I've been watching Nebraska for almost 17 years

[JTrain]

(Merge this with other threads if necessary. Obviously a lot of traffic right now and I can't tell which threads are doubles, triples, etc.)

 

I only remember one game where I blamed a loss on the refs. That was FSU in the infamous Orange Bowl loss, and I was 10 years old. I generally can't stand people who blame losses on the refs because of the inherent biases that cloud our visions as passionate fans. And of the dozens of threads throughout this season regarding Beebe and the Big 12 powers being against us, I pretty much stayed out. I didn't buy into a second of it.

 

But this game was absolutely infuriating to watch. And even after a good half hour of cooling down, I cannot get myself to believe that this game was called fairly. Absolutely no way. I know I'm preaching to the choir mostly, but here are the things that stood out to me:

 

First and foremost, the fact that A&M did not get called holding at least 4-5 different occasions is reprehensible. If you can honestly watch this film as an objective observer and conclude that Texas A&M did not clearly hold on one single play, then you either don't know the rulebook or your name is Dan Beebe. I don't feel like touching this recording for a few days, but there were 3-4 very blatant holds and another 7-8 that could very easily have been called.

 

Next, the Eric Martin fouls. Maybe I missed it, but I don't recall ESPN showing a replay on either of these. Does anyone else find that really strange? There is plenty of time to show replays between a kickoff and the offense's first play, and even crappy network coverage almost always shows replays when a foul takes place off camera.

 

The Osborne penalty... well, there's no need for any discussion. Horrendously bad call and even the announcers admitted it.

 

Although you can't be certain of anything that goes on behind the scenes, this is the first time I can honestly say an all-out conspiracy wouldn't shock me. And if not that, then it's almost certain that there is some bias showing through against Nebraska for leaving the conference and almost sending it toppling down.

 

Either way I say for the first time in a long, long time: the refs cost are to blame for this loss.

 

Now let's get the f*** out of this s****y conference...

[Morrison]

I could not agree more.

 

My heart tells me that this is something we could/should have overcome to win - as a competitor you always want to believe that you control your own destiny.

 

Unfortunately, I simply cannot deny what I saw right in front of my eyes tonight. I honestly wish I could, but I simply cannot. There is no way around it - the fix was in.

 

That being said, I was incredibly proud of the grit the team showed tonight. There was a ton of adversity stacked against us, the refs themselves notwithstanding. When you consider Martinez's gimp ankle, our 3rd string QB's admirable (if inadequate) effort, a rowdy crowd, and a tenacious opponent, I thought the Huskers really fought back hard in that 4th Quarter.

 

That drive from our own five might be one of my favorite Husker drives ever, and Burkhead's run to start it off was a thing off beauty - as if he was channeling the frustration of the entire husker nation.

 

In any event, if we take care of business we still have a great shot of getting the last laugh at this piss-poor conference. This might be just the extra motivation the team needed to get over the hump.

 

[irafreak]

I could not agree more.

 

My heart tells me that this is something we could/should have overcome to win - as a competitor you always want to believe that you control your own destiny.

 

Unfortunately, I simply cannot deny what I saw right in front of my eyes tonight. I honestly wish I could, but I simply cannot. There is no way around it - the fix was in.

 

That being said, I was incredibly proud of the grit the team showed tonight. There was a ton of adversity stacked against us, the refs themselves notwithstanding. When you consider Martinez's gimp ankle, our 3rd string QB's admirable (if inadequate) effort, a rowdy crowd, and a tenacious opponent, I thought the Huskers really fought back hard in that 4th Quarter.

 

That drive from our own five might be one of my favorite Husker drives ever, and Burkhead's run to start it off was a thing off beauty - as if he was channeling the frustration of the entire husker nation.

 

In any event, if we take care of business we still have a great shot of getting the last laugh at this piss-poor conference. This might be just the extra motivation the team needed to get over the hump.

 

My thoughts exactly. I was yelling expletives at the big12 after that run!

[irafreak]

I could not agree more.

 

My heart tells me that this is something we could/should have overcome to win - as a competitor you always want to believe that you control your own destiny.

 

Unfortunately, I simply cannot deny what I saw right in front of my eyes tonight. I honestly wish I could, but I simply cannot. There is no way around it - the fix was in.

 

That being said, I was incredibly proud of the grit the team showed tonight. There was a ton of adversity stacked against us, the refs themselves notwithstanding. When you consider Martinez's gimp ankle, our 3rd string QB's admirable (if inadequate) effort, a rowdy crowd, and a tenacious opponent, I thought the Huskers really fought back hard in that 4th Quarter.

 

That drive from our own five might be one of my favorite Husker drives ever, and Burkhead's run to start it off was a thing off beauty - as if he was channeling the frustration of the entire husker nation.

 

In any event, if we take care of business we still have a great shot of getting the last laugh at this piss-poor conference. This might be just the extra motivation the team needed to get over the hump.

 

My thoughts exactly. I was yelling expletives at the big12 after that run!

[HuskerfaninOkieland]

I hope like f'ing hell the players and coaches are fired up next week against Colorado and literally obliterates them into dust. Then roll in Jerrys World and f'ing destroy our opponents. And as Pelini is giving his obligatory talk to the sideline reporter, he looks squarely into the camera and says "f#*k you Big 12! I've got your trophy bitch!"

[niko]

Even the call at the end of the Texas game last year wasn't this infuriating. I can see how reasonable minds could disagree with the :01 call. I think they got it wrong, but at least reasonable minds could disagree on it. Tonight, though, the game was simply thrown from start to finish. Sure, had our offense executed and put up a few points, we wouldn't have been in the position to let the refs decide it. But still, it was a close game and had it been called fairly we would have won 10-6.