Sunday, November 04, 2012
The Chomeback Children
My other team in life, the Nebraska Cornhuskers, are/is putting together a pretty amaza-crazy season. After last year's all-time school-record comeback win against Ohio State, we've had three crazy comeback wins this season. It had been something like 4 out of 850 all-time wins that involved double-digit fourth-quarter comebacks, and now we've done it twice in our last two road games.
Last night it didn't seem possible. With 10 minutes left, we were down 10, and Taylor Martinez throws an interception that's returned 96 yards for a TD. Game over, correct? At that moment I had to leave to go to a movie, and as I was DVRing the rest of the game, I saw that we were at least spared a 17-point deficit as a penalty brought the return back. But still, other team has ball, up 10, 10 minutes left. Not looking good. So I got home and put the game on, thinking, What are the odds we could have another amazing comeback? You don't get too many of those. (Especially when your team is specifically known as one who historically can't win once they fall too far behind.) But it happened.
We got the ball back with 9 minutes left, went down and scored, got a three and out on D...but this time our drive stalled, again making it seem like the game was over, as Michigan State took over with 3 minutes left, up by 3. They even got another first down! But we still were able to get the ball back since we had 3 timeouts. We got it at our own 20 with 1:20 to play. And somehow we went 80 yards, scoring a TD with 6 seconds left when just an FG would have sent it to OT. We were aided by a pass interference call, but we were screwed on THREE other ones when we were called for gently caressing their receivers with our collective left hand.
So we could be headed to Indy for the Big Ten championship if we can win our last three. I actually had tickets to that game last year, and when Nebraska didn't make it, I had to sell them--but the price dropped to single digits, so I didn't even bother. But I am left with three spiffy laminated tickets showing a non-existent trophy with Joe Paterno's name on it. Anyway, maybe I'll try again this year.
I also love how these comebacks have been on national TV, so everybody has seen these games, along with the fact that we travel well. It's just like the Red Sox--opposing stadiums see an influx of red. And since we're playing in these new places having just joined a new conference, it's even crazier. Have I mentioned how much I love being in the Big Ten? Two years ago, our main rival was a team that's two states away from the Pacific Ocean. Now, it's a team that's one state away from the Atlantic Ocean. A huge shift east, aka toward me. And with the Big Ten Network, any game that's not on ABC or ESPN is still on TV. I used to see a few games a year, now I see them all.
So there you go. I always think about talking about every game each fall on this blog, but I don't end up following through, so there was a bunch for you all in one breath.
Go Big proverbial Red.
Last night it didn't seem possible. With 10 minutes left, we were down 10, and Taylor Martinez throws an interception that's returned 96 yards for a TD. Game over, correct? At that moment I had to leave to go to a movie, and as I was DVRing the rest of the game, I saw that we were at least spared a 17-point deficit as a penalty brought the return back. But still, other team has ball, up 10, 10 minutes left. Not looking good. So I got home and put the game on, thinking, What are the odds we could have another amazing comeback? You don't get too many of those. (Especially when your team is specifically known as one who historically can't win once they fall too far behind.) But it happened.
We got the ball back with 9 minutes left, went down and scored, got a three and out on D...but this time our drive stalled, again making it seem like the game was over, as Michigan State took over with 3 minutes left, up by 3. They even got another first down! But we still were able to get the ball back since we had 3 timeouts. We got it at our own 20 with 1:20 to play. And somehow we went 80 yards, scoring a TD with 6 seconds left when just an FG would have sent it to OT. We were aided by a pass interference call, but we were screwed on THREE other ones when we were called for gently caressing their receivers with our collective left hand.
So we could be headed to Indy for the Big Ten championship if we can win our last three. I actually had tickets to that game last year, and when Nebraska didn't make it, I had to sell them--but the price dropped to single digits, so I didn't even bother. But I am left with three spiffy laminated tickets showing a non-existent trophy with Joe Paterno's name on it. Anyway, maybe I'll try again this year.
I also love how these comebacks have been on national TV, so everybody has seen these games, along with the fact that we travel well. It's just like the Red Sox--opposing stadiums see an influx of red. And since we're playing in these new places having just joined a new conference, it's even crazier. Have I mentioned how much I love being in the Big Ten? Two years ago, our main rival was a team that's two states away from the Pacific Ocean. Now, it's a team that's one state away from the Atlantic Ocean. A huge shift east, aka toward me. And with the Big Ten Network, any game that's not on ABC or ESPN is still on TV. I used to see a few games a year, now I see them all.
So there you go. I always think about talking about every game each fall on this blog, but I don't end up following through, so there was a bunch for you all in one breath.
Go Big proverbial Red.
Post a Comment
If you're "anonymous," please leave a name, even if it's a fake one, for differentiation purposes.
If you're having trouble commenting, try signing in to whatever account you're using first, then come back here once you're signed in.