I think too much stock is being put into the fumble. It's not like we packed it in after that play. Our defense got a 3 and out after that turnover and got our offense and their obviously gassed defense right back on the field.
Bo, Tim Beck, Martinez, etc are saying that fumble was the turning point:
Nebraska offensive coordinator Tim Beck said the Huskers couldn’t seem to overcome the contested fumble.
“It ate at us,” Beck said. “It sat in our craw. We weren’t able to get past it.”
LINK
I have a problem with this. We knew going into this game that this ref crew wasn't predisposed toward calling the game evenly, so why would we let a call like that affect us so much?
This team has a terrible time with the emotions of the game. They flourish under duress at times (comebacks against Wiscy, Penn State, Michigan State and Northwestern), but at other times one bad thing happens (the Kenny Bell drop/INT in the CCG, or this fumble) and they just pack it in.
That's the most disheartening thing about 2012 Nebraska for me - despite a very talented offense and some real athletes on defense, they were far too emotionally fragile to overcome adversity. We got dealt a crappy hand by the Big Ten the last two years. In an effort to boost up interest in the conference, they lined us up against the best of the best, all of them, for two years straight. We were the cash cow, the National Brand that would drive eyeballs to TV sets, and they exploited that with a schedule unlike anything any other team has played these past two years. No other team in the country has had to play every single one of the top eight opponents in their conference like Nebraska. And we were equal to the challenge in talent - but emotionally, we couldn't get over the fact that we got "screwed" by the B1G, and we had several collapses in the past two seasons.
Yeah, it was a rough ride, as rough as Delaney could make it. But you gotta suck it up, take your lumps and keep going. These guys clearly didn't. They were exhausted by their run this year and they flat out folded in the Big Ten Championship game. They went toe-to-toe against Georgia, a top-five team, and had the lead late in the second half... but then this fumble happens and it becomes a hurdle too great to overcome.
We'll get back to playing championship football when we don't let things like this defeat us. When we stop losing games in our hearts before the scoreboard goes against us. We actually have the talent. We have the coaches, even if they're still wet behind the ears a little. We have everything we need to vie for a top-ten finish next year, a conference championship, a BCS bowl win, and some national awards. That's all sitting right there at the stadium, right now. The one thing we don't have is that killer instinct necessary to put it all together.
Martinez seems to be trying to get them there. His comments about the SEC shows he's clearly not afraid of the best they have to offer. We need about 20 more guys buying in to the attitude Martinez is showing and maybe we'll start going somewhere.
