is fast approaching in earlyFebruary.
When does basketball start?
It’s started already?
You’re kidding?
They’re 9-2? Wow, they must be doing pretty good................
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