Quote:
Originally Posted by JRutledge
There was a kickoff by Nebraska in the 4th Quarter and the Texas player was receiving the kick and fell to the ground where he was laying on his side/stomach. The ball touched the Texas returner as he was on the ground but never controlled the ball. The replay clearly showed that there was no control but the official called the play dead, assuming there was possession. This all took place at the 1 yard line and Texas with a very slim lead was put on the 1 yard line. If I recall correctly, Texas did not score and gave Nebraska a short field on the next drive (I believe there was a turnover, but I do not remember) and Nebraska kicked a field goal to take the lead with only a minute or so. This call was huge in the game and affected the strategy of the game at that time and probably made Texas more conservative against a very good defense. And if Texas would have lost, that call would have been highlighted much more than it has been. I am not one who believes one missed called affects the outcome unless it is the very last play and even then there are a lot of things going on, but this was a bad missed call. Basically this was an inadvertent whistle not ruled as such. The game may have never come down to what it did without this situation.
Peace
|
With all the excitement at the end of the game I completely forgot about this play. I was surprised (OK...maybe not) the announcers didn't say anything about. They just commented the runner was down but they failed to notice he dropped the ball before his knee hit the ground. The official who ruled him down was shielded from the ball by the runner's back so he probably had no idea he did not have possession.