"The Catch" against Missouri...

[DJR313]

I'm curious...I'm not really sure why Cmb is being called a Michigan fan, a Big Ten Whiner or even flamebait for that matter. It seems to me that during this whole argument, he's been the consistent one (as well as several others with him) and Husker Big Guy is the name-calling, back-peddling, Husker blinded, crazy person who talks big on the internet but never goes outside of his parents basement (he's 42 btw).

 

I don't think you are the only one that has made this observation. I'm not sure about the parents basement part though.

[Husker Big Guy]

Well, I'll tell you this. I think a whole lot less of Matt Davison at this moment than I did an hour ago.

[zoogs]

Why? Because it was luck? Sorry if I missed something there.

[Licensed to Ill]

To say Shevin Wiggins intentionally kicked the ball into the air is possibly one of the most ludacris things I've ever heard

 

Btw, since this will probably end up in the Woodshed, someone wanna hook me up with the PW?

[papersun87]

Did he mean to kick the ball? Probably. Did he have any idea Davison was there? Probably not.

 

So check it out, I'm Shevin Wiggins and I just dropped a pass that hit me right in the chest. I could either give the ball a kick and hope one of our guys grabs it . . . or it just falls incomplete. Worst case scenario a Mizzou guy gets it . . . and we still lose, anyway.

 

*Gives the ball a kick*

 

It was DEFINITELY luck that Davison was there to catch the ball. But I bet Wiggins kicked it on purpose.

[DJR313]

I think the Big Guy is near implosion.

[Licensed to Ill]

Papersun, you are a dumbass if you truly think he meant to kick that ball

[zoogs]

Let's not resort to name-calling. If he saw the ball, he probably would try desperately to tip it up somehow and keep it alive, because that's what you're supposed to do - right? What, was he just going to let it drop? Maybe it wasn't intentional to try to kick it, but he probably made as good a play for the ball as he could; either that or he didn't see it at all, which would make it *very* lucky.

 

Either way, does it matter?

[huskernumerouno]

Good Lord we need the season to start if this is the best we can come up with to discuss. Ball floats in air after wiggens cant catch it, it bounces of his foot or leg intentional or not WTFC, Davison makes a hell of a play, our offense gets a OT touch Down, Our defense stops them. cold, we win.

 

Next mystery please this one has been solved for years!!!!!!!!!

[gamecocks]

Wouldn't it of made more sense for Wiggins to let the ball hit the ground before time ran out and let us run another play. Because that is what I was hoping for when I saw the ball still hanging in the air, was for it to hurry up and hit the ground before time ran out.

[Drowning_in_the_Sea_of_Red]

Wouldn't it of made more sense for Wiggins to let the ball hit the ground before time ran out and let us run another play. Because that is what I was hoping for when I saw the ball still hanging in the air, was for it to hurry up and hit the ground before time ran out.

Wasn't it fourth down? Or was it third down?

 

 

Edit: Upon further review...it was third down (or at least that's what Musberger says on the video)

I can see what you are saying, but it's hard to think about those things while its happening...for the players I mean.

[zoogs]

Not sure how much clock was left, but if it was that close to being in danger of running out on that play, Wiggins would have no way of telling if it was going to run out anyways or not. What if he lets it drop only to find an expired clock? No, I think you have to do everything you can to make that play.

[Sugalean]

A little of both. Good luck that Davidson was in the right spot. I mean who knows how a ball will travel especially after it has hit something. Also great skill on Davidson's part. I mean the ball was that close to hitting the ground. He made a great heads up play there and really ... we seen him make quite a few heads up plays for us during his career.

 

I still think Wiggins kicking the ball was more reaction than intention.

[cmb23]

Knew I could find something....guess this answers if Shevin did it or not. And NU was LUCKY that the play stood.

 

Wiggins Admits It...

 

Web posted November 13, 1997

 

Associated Press

 

LINCOLN, Neb. -- The miracle catch wasn't such a miracle after all.

 

Nebraska's Shevin Wiggins admits he was trying to keep the football in play by kicking it during the Cornhuskers' 45-38 win at Missouri last weekend. Intentionally kicking the ball in such a play is against the rules.

 

After the ball was deflected, teammate Matt Davison dived for the 12yard catch as time expired Saturday to make it 38-38 and force overtime.

 

``I looked down and saw the Missouri guy about to catch it and I just wanted to keep it alive,'' Wiggins said.

 

Missouri cannot appeal because the game is over.

 

``Coach (Larry) Smith said that he just wanted to put this thing to bed, so I don't think he'll have anything new to say,'' Missouri spokesman Bob Brendel said Wednesday.

 

Wiggins was Nebraska quarterback Scott Frost's primary receiver on the play, but the ball was knocked free and Missouri's Harold Piersey was poised for an interception before Wiggins kicked the ball.

 

``I thought I had a chance to pull it in myself, since it hadn't hit the ground yet,'' Wiggins said. ``I ended up kicking it as I was trying to pull it in. I was rolling over and I thought I hit it too hard. I didn't know Matt was there, but I was pretty sure there wasn't any time left. The first time I knew he caught it was when I saw Lance Brown chasing him down the field.''

 

Frank Gaines, technical adviser to Big 12 football officials, said it's against the rules for a receiver to intentionally strike a loose ball with the knee, lower leg or foot.

 

The penalty is 15 yards from the original spot of the ball and loss of down. Had the officials ruled that Wiggins' kick was intentional, the Cornhuskers would have faced fourth down play from the 27-yard line -- if time remained.

 

However, Gaines said an incidental or accidental kick is not a penalty. He said when the play is questionable -- as was the case for Wiggins' kick -- the ruling is always that such a kick is accidental.

 

``It would have been extremely unusual to rule otherwise on that play,'' Gaines said.

 

Also, despite talk the ball may have touched the ground before Davison's diving catch inches above the ground, he said Tuesday the ball never bounced.

 

``No doubt I caught it before it hit the ground,'' Davison said.

 

Frost ran for a 12-yard TD in overtime to lift Nebraska to victory.

[cmb23]

Another one...Davidson considers it a magic catch and that he must have had GOD looking down on him. Maybe it was one of those football gods I was dreaming up.

 

SI - Flea Kicker...

 

Can you top that?

 

Nebraska, Missouri to revisit miraculous '97 game

Posted: Tuesday October 20, 1998 06:15 PM

 

LINCOLN, Nebraska (AP) -- It's been called the "Flea Kicker" and "The Catch." But in the Nebraska playbook, it's "99 Double Slant."

 

And now it's back.

 

With No. 7 Nebraska (6-1, 2-1 Big 12) meeting No. 19 Missouri (5-1, 3-0) on Saturday, the bizarre finish to last year's game between the schools is back on television sportscasts and a big topic around town.

 

The players involved in the play still can't seem to escape it. Matt Davison, the freshman receiver who made the magic catch, said Tuesday it changed his life.

 

"I don't know why you guys want to talk to me this week," he joked as he settled in for interviews with reporters.

 

Now a sophomore, Davison had 10 catches for a school-record 167 yards in Nebraska's 28-21 loss at Texas A&M two weeks ago. But that's not why people stop him on campus or in supermarkets.

 

They want to talk about what happened November 8 in Columbia, Missouri.

 

"I don't mind people asking me about it," Davison said. "I just try to stay humble. I know I didn't do anything great. I was just the guy who was at the right place at the right time."

 

What a finish it was.

 

Top-ranked Nebraska trailed 38-31 when quarterback Scott Frost led the Huskers 67 yards in the final 1:02. With seven seconds to play at Missouri's 12, Frost looked left, then threw right.

 

His target, Shevin Wiggins, bobbled the football near the goal line as two Missouri defenders converged on him. As Wiggins tumbled, the ball bounced out of his reach and the clock expired.

 

But before it fell, Wiggins kicked the ball about two yards over his head and into the end zone. Davison came from nowhere to scoop the ball, saying later that he could feel the turf below his fingers.

 

"It all happened so fast," Davison recalled. "I can't remember every detail. I guess I had God looking over me at that point. ... I knew I caught it. I just wanted to make sure the official knew I caught it."

 

Kris Brown kicked the extra point to force overtime. Three plays later, Frost scored on a 6-yard run. Four plays after that, Mike Rucker sacked Missouri quarterback Corby Jones on fourth down.

 

Game over. Nebraska 45, Missouri 38.

 

While the narrow win dropped Nebraska from No. 1 to No. 3 in the rankings, it preserved what would become a 13-0 season and kept the Huskers contending for a national title they eventually shared with 12-0 Michigan.

 

"It has just set in to me over time that it [the catch] was bigger than I thought at the time," Davison said.

 

What about Wiggins? Unlike Davison, Wiggins has rarely has discussed the play since it happened. Wiggins, now a senior, still maintains he didn't kick the ball intentionally, which could have resulted in a 15-yard penalty if officials had interpreted the play that way.

 

"I think it was just a natural reaction, just something that happened," My body was going backward. My foot was coming up," Wiggins said.

 

Missouri coach Larry Smith agreed.

 

"I don't think he knew what he did, to be honest," Smith said earlier this week. "That's a bunch of baloney [to say] he did it on purpose."

 

Told that Wiggins claims he didn't kick the ball on purpose, Davison laughed.

 

"He said he didn't kick it?" Davison said with a grin. "Well, it was an accident, really. An accidental kick."