I 100% believe they dive deep into potential contestants to find “guys” to compete vs the girls to make the matches “even”. Band scholarship plus physics major plus coke bottle frames plus considerable acne plus membership in the Magik the Gatherimg club = Dr Pepper half time contestant!!!!
They wouldn't even have to look that hard at creighton, but those sad losers dont even play football lmao
T’s & P’s to the Biff family for not being able to afford the 99 cents a month: Spoiler The moment that sticks in their minds is the celebration. The party didn’t even last a minute, but they can’t forget that burst of joy. Ndamukong Suh recalls looking up to the big screen and seeing three zeroes followed by a red flood onto the field. Matt O’Hanlon remembers the “big smirk” on Bo Pelini’s face. Niles Paul sprinted toward the Texas sideline — “Yeah, we beat y’all!” Blake Lawrence rushed to midfield with Sean Fisher and Will Compton — no more than 15 yards from Mack Brown — and taunted Nebraska’s nemesis. Horns down! “We look over at Mack and he’s just pointing at the scoreboard,” Lawrence said. “Finger wagging, yelling at the refs to get their attention. ‘One more second. One more second.’ We don’t care. “At that moment, for a brief moment in time, we’re the Big 12 champions. And we acted like it.” Ten years gone and the 2009 Huskers remember that fateful Big 12 championship game like yesterday. The jubilation. The agony. The wildest four-minute roller coaster of their lives. Husker History: No. 3 Texas 13, No. 22 Nebraska “Thinking about it still hurts,” Larry Asante said. “It was slowly but quickly taken away from us,” Suh said. “In one second.” They all remember the aftermath, too. The Pelini brothers crossing the threshold of the tunnel and spewing lava back toward the field, where Texas danced under burnt orange confetti. “You should be ashamed to accept that trophy!” defensive coordinator Carl Pelini yelled. “BCS! That’s why they make that call!” head coach Bo Pelini ranted. Nebraska has lost 54 games since — its worst decade since the 1950s. But no defeat left the ache and anger of Dec. 5, 2009. No game produced such pangs of regret. What if the Huskers had won? Does Ndamukong Suh win the Heisman? Does Nebraska stay in the Big 12? Does Pelini, who showed the world his best and worst sides that night, vault the program back to national prominence? The story of One More Second in Texas is the perfect prequel to One Lost Decade at Nebraska. It’s the night Big Red marched into Bevo’s backyard as a two-touchdown underdog, produced (arguably) the best defensive effort in school history and seized its only conference title of the 21st century — only to see it ripped away. The red confetti? The Huskers are still waiting. Antonio Bell and Dejon Gomes console each other as they walk off the field following the loss. ALYSSA SCHUKAR/THE WORLD-HERALD * * * The buildup to Big 12 championship controversy began 11 months earlier with a press release: Ndamukong Suh was coming back to Lincoln for his senior season. A remarkable Gator Bowl performance against Clemson — four tackles for loss, two sacks and a blocked field goal — made Suh a likely first-round NFL draft pick. “I was super close to going pro,” Suh said Friday. But Mom got the last word. She wanted Ndamukong to get his degree. He had all the necessary attributes to be great: strength, quickness, intellect, instincts. What separated him was an incomparable mean streak. “That man was a monster,” Paul said. “People don’t understand the type of competitor he is,” Asante said. “In his mind, he can’t be blocked.” Ndamukong Suh could've been a first-round draft pick had he left after the 2008 season. Instead, he returned in 2009 to dominate even more. JAMES R. BURNETT/THE WORLD-HERALD Suh credited his senior success to a preseason meeting with Carl Pelini when he learned the real nuances of the defense. In 2008, he focused on doing his job alone. In ’09, he learned the nuances of the scheme. When to make tackles and when to funnel plays to his teammates. From the opener, a 49-3 win over Florida Atlantic, Suh commanded two, sometimes three blockers. His presence did something else: It prompted Pelini to go small in the back seven, often inserting six defensive backs, all of whom covered and tackled in space. “It was the type of defense where if you made one mistake, it was a house call,” O’Hanlon said. Nebraska didn’t make many mistakes. At the peak of the spread offense era, in a region where quarterbacks shattered records from Columbia to Lubbock, Pelini found his kryptonite: a swarming secondary built around No. 93. Unfortunately, Blackshirt progress didn’t immediately show in the win column. In September, the Huskers lost a nail-biter at Virginia Tech, 16-15. In October, following Suh’s breakout game at Missouri — he terrorized Blaine Gabbert amid a monsoon — Nebraska’s offense produced a combined 17 points and 10 turnovers in back-to-back home losses to Texas Tech and Iowa State. “I ain’t gonna lie, our offense that year was so trash,” Paul said. Following eight giveaways against 20-point underdog Iowa State, the Pelini brothers walked into an empty locker room and took out their frustration on the Gatorade. They didn’t know O’Hanlon and teammate Wes Cammack were still in the back corner. “They walk in and just start screaming about the offense,” O’Hanlon said. “And Bo just throws this table full of Gatorade like 20 feet across the room. He just grabbed it like it was nothing and Hulk-smashed it. Gatorade just goes everywhere.” “They walk out and we’re like, ‘Oh, s---, I’m glad we didn’t say anything.’ ” The offense threatened to sabotage the season. The defense wouldn’t allow it. The critical game came Nov. 7, a prime-time clash in Memorial Stadium against rival Oklahoma. One year earlier, Bob Stoops humiliated the Pelini brothers with 35 first-quarter points. “We came into that game pissed off because of what they did to us in Norman,” Asante said. “When these boys come to our house, we’re gonna give ’em the business.” This time, the Blackshirts intercepted five Landry Jones passes — O’Hanlon alone snatched three — in a 10-3 upset win. Fueled by his defense, Bo Pelini led the Huskers to a 10-3 upset of Oklahoma. NU went on to finish the regular season on a five-game winning streak and earn a spot in the Big 12 championship game. MATT MILLER/THE WORLD-HERALD OU crossed midfield 11 times yet scored only one field goal, an astonishing display of clutch defense. Two seasons after finishing sixth-to-last nationally in scoring defense (37.9) and one year after finishing 80th (28.5), the Blackshirts rose all the way to No. 1 (10.4 per game). “We had the best defense in the damn country,” said Lawrence, a reserve linebacker in ’09. The Huskers won five straight to finish the regular season, setting up the biggest test of all: Colt McCoy and 12-0 Texas. Nobody gave Nebraska much of a chance. “That’s fine,” senior linebacker Phillip Dillard said leading up to the showdown. “But we’re going to come out swinging.” You're missing out if you haven't seen our Husker football history database * * * The day before the big game, Pelini’s team got its first look at the venue — Jerry Jones’ new $1.3 billion football palace. The Huskers stood in awe of the million-pound TV screens stretching 60 yards over midfield. The Big 12 assigned Nebraska the home sideline and the Cowboys locker room. “My locker was Jason Witten’s,” O’Hanlon said. “It still had his name on there.” The next night — just 30 minutes after No. 2 Alabama upset No. 1 Florida in the SEC championship game — the voice of college football welcomed 13 million viewers to the scene. “You are looking live at Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, Texas,” ABC play-by-play man Brent Musburger said, “where Nebraska is looking to mess with Texas in a championship matchup that has its history of upsets.” Nebraska takes the field at the sparkling, $1.3-billion football palace of Cowboys Stadium. THE WORLD-HERALD The Longhorns received the opening kick. On the first snap, their center got flagged for a chop block on Suh. Then Pierre Allen tipped McCoy’s second pass and Eric Hagg picked it off. Musburger perked up. Two series later, Suh sacked McCoy on first down and Prince Amukamara intercepted McCoy on third-and-long. The ’Horns didn’t take a single snap in Husker territory until the middle of the second quarter. Nebraska’s offense was no better. The Huskers, who finished the night with 106 total yards, went 30-plus minutes of game time without a first down. Zac Lee completed half as many passes to Texas (three) as Nebraska (six). Texas owned a 7-6 halftime lead, but a bigger story was developing. The halftime stat sheet showed Suh with 2½ sacks. “You know in baseball when the pitcher is having a perfect game and you kinda let ’em be?” Lawrence said. “It was a little bit that way with Ndamukong. He knew he was having a big night and it was almost like you didn’t want to remind him of it.” “It was comical,” tight end Mike McNeill said. “You don’t ever feel bad for an opponent, but ... these guys from Texas didn’t have any idea what to do. He was just the most dominating force we’ve ever seen.” Suh’s defining moment happened three minutes into the third quarter. On second-and-23, he shrugged off two blockers, corralled McCoy and whipped him to the ground like a dog slamming a chew toy. Another sack. “Ndamukong is dominating, wow!” Musburger said. Ndamukong Suh was as good as advertised in the 2009 Big 12 championship game. He finished with 4.5 sacks. THE ASSOCIATED PRESS The second half felt like a tug-of-war between two powerlifters. The turning point could’ve been Paul’s 43-yard punt return to the Texas 10-yard line, but Nebraska settled for a field goal. “I always think back on that punt return and regret making one cut, because I could’ve scored,” Paul said. “We could’ve just shut it down.” With 1:44 left, Nebraska took the lead with yet another field goal. It could taste the upset. Then the ’Horns caught a break. Adi Kunalic hooked the kickoff out of bounds. After McCoy found trusty Jordan Shipley on first down, Asante yanked him down by the horse collar. Just like that, Texas was in field-goal range. Then things got crazy. On second-and-12, Suh impeded McCoy’s draw play. The quarterback went down with 30 seconds left — with one timeout. Mack Brown didn’t take it. The clock kept ticking. * * * At seven seconds, McCoy received the shotgun snap. He rolled right intending to gain a few yards, get his kicker to the right hash mark and call timeout. Five seconds ... Uh-oh. There was Suh again, forcing him wide. Three seconds... You ready for irony? If big No. 93 had stopped right there — if he’d NOT pursued McCoy — the quarterback may have held the ball long enough for the clock to expire. But McCoy felt Suh bearing down and unloaded, where his spiral smacked a luxury suite railing on the sideline. One second ... Then ... to the shock of 76,000 fans in Cowboys Stadium and millions more at home ... the clock dripped empty. Husker fans roared in stunned delight. Husker players dashed onto the field. “Wait a minute,” Musburger said, “did the game end? Nebraska thinks it’s over!” For a brief moment, the Huskers felt like champions. THE ASSOCIATED PRESS How do you describe the Big Red sideline? Like unleashing 150 kindergarteners, hopped up on cotton candy and Skittles, inside an amusement park. Even sideline guest Eric Crouch took off. “I just remember running out on the field,” Crouch said. “We just won this game!” Said Paul: “I was damn near on Texas’ sideline. Some of those boys I had played with in the Army All-American game. We all knew each other. So I was jumping up and down. ‘F--- Texas! Ahhh!” High above the turf, Harvey Perlman and Tom Osborne had entered the coaches’ box for crunch time. That’s where they watched the final snap. “I remember thinking that he’s certainly going to get rid of the ball, and he didn’t,” said Osborne, in his third year as athletic director. “He really strung it out a long time. By the time the ball hit the ground, the clock showed zeroes. I thought, well, game’s over.” Said Chancellor Perlman: “When the ball hit out of bounds and the clock went to zero, the coaches went nuts.” Immediately, Brown motioned for one second. Immediately, referee Tom Walker directed the Huskers back to their sideline. Walt Anderson, Big 12 coordinator of officials, was reviewing the play. In hindsight, Pelini told his players that he wished they’d all run to the locker room. Make the officials come get them if they wanted to restore time. But Pelini was too miffed to think strategy. During the review, Perlman said, “there was a lot of yelling into the headsets to control Bo because Bo was going out of his mind down on the field. So they were saying, ‘Keep Bo from doing anything crazy.’ ” Bo Pelini couldn't control his infamous temper as the Big 12 championship slipped away. MATT MILLER/THE WORLD-HERALD Osborne’s complaint (then and now) was twofold. One, the notion that the clock should halt immediately when the ball hits the ground. “If you look at any football play, the clock doesn’t stop the second that guy’s knee hits the ground,” Osborne said recently. “It almost always goes another one or two seconds before it’s stopped.” Two, Osborne believed the replay official had used an unofficial clock to examine the play. “They took it off a TV. They didn’t use the official game clock. My understanding is that that is not the way you determine those things. Maybe somebody will tell you differently, but that was the explanation I was given.” Osborne, he said, later spoke with another league’s commissioner of officials who said Nebraska, by rule, should’ve won. But Walt Anderson, interviewed this week, said the procedure was routine. With ABC’s assistance, he watched the play over and over. Just as viewers saw at home, the network superimposed the official game clock on his screen so he could pinpoint precisely when McCoy’s pass landed. Citing Rule 12-3-6, Anderson found an “egregious” clock error and directed the referee to restore one second. To the rulebook, it didn’t matter that Nebraska had rushed the field in victory. “Just like a player stepping out of bounds,” Anderson said, “at the instant that foot hits out of bounds, if the clock shows :01, then that’s what it is.” Ten years after the Texas loss, most Husker players interviewed for this story say that officials did the right thing. “It did hit with one second left, so it’s kind of hard to argue it,” McNeill said. “At the time, the only thought I had was if you call a game and the game’s over, how can you go back and look at it?” Said Asante: “We literally thought that the refs had cheated us. But, to be fair, it does look like there might have been a second left.” Suh, of course, still resists. “When the clock hit zero, the game should’ve been over. There was a second that miraculously got put back on it in the favor of Texas.” To this day, Ndamukong Suh can't believe Nebraska lost. "The game should've been over," he said recently. MATT MILLER/THE WORLD-HERALD * * * Just 70 seconds after McCoy’s pass landed out of bounds, the referee made the announcement — “There’s one second left on the game clock.” Texas kicker Hunter Lawrence had made 31 of 36 career field goals, but never one longer than 46 yards. This one: 46 yards. The 2001 Heisman winner awaited a second celebration. “In my head,” Crouch said, “I was like, ‘Suh is gonna block this kick, and when he does he’s going to win the Heisman Trophy.’ ” Husker players weren’t so optimistic. “I hate to say this,” McNeill said, “but even though it was 40-some yards, I just knew he was going to make it.” Lawrence’s kick started dangerously close to the left upright, but it never hooked. When Paul heard the Texas cheers, he was already en route to the locker room. “The football gods,” Paul said, “they aren’t going to bless you like that twice.” Hunter Lawrence became a Texas hero when he hit the championship-winning field goal. MATT MILLER/THE WORLD-HERALD Pelini shook Brown’s hand. Told the Longhorns to go win the national championship. But once he reached the tunnel, all the emotions boiled over. “Marc!” Pelini shouted at Associate Athletic Director Marc Boehm, “I want to see Walt Anderson in there right (expletive) now!” Behind closed doors, the Huskers did a number on the Cowboys’ immaculate confines. “I think there was some damage to that locker room,” Blake Lawrence said. “There were some chairs thrown and probably some drywall that needed repair.” Pelini couldn’t stand still. He returned to the tunnel, where Crouch and Perlman watched the scene in stunned silence. “Get Coach Osborne down here!” Pelini said. “Can you go get Coach Osborne?” Minutes later, Osborne walked slowly toward the locker room in black trench coat. He entered the double doors to meet Pelini. From outside, one word could be heard loudest: “Cheaters!” Then Osborne strode back to the field to find Dan Beebe. The Big 12 commissioner extended his hand, but Osborne didn’t shake it. “Would you go see Bo? Right now?” Perlman and Osborne walked off the field with Beebe, exchanging no words. Beebe went immediately to the postgame press conference and waited for Pelini, who’d cooled off a bit. Beebe wanted to speak privately to Pelini. They walked into a quiet area near some shiny SUVs, 100 feet from anyone else. You could still hear the occasional Pelini expletive. Osborne watched the meeting with Pelini’s brother, Vince. They took it from us, Vince said. Osborne’s facial expression never changed. “I’ve been on both ends.” * * * Truth is, the A.D.’s resentment for Texas had much deeper roots than Pelini’s. When the Big 12 formulated in 1994, Osborne assumed that the fledgling Southwest Conference schools would play by Big Eight rules. He still recalls former NU Chancellor Graham Spanier returning from initial meetings and informing Osborne that the league had essentially dissolved and started from scratch. Big Eight academic and recruiting standards would change, among other things. “What in the world happened?” Osborne recalled. “That was not good news as far as I was concerned.” Eventually the conference office moved to Texas, followed by the football championship game on an almost annual basis. Texas seized more and more power. “We just felt like a lot of things were slipping to the south,” Osborne said. “And things were not on the same footing as they were when we agreed to join the league. ... “You begin to lose a certain degree of trust when you’re told that things will be done a certain way and then it turns out that it isn’t.” Said Perlman: “It’s no secret that Tom was not wildly fond of Texas for a wide variety of reasons for a long period of time.” That context was critical to the events of Dec. 5, 2009. Chew on this statement from the understated Osborne. “I would imagine that if we’d had a playoff game in the Big Eight and something like (one restored second) had happened, we wouldn’t have been happy, but we might have felt a little different about it.” Back in the ABC broadcast booth, Musburger and Kirk Herbstreit put a bow on a college football game that, 10 years later, an ESPN panel ranked 66th-best all time. “Ndamukong Suh, No. 93 of Nebraska, played as fine of a defensive football game as I have ever seen,” Musburger said. The following Saturday, Suh finished fourth in the Heisman voting behind Mark Ingram, Toby Gerhart and McCoy. Did he have a real chance? Suh’s season statistics — 82 tackles, 23 tackles for loss and 12 sacks, before Heisman voting, including 4 1⁄2 sacks of McCoy — raised eyebrows. But knocking the ’Horns out of the national title game may have given voters the nudge they needed. “It would’ve been a better case for me,” Suh said, “but probably not. It’s such an offense-heavy award.” * * * Three days after the Heisman ceremony, Jim Delany dropped a bombshell. The Big Ten would explore expansion and, with it, a championship game. In January, Delany and Perlman had their initial conversation, which, in June 2010, turned into an official invitation. What impact did the Texas loss have on Nebraska’s Big 12 departure? Perlman and Osborne say it didn’t trigger Nebraska’s talks with Delany. Instead, it was a rumor in early 2010 that Big 12 South schools had agreed in principle to join the Pac-10. “As we all know, it didn’t happen,” Osborne said. “And I think the thing that broke the camel’s back was The Longhorn Network. Texas wouldn’t give it up. And the Pac-12 said they wanted all the TV inventory. “But we didn’t know that. And we also knew that Missouri was openly trying to leave for the Big Ten. And we also knew that Colorado was openly trying to leave and go to the Pac-12. As a result, we felt that we were going to be out on a limb that was being sawed off. The Big Ten represented stability, and we weren’t going to be left out in the cold.” Osborne and Perlman aren’t lying. But again, context. Consciously or subconsciously, the feeling of injustice (or robbery) on Dec. 5, 2009, ruptured Nebraskans’ sense of loyalty to its traditional peers. If you can’t trust your own conference, it’s time to find a new home. As Blake Lawrence put it, “let’s go to a place where we’re not treated like second-class citizens.” Most of the ’09 Huskers interviewed for this story prefer the Big 12. “I feel like Nebraska should be playing Oklahoma, Texas, Oklahoma State, Kansas,” Asante said. “It just feels right. This is different now.” Maybe it’s because Nebraska isn’t beating Big Ten schools. Husker fans can’t lay the blame for three straight losing seasons on conference realignment, but the Texas loss does make you wonder if NU would’ve avoided its current swoon. Some, like Suh, say it would’ve changed little. Others say it would’ve changed everything. Recruiting. Prestige. Pelini’s reputation. Nebraska may have moved past the achievements of the 1990s and planted a new flag in the ground. “It sounds super dramatic to say that it hangs with one second 10 years ago,” Lawrence said, “but if we are celebrating a Big 12 championship, it sets this program on a different path.” Said O’Hanlon: “That really could’ve changed the whole trajectory.” * * * Even though they went on to NFL careers, Huskers from the 2009 team like (from left) Matt O’Hanlon, Niles Paul and Larry Asante can't escape the pain from that Big 12 championship heartbreaker. THE ASSOCIATED PRESS The loss still gnaws at them, emerging in strange ways. In 2010, O’Hanlon arrived at Buccaneers training camp and met his roommate. Are you kidding? Ex-Texas kicker Hunter Lawrence? “He was already there unpacked,” O’Hanlon said. “And I walk in and I’m like, dude, this isn’t gonna go well.” For three years in the NFL, Paul shared the Redskins locker room with Colt McCoy, who always greeted Paul holding his index finger. No. 1. “You know we should’ve won that game,” Paul said. “Y’all got lucky.” Then there’s Asante, whose brother is a freshman linebacker at North Carolina. That’s right, Mack Brown’s North Carolina. Brown has become a coaching mentor to Asante, who wants to break into the business. “To this day, we still kind of talk about it,” Asante said. “I’m like, ‘Yo, Coach, we won that game.’ And he’s like, ‘Hey, there’s still one second left on the clock.’ ” You can watch sporting events for a lifetime, Blake Lawrence said. How often do you see a team celebrate a championship only to lose it? “It doesn’t happen,” he said. A decade consists of 315,576,000 seconds. Yet somehow one solitary second in Arlington feels so fresh. So surreal. In 10 years, those players — like many of us — have built lives. Married. Raised kids. Gained promotions. Traveled the country. They’ve lost loved ones. Dreams. Maybe some passion for Husker football, too. Because when you endure a decade like this one, you lose more than pride. You lose invaluable time and experiences. The nervous thrill of The Big Game. The daily adrenaline rush of a national title race. The sparkle in a child’s eye as he falls in love with fall Saturdays. The indelible moments that bond together an entire state. “Man, woman and child ...” “Touchdown, touchdown, touchdown ...” When it ended that night in Arlington, the Huskers boarded a plane for a long, quiet ride back to Lincoln, leaving behind a complicated legacy. A heart-stopping, mind-boggling, inspiring, infuriating drama that still doesn’t feel resolved. They left behind something else: the fancy scoreboards of Cowboys Stadium. Beneath the final score — Texas 13, Nebraska 12 — stood three empty, taunting shapes. 0:00.
Program in shambles under the leadership of its own former heroes Coaches of major programs all over the country getting fired for achieving the same results as ours, who instead get contract extensions. Two banner hires of revenue generating sports watch dumpster fires rage. Players dismissed for rape OWH scratches head, does a jestery little dance, and says "oh hey remember this?"
Boot licking media cowers under threat of loss of access instead of teaming up and declaring "fine. You fuck sticks will have zero media coverage then" like they should have 10 years ago. That's your Sunday retrospective piece
Probably because he's the head coach of a power 5 conference team. Reporters like to get those types of people's opinions on things from time to time.
Oh....I mean. SCOTT PUT YOUR HEAD IN THE SAND. DONT TALK TO ANYONE EVER. YOU EMBARRASSED YOURSELF AND ME WITH YOUR TEAMS PERFORMANCE SO FAR IN YOUR TIME HERE.
I especially enjoyed (in my masochistic husk way) Dirk suggesting that winning the Big 12 title would have kept us from going to the B1G and/or Bo leading us to national prominence (we still had three other losses that year, two of which were embarrassing as hell).
Is this that hill-dying-on behavior I've heard about on message boards lately or is that something else?
Most B10 scheduling ever for Nebrasketball this week. Play at Creighton last Saturday. No games all week, then play at Indiana Friday then back home vs Purdue on Sunday. Should have just had us play in Purdue if they wanted that quick turnaround.