You had to have a sneaking suspicion that this was not going to be Nebraska's day when South Carolina blocked the extra point after Nebraska's first touchdown and returned it for a two-point conversion. But even with that miscue, the Huskers seemed to controlling much of the game the rest of the first half. In fact, Nebraska twice had opportunities to extend their lead, only to turn the ball over. Ameer Abdullah coughed up the ball at the Gamecock 7, then Taylor Martinez threw his first interception since before Halloween in the closing minute before halftime. Without those turnovers, it's not inconceivable that the Huskers could have had a 26-9 lead at that point.
Instead, South Carolina scores on a Hail Mary and head to the locker room up 16-13. Nebraska started out firing on all cylinders right after halftime, capped by Martinez's 36 yard run down to the South Carolina 8 yard line. SEC speed??? B1G speed! The Huskers looked to be ready to retake the lead at that point, but it turns out that it was all downhill from there. A bad screen pass meant Nebraska had to settle for a field goal attempt that went wide right.
Even worse: Eleven penalties. Credit South Carolina's defensive line for taking control of the game, but Nebraska lost their discipline, especially on the offensive line which drew five flags and gave up five sacks from that point on. Some will blame Martinez for those sacks, but in most of those situations, Martinez was under duress almost immediately after taking the snap. Alfonzo Dennard got ejected for throwing a punch at Alshon Jeffery after the two got into a scrum late in the third quarter. Sad way for his Nebraska career to end, and he apologized for it after the game on Twitter.
Lavonte David is one Husker who doesn't have to apologize for how his Nebraska career ended. 11 tackles to lead the team including two sacks. Should Nebraska have tried to be more aggressive with the pass rush? I tend to agree with Pelini's plan to maintain containment on Connor Shaw and blanket the South Carolina receivers...which they did for the most part. The notable exception, of course, was the Hail Mary. Everybody went for the ball, leaving nobody to keep Jeffery out of the end zone.
ESPN's coverage of the game was very poor. We didn't see a replay of the blocked extra point until midway through the fourth quarter. It was a theme throughout the game as the director preferred to use the time between plays to promote parent company Disney's theme park rather than the game. Play-by-play announcer Joe Tessitore didn't realize that South Carolina's face mask penalty gave the Huskers a first down.
It's just a very frustrating way to end the season. We enter a long off-season with questions about discipline on the field and on the offensive line. Last year, it was turnovers, and we saw progress on that front. So I have optimism that Nebraska can improve on that in 2012.
It used to be that nine wins was considered a decent football season. It was the standard for Nebraska football for years. But now with a 12 game regular season, nine wins means four losses...and that's not something that pleases Husker fans. The idea of firing coaches because they are "only won nine games" is a bad one; Nebraska tried that once before, and apparently some fans have already forgotten the dark ages.
That doesn't mean that Husker fans should be happy with a 9-4 season either. It's an OK season; not bad, and not good. Nebraska fans have high expectations and they shouldn't lower them.
And sadly, thus begins our winter of our discontent.
1 recs | 39 comments
Just want to come by and give my 'good game'
There were some mistakes by the refs on both sides, but there always is. I don’t think that should have been a pass interference call as it was over thrown, but I also don’t think that face mask should have been called on the punt, either.
I also think the ejections were a direct result of the refs letting them play chippy all game up to that point. It got a little out of hand there. Good to hear that Dennard apologized.
Everything I’ve heard from people in Orlando is that the Husker fans have been nice people. Keep up the good work here on the blog.
Charlestowne - January 2, 2012
Didn't see the facemask and agreed on the DPI
Anyone from the Nebraska side blaming the officiating for this loss needs to rewatch the game. I believe Nebraska could and should have won, but the officiating had next to nothing to do with it.
Good game though, you guys have some serious playmakers. Those two ends are scary when they knew NU was going to pass.
jdhusker - January 2, 2012
facemask
came after the SC DLineman brought his hands up into the OL’s face, then when he was getting knocked to the ground, he reached up and pulled the OL nearly down by grabbing his facemask. It was a legitimate call.
Jon Johnston - January 3, 2012
Thanks
To me, the refs are a moot point – my rule is, if you lost by more than a touchdown, you don’t get to complain about the refs. The Huskers have a lot bigger problems for fans to complain about than a few missed calls.
South Carolina just flat-out outplayed the Huskers, especially in the second half. Showed a lot of poise, determination, and maturity. Congrats on a solid win.
Cheeseandcorn - January 3, 2012
I agree. Good post
jmelto2 - January 3, 2012
The drive that killed it ...
I think the nail in the coffin was the waved off block in the back and the blown PI call. As you mentioned, the TV coverage was poor – they’d rather replay the ejection for the 8th time than replay the block in the back, and the PI happened because the receiver quit on the play and slowed down into our corner, among other things.
That doesn’t keep them out of the end zone on that drive, but gifting them better field position and keeping a drive alive on the PI makes me feel the refs inserted themselves in the game at that point.
We were a different team after the ejection with coverage breakdowns and bad discipline on both sides of the ball – hopefully Pelini can figure it out!
I wouldn’t mind a 9-4 season, but I don’t really feel the opponent earned the four wins so much as we gave the game away. That’s what is disheartening, and needs to get fixed. GBR!
Andy06r - January 2, 2012
That sequence by the refs was bad
But had Nebraska taken care of business up to that point, it wouldn’t have mattered. And truthfully, if those two plays had been called correctly, it still wouldn’t have mattered, because our offense was utterly useless after Maher’s missed fg on the first drive.
jdhusker - January 2, 2012
come on man!
Yes, Nebraska was penalized and had dropped passes, but the Gamecocks were penalized for more yards and still won by 17. They forced a fumble and had an interception also. You can’t claim that the game “was given away” when you lose by that much. Give credit where it is due.
jmelto2 - January 3, 2012
No complaining about officials. You reap what you sow.
The referees did not take this away from the Huskers.
A barrage of unforced errors led to defeat in this game.
Abdullah fumbled because he did not have control of the ball. This is the end of year four of the Pelini era and ball control is clearly still not a priority on this team.
The false start penalties on the offensive line are absolutely inexcusable.
Penalties penalties penalties. Year four and clean football is not a priority.
Dennard’s deplorable conduct. All he has to do is keep his head on straight for two extra seconds and not throw a punch. If he manages to do that the opponent’s best player is ejected, Nebraska gets fifteen yards of field position and the only consistent member of Nebraska’s secondary stays in the game.
Bo Pelini completely losing his composure and treating officials and sideline reporters as less than human. Does this make the University look good? Does it impress potential recruits and their parents watching the games on TV? Does it lead to Nebraska getting calls to go their way later in the game? Or does it make all of those things worse?
Martinez’s pocket presence is non-existent. Has a QB with his level of mobility ever been sacked this often?
Another game, another drop by Brandon Kinnie. Why is he on the field? CBs must jump for joy when they are matched up with him.
Missed tackles all over the place, especially by the defensive line. This has been a glaring problem all year. Of all the problems on this team this is the the only one that I have any confidence in this staff’s ability to correct.
I really loved the post game interview comments about how Pelini felt his team was better even after the game. Clearly they are not. This is not a one-time fluke. This is the third time this year the team has completely crumpled and folded when faced with adversity. The mental toughness displayed in the fourth quarter against Ohio State was the aberration.
Nine wins is not good enough an age where a season can have up to fourteen games. Thirty years ago nine wins meant you lost a tough non-conference game, lost a squeaker to a highly-ranked Oklahoma team and then lost a bigtime bowl game. Today nine wins can come in a season where a team finishes sixth in conference, gets blown out three times by 3+ scores and plays a bowl game sponsored by a regional sporting goods store in mid-December. Simply put Tom Osborne’s nine win seasons in the 1970s and 1980s are roughly equivalent to the season that Virginia Tech or Michigan put together this year.
There are thirteen coaches making more money than Bo Pelini and all of them except for Will Muschamp have taken a team to a BCS bowl. 9-4 is not good enough when opportunities to hire new assistants arise and he consistently chooses to hire and promote friends. Last year they fired the defensive assistant that was really doing lights out work (Marvin Sanders) and never explained why.
The guys he brought in last year are not getting it done. Everyone in the Corey Raymond’s secondary other than Dennard looks lost. Tim Beck, another Pelini friend is is offensive coordinator and QB coach and yet Martinez’s mechanics and pocket presence are just as bad as last year. Maybe it is time to bring in a dedicated QB coach? Ross Els, friend and past co-worker of Carl Pelini, had one linebacker that consistently played well, but Lavonte David could probably look like a football savant under any coach.
John Papuchis has been promoted to defensive coordinator from D-line and special teams coach. The defensive line was terrible at times this year. The special teams collapse turned a close game into a blowout against Michigan.
I do have to give a little credit to Mike Fischer. The receivers are improved over last year. That is faint praise however.
Pelini acts like a coordinator. He doesn’t like to recruit. He doesn’t like to talk to the media. He doesn’t like to deal with the offense other than to dictate that he wants a running attack that shortens the game for his defense. He acts like a tyrant with the media and the game officials. He should be paid like a coordinator until he is able to deliver success in all aspects of the head coaching position.
Let’s stop pretending Frank Solich was fired over a 9-3 regular season in 2003. He was fired for seven losses in 2002. If you all can remember that is the same number of losses as Bill Callahan’s worst season.
I bleed Husker Red but this is going to leave a bad taste in my mouth for the next nine months. My dad used to go to the bowl game almost every year when I was a kid in the 1980s and 1990s and I remember his heartbreak all those years. When will this team be BACK?
WayneM - January 3, 2012
I thought this was a very informative post
Especially for an outsider. The only thing I would disagree with is your comments on the ejections. Alshon pushed Dennard because Dennard took a swing at him.
Charlestowne - January 3, 2012
Hope that was cathartic ...
It’s good to get that off your chest…but there is so much not-quite-right about your post that I can’t even begin to address.
You are entitled to your opinion…but I disagree…
Husker Mike - January 3, 2012 via mobile
Wow...
If “bleeding Husker Red” made me this miserable… I wouldn’t even bother. It’s amazing that in a post this long… the only positive thing stated about our team is that the receiver’s are improved over last year. Of course even that was a backhanded compliment since it was immediately followed up with “That is faint praise however”.
I won’t even go over all the inaccuracies in this post but I do wish people would take off their rose colored glasses when comparing our current results to our results under Coach Osbourne. Everyone remembers the end of his tenure but they forget the 20 years leading up to it. That said… the one thing we should remember is that we were patient and stood by Coach Osborne during the 70’s, 80’s and early 90’s and because of that we benefited in the mid 90’s. Everyone seems to forget we had 6 9-win seasons between ’78 and ’93… we lost to Oklahoma 7 times… and had a 4 – 12 record in bowl games! But because we stayed the course he gained the knowledge and experience necessary for us to win 3 National Championships… the first coming in his 23rd year as head coach!
I for one plan on continuing to support our University, coaches and players. Don’t get me wrong… I’ll still get frustrated, yell obscenities at my TV (I only yell positives when attending games in person unless it’s directed at the refs) and think about what might have been after a loss. But the bottom line is that life is too short and there’s always the next season for my beloved Huskers to put it all together and bring home our 6th National Championship!
I wish you well and hope you find happiness this year and remember… only 241 days to go until we face Southern Miss on September 1st! Go Big Red!
HuskerDad - January 3, 2012
Well put HuskerDad
You are spot on! I am sick and tired of these video-game-playing-instant-gratification- fast-food-eating-spoiled-self-proclaimed-football-experts! GET. A. CLUE!
I am frustrated and disgusted by the way that the team played yesterday, as well as the responses from the coaching staff, but get a grip! I looked outside and the sky is still up there and we all will have a chance to get excited about Big Red football again as soon as we get rid of this bad taste in our mouth from yesterday. I’m prepared to get excited about the 6th National Championship next year, too!
Todd Wolverton - January 3, 2012
Nine wins way back when meant losing three times, not four (or five). Those 9-3 Husker teams went to better bowl games and lost to better opponents than Nebraska has played in bowl games in the last ten years.
Those Oklahoma teams that beat Nebraska every year were top ten teams. In Osborne’s first ten meetings with Oklahoma there were three games decided by more than two scores. And every single one of those Oklahoma teams was in the top ten. In those nine years Nebaska had only four losses by more than two scores (three to Oklahoma, one to #1 Alabama in a season opener). Nebraska has been waxed by 3+ scores three times this year, once in 2009 and twice in 2008 (though I agree those shouldn’t really count against Pelini).
In the 1970s and 1980s there was no overtime. Osborne’s nine win seasons included tie games that could only have increased the number of wins (a tie turned into a loss does not decrease the win count). The 1983 Orange Bowl may have been a win had overtime been an option.
4-12 in bowls sure, but look at the bowls they were playing in. Two of the losses in that spam were in the Fiesta Bowl which was not a major bowl back then, but the rest were in Orange, Cotton, or Sugar Bowls and a Citrus Bowl they lost to a team that took home a share of the national title. You have to really pick and choose what era you are talking about when highlighting that 4-12 mark. Osborne opened up his career with Cotton and Sugar Bowl victories and wins in four of five bowls overall.
WayneM - January 3, 2012
You're making my point...
Circumstances change over time and comparing someone’s record 20 to 30 years ago or even from team to team today and saying that is proof of poor performance isn’t necessarily a valid conclusion.
That said… the great thing about being a fan is we can each choose how we want to look at this year’s results… glass half full or half empty. Neither one is wrong it’s just I’ll be fun to be around the next 9 months. Despite the fact we don’t agree… I truly wish you well.
HuskerDad - January 4, 2012
Spot-on about discipline
Did SC look faster than NE? No. Did SC look bigger, more physical? No, no. Did SC look more disciplined? Yes. Yes by leaps and bounds. That’s coaching.
Bo Pelini is a great asset for the NE football program. I think he’ll keep getting better and better. However, the glaring limitation of his teams as yet is self-inflicted damage. Penalties and turnovers. I think Bo is smart enough to recognize this (as Husker Mike mentioned, turnovers have been better).
WI, MSU, tOSU, and PSU all should all either regress or stay sub-elite next season. Clean up the discipline problem and NE should be favorites next year along with MI. Don’t clean it up and it’s “Hello Sun Bowl!”
BrewCityHSKR - January 3, 2012
BTW
Anyone remember just after Frank got fired and Spurrier had just left the Redskins leading to speculation that he’d be the next coach because Petersen liked his style? I gave that scenario way too much thought throughout December.
BrewCityHSKR - January 3, 2012
WOW
Spot-on about discipline……
I’ve read a lot on here and I think that some N fans are missing the fact that the Carolina defense figured N out and then simply dominated the line and then, ultimately, the game. Sure, N could have been more disciplined, but Carolina had a lot to do with your issues……
This is what you don’t understand……we scored 30 points on you with our 2nd level players – even the HBC was a little shocked at that score.
The other thing that was very obvious …..N is one dimensional, at best. Taylor Martinez is not a QB and he was likely successful against 2nd tier Big Ten talent….
You should have stayed in the Big 12!!
Finally, the simple fact is that South Carolina completely dominated that football game from the first quarter onward……
SECSpeed - January 3, 2012
If you guys think
regularly winning 9 games is somehow subpar, you don’t know what having a truly bad football team is. Yes, everybody wants their team to be contending for the national title. But at least you’re going to bowl games, and good bowl games (i.e. Jan 1) against good teams. You would want 9 wins so bad if you just went 1-11, 2-10, or 3-9.
I’m pissed off that Nebraska lost. Everybody is. But don’t go all anti-Pelini just because he felt the officials were screwing his team and he got nine wins this year. As someone else mentioned, Osborne had roughly the same year-to-year record.
Meager Reader - January 3, 2012
This
x10000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000.
It is easy to get upset when our team does bad and it is equally as frustrating to see them kill themselves in a great game, but to call for the head coach to be fired shows classlessness in our fan base. It is not something we should represent and it shows that we are not acting like the greatest fans in college football. We earned that title, now we better damn well show that we deserve to keep it.
AdamTheTitan - January 3, 2012
It's time for a football departmental fire sale.
Everyone must go! The cancer is at the top!
Salt Creek and Stadium - January 3, 2012
Tom's the cancer?
He’s the one at the top of the football department! Who’s going to lead the football department any better?
Todd Wolverton - January 3, 2012
He was being sarcastic.
Cheeseandcorn - January 3, 2012
Not high enough!
Hang Chancellor Perlman!
/sarc
jdhusker - January 3, 2012
Heck, just impeach the governor!
theise - January 3, 2012
There we go!
We want Heiney’s heiney!
Husker Mike - January 3, 2012
Nice summary, Husker Mike--as always. Thanks!
theise - January 3, 2012
Gamecocks were the better team that day
Yes, both teams are very good but the Gamecocks were the better team that day. It’s absurd for people to say that Nebraska “gave the game away”. Yes, they had penalties and dropped passes but that doesn’t explain a 17 point difference in the game. The Gamecocks were actually penalized for more yards than the Cornhuskers were and there were bad calls by the refs on both sides of the ball. For example, Alshon Jeffries never threw a punch but was ejected anyways. He did push back, but excessive pushing happens in every football game without penalty. It is also wrong to say that Nebraska played a tougher schedule than the Gamecocks did. After the final rankings are out, look at the schedules and compare the rankings of both team’s opponents. oh yeah, and give a penalty flag to coach Pelini for his comment about being the better team even though they lossed by 17.
jmelto2 - January 3, 2012
Uh
Any neutral observer would have no choice but to say Nebraska gave it away. Anything approaching competence from the Nebraska side and its 24-7 Huskers at halftime and the game’s already all but over.
-Blocked xp returned for two: 3 point swing, and since this a) almost never happens and b) was not a stated strength of USC coming into the game, this is Nebraska’s fault. Unforgivable error in the blocking execution.
-Abdullah fumble as Nebraska’s about to score: 7 points off the board for Nebraska. It was a good hit, but our running back didn’t properly secure the ball before the hit.
-Martinez pick at the end of the half: I don’t think there’ much of a case to be made for USC having much to do with this. Martinez made an awful read/throw and was not under duress. Nebraska should not have been throwing in that situation and was in easy fg range for Maher. Likely 3 points off the board for Nebraska
-Hail Mary: Hail Mary’s work in because of two things: luck and/or defensive ineptitude. It is not a difficult play to stop, and it’s success falls entirely on Nebraska’s secondary.
-In the second half, Maher missed a chip shot field goal. It’s been YEARS since Nebraska’s missed from under 40 yards. Seriously, we’re about as likely to hit them as an extra point. Another 3 near guaranteed points off the board for Nebraska that South Carolina had nothing to do with.
South Carolina was the better team because they did not do these things. Because they did not do these things, they deserved to win. However it’s ludicrous to claim Nebraska didn’t give this one away.
jdhusker - January 3, 2012
I don't think you're being fair here.
If my aunt had testicles, she’d be my uncle.
Football games are not played in a vacuum, and sure we all get frustrated when our teams screw something up, but I think you are completely marginalizing SC’s victory. According to you, all SC did was show up and watch NE shoot themselves in the foot.
Sure NE made some mistakes and their receivers contracted a case of cockfingers on a couple of nicely thrown balls, but usually mistakes are made because defenses force you to make mistakes. SC had a top-5 defense all year, so this wasn’t some fluke game. However, SC also had receivers drop balls, SC also missed a 20 yd field goal, and for some reason SC decided to let a jr. high kid from the make-a-wish foundation punt for them. Playing your same game, if you took away our mistakes, its a lot uglier than 30-13.
Bottom line is that I know its difficult for some folks who are used to supporting such a historic powerhouse to comprehend being beaten by a lowly team from South Carolina (ask Ohio State), but you just need to accept that sometimes your team doesn’t give a game away as much as they are legitimately defeated by an opponent.
All that said, I’ve got nothing but respect for Nebraska and your fans. I’d love to see us play again someday.
BrisketBiscuit - January 3, 2012
This debate seems to happen every time a team makes a bunch of mistakes in a loss
And it’s always kind of pointless.
Good teams make good plays and don’t screw up.
Bad teams don’t make good plays and screw up.
South Carolina made good plays (Hail Mary, 80-yard pass to Jeffery, INT, etc.) and didn’t screw up much.
Nebraska didn’t make good plays (at least no big ones, other than the early Bell TD pass and long Martinez run) and screwed up a lot.
That means SC played well, and Nebraska didn’t. So SC deserved to win, and they deserve credit for playing much better than Nebraska.
Husker fans aren’t trying to disrespect SC by not admitting this – they’re just overwhelmingly focused on their own team in evaluating the game (just like all fans are), so they’re going to place most of the blame at their own team’s feet. Nothing more to it than that.
Cheeseandcorn - January 3, 2012
+100
We were not the better team, we did not “give” them the game – we lost it pure and simple
Good teams find a way to win (hail Mary pass, interception, blocked point after, etc.etc.) and others find ways to lose. We found all kinds of way to lose Monday.
UltimaRatioRegum - January 3, 2012
No Offense taken
Trust me as a SC fan for many years I understand the overwhelming focus on your teams mistakes. This is only our second time winning 10 games in the regular season. You guys have alot of talent on your team and hopefully the mistakes can be corrected by next year. Good luck to you.
Chucktowngamecock - January 4, 2012
Small Consolation
I really enjoyed the back and forth between you guys and us this week. It was a lot of fun getting to know the Nebraska traditions from the people that live it…and as far as comment sections go, you guys are some of the classiest
stapleears - January 3, 2012
Back Atcha
I have been posting all along, Gamecock fans are the best I have encountered on the blogs. I can’t remember the last time there wasn’t at least one asshole from the other side trolling. You guys are great fans. Thanks for posting!
UltimaRatioRegum - January 3, 2012
Musings from SC
I have always admired the Nebraska program. And I am old enough to have heard the Johnny Rogers touchdown against Oklahome way back when with Coach Osborne coaching, IMO the best coach to take a football field. That having been said, I was really dissapointed in the play of Dennard, an otherwise good DB. All day long he was in contact with Jeffries way past 5 yards downfield. That was a fight waiting to happen. While I blame the officials for letting that get to the point it did, there is absolutely no call to throw a couple of punches at any other player. Borders on thuggery. The play that stands out in my mind as indefensible was the head to head spear on Conner Shaw after he slid. Again, thuggery. Tom Osborne would not have allowed it. I never like Pelini before he hit Lincoln and I hope his stay is brief. The Nebraska program deserves better. Nebraska fans are some of the best around and they deserve better. Just some musings from an old gamecock here in SC.
Gamecock53 - January 4, 2012
the fight
I don’t get why you would try to punch someone with a helmet on. Aren’t you more likely to hurt your hand than your face? Seems dumb to me.
On the hit on Shaw, I thought that was a pretty bang-bang play and shouldn’t have been called. He went low and the guy slid low. Didn’t really leave him anywhere to hit him. At the very least, I don’t think it’s fair to call that thuggery. Just trying to put a hit on the QB while he is out running.
Lake_show - January 4, 2012
agreed
I don’t think the hit on show was bad, yes it was a little late but hey its football. The guy was just trying to make a play. I don’t classify the thrown punch as thuggery…stupid but not thuggery. Theses are two high caliber atheletes competing in what will most likely be thier last college game, emotions got high etc. The officiating was sub par. I think there were several calls against both teams that were ridiculous to say the least. I believe that Nebraska could have won this game had they been a little more focused (I won’t say should have that would be disloyal to my team). They certainly had the talent but the execution was off for them. One last thing the “Hail Mary” pass! It is not a desperation move for us! Look at Alshon for the past two years, he is 6’04 and can jump a mile high. Typically the defenders are shorter than him so we throw a jump ball to him quite a bit, cause he can make the play! The only time it does not work is when our quarterback can’t make the throw and yes that happened alot earlier this season. My point is, it was a well executed play that showed be appreciated for what it is.
Chucktowngamecock - January 4, 2012
Well...
From what I understand, you’re not supposed to hit a QB who slides regardless, unless its REAL close. There was plenty of time for the N defender to not make that hit. That’s why the flag was called. I don’t think it was intentional by the player, but he just has to play smarter than that. I don’t think I’d call it ‘thuggary’, that’s for sure.
Charlestowne - January 4, 2012
You must Login with your SB Nation account and be a member of Corn Nation to post a comment.