Bo: "You ever seen anything like that?"

[epocSoN]

There is no conspiracy people, the effort it would take to pull something off like that and have it go unnoticed is just ridiculous. Why would all those involve risk their jobs for seemingly no reward? That being said, there is an obvious problem with poor officiated games against Nebraska. I don't understand it, but I don't think its a conspiracy.

[The Dude]

There is no conspiracy people, the effort it would take to pull something off like that and have it go unnoticed is just ridiculous. Why would all those involve risk their jobs for seemingly no reward? That being said, there is an obvious problem with poor officiated games against Nebraska. I don't understand it, but I don't think its a conspiracy.

I'd hardly say it's gone unnoticed...

[Hujan]

There is no conspiracy people, the effort it would take to pull something off like that and have it go unnoticed is just ridiculous. Why would all those involve risk their jobs for seemingly no reward? That being said, there is an obvious problem with poor officiated games against Nebraska. I don't understand it, but I don't think its a conspiracy.

 

 

 

I think they are working hard to cover their tracks. For example, the phantom personal fouls were called against Eric Martin, who---thanks to ABC/ESPN's announcers and the suspension Dan Beebe handed down---is now regarded as a headhunter. So even though people never saw it, they hear "Eric Martin" and go, "Oh yeah, that guy who got suspended. Makes sense."

 

Same deal with Courtney Osborne. All the hoopla over the Gabbert hit means that, among the media and the Big 12 public, he's got a reputation as a headhunter too, particularly when coming at QBs. So they see that he was flagged for a hit on the QB and go, "Oh yeah, the guy who hit Gabbert up high. Makes sense."

 

Then there's the fact that the phantom personal fouls are thrown on kickoffs. Everyone is focused on the ball and the return man and, unless there's a return, there are no cameras to show what actually happened. If you are going to saddle a team with a few extra terrible calls, kickoffs are a great place to start.

 

But the easiest way to influence a game without getting caught is to not throw flags on Nebraska's opponent. If the flags don't fall, maybe it's because Nebraska's opponent played penalty-free football. And if they didn't play penalty-free football, maybe it's just because the ref didn't see the penalty.

 

I could go on.

[Stuntz 2 Crouch]

Stay focused on the big picture. Win the North, then the Big-12. Destroy whoever the Bowl opponent turns out to be. Waive goodbye to all of the TEX-ASS schools and history will read that NEBRASKA was the the final Big-12 champion. Take the current Big-10 confernce by storm next year and watch with smiles as the TEX-ASS schools fight for whatever conference title they'll be canabalizing eachother for.

 

Living well is the best revenge.....

[Morrison]

This is a good start, but we need more. The question is how much do Nebraska opponents get flagged when they play Nebraska versus their averages against all other opponents? That will really tell the tale.

 

As I've said, the refs are rarely going to do something blatant to influence a game. It's much harder to detect small penalties that, when combined together, subtlety influence the outcome. Calling holding on Nebraska is an example. But the easiest way to do it is to refrain from penalizing the other team. That's how these guys are getting it down.

 

I'm willing to bet that our opponents have season-lows in penalties when they play us.

 

Did the research, its not as damning as you would think: Sorry for the formatting, don't know how to fix it

 

Team: Penalties vs. NU - Yards Season Avg - Yards

Kansas St. 4-30 5.18 - 41.3

Texas 4-53 6.45 - 58.1

Oklahoma St. 8-84 6.09 - 63.6

Missouri 7-40 5.91 - 52.9

Iowa St. 3-40 6.45 - 51.3

Kansas 1-9 6.36 - 60.5

Texas A&M 2-10 8.7 - 68.8

 

As you can see, things start to get weird after Missouri. I'm not sure what to make of this - three games doesn't seem to be a big enough sample size to draw a conclusion. On the other hand, put into the context of when we became likely Big 12 North Champs (i.e. after we beat Missouri) things do look a little bit murkier.

 

Furthermore, raw stats don't take into account the sheer number of calls that are just plain weird (Gabbert forward-progress, Rex Burkhead's exorcist impersonation, the Eric Martin Suspension)or simple no-calls (i.e holding).

 

So anyways, for those who are curious that's how this breaks down.

[Hercules]

There is no conspiracy people, the effort it would take to pull something off like that and have it go unnoticed is just ridiculous. Why would all those involve risk their jobs for seemingly no reward? That being said, there is an obvious problem with poor officiated games against Nebraska. I don't understand it, but I don't think its a conspiracy.

 

Just because it's a conspiracy doesn't mean it's complex.

 

The officials fixing some calls against Nebraska is easy compared to institutions paying students tens of thousands of dollars to play football for them... And we can see pretty clearly that THAT'S going on...

[Hujan]

This is a good start, but we need more. The question is how much do Nebraska opponents get flagged when they play Nebraska versus their averages against all other opponents? That will really tell the tale.

 

As I've said, the refs are rarely going to do something blatant to influence a game. It's much harder to detect small penalties that, when combined together, subtlety influence the outcome. Calling holding on Nebraska is an example. But the easiest way to do it is to refrain from penalizing the other team. That's how these guys are getting it down.

 

I'm willing to bet that our opponents have season-lows in penalties when they play us.

 

Did the research, its not as damning as you would think: Sorry for the formatting, don't know how to fix it

 

Team: Penalties vs. NU - Yards Season Avg - Yards

Kansas St. 4-30 5.18 - 41.3

Texas 4-53 6.45 - 58.1

Oklahoma St. 8-84 6.09 - 63.6

Missouri 7-40 5.91 - 52.9

Iowa St. 3-40 6.45 - 51.3

Kansas 1-9 6.36 - 60.5

Texas A&M 2-10 8.7 - 68.8

 

As you can see, things start to get weird after Missouri. I'm not sure what to make of this - three games doesn't seem to be a big enough sample size to draw a conclusion. On the other hand, put into the context of when we became likely Big 12 North Champs (i.e. after we beat Missouri) things do look a little bit murkier.

 

Furthermore, raw stats don't take into account the sheer number of calls that are just plain weird (Gabbert forward-progress, Rex Burkhead's exorcist impersonation, the Eric Martin Suspension)or simple no-calls (i.e holding).

 

So anyways, for those who are curious that's how this breaks down.

 

Thanks for putting that together. I really appreciate it. One question: Does the season average exclude each team's game with Nebraska? Otherwise, it dilutes the effect of bias against NU.

 

In any event, I think you hit the nail on the head with the Mizzou game. After that, things do get weird. I will go to the grave saying it's not just the calls against NU; it's the no calls on the other team.

 

I mean, our last two opponents have been flagged for a total of 19 yards, when, according to averages, they should have had a combined 130 yards? To quote the black cop in Ace Ventura, "Something's not stirring the Kool-Aid."

[schuhbdoo]

Look it was poorly reffed, seemed one-sided, and I especially hated a great defensive game ending on a drive kept alive by an atrocious, inexcusable call. But it was no more poorly reffed than the 2006 game in Kyle field where NU got ridiculous calls in the 4th to pull out a win against us. It was no worse reffed than our last game (Baylor) where we had 4 TDs in a row called back for phantom or nit-picky fouls. It was no worse reffed than our game before that where we pulled out the OU win despite the continual hose job from the refs. Big 12 reffing sucks. Period. It is just one of the many reasons I hope we leave for the SEC as soon as we get another chance and am disappointed that we didn't leave this last offseason.

 

But if you think there was some conspiracy involving last night's game I'd say that's pretty silly. 2/3rds of NU's penalties were dead-ball penalties due to lack of focus or discipline. Your head coach going apesh** halfway through the first quarter over any call or non-call that doesn't go his way (when there were plenty non-calls that did) is a recipe for disaster and doesn't help.

 

What is it about sixteen penalties vs. two penalties that doesn't seem like a conspiracy? Are you really going to sit there and tell us that A&M played a near-flawless game? No holding calls. No pass interference. No personal fouls. Nothing. Yet Nebraska had them in spades.

 

You will get zero sympathy for an argument like that here. We watched the game. We saw the plays. We saw what wasn't called.

 

Favre- Do you know that NU opponents have been penalized just 6 times in 3 games. NU was penalized 10 more time than that in just this game. That is one game. I have been setting the stage that it is going to be really hard for the Big 12 to let NU win the North or win the North and the Big 12 Title. Colorado already took care of their collaspe. A subtle personal foul here, a holding call there, a official review not reversed and wall aahhhhhh. You have a 9 to 6 game that gets decided in the last 3 minutes of play. I could taste it, when I saw Ben Cotton get flagged for a personal foul after he recovered the fumble, I knew something was up.

 

I wasn't even upset after the game. I have coached kids before in rec. sports, when the refs take the game away, you just have to understand it and calmly move on.

I really think the AD needs to go on record. He has some experience with coaching. A public comment like, "With all my years of coaching I have never seen refs take a game away from kids like that. If the Big 12 doesn't want us to win the Big 12, come out and say it and we will forfeit our remaining games and move to the Big 10."

[huzkerbob]

[Morrison]

Hujan,

 

I included the Nebraska game in those stats, I don't think it skews the numbers terribly over 11 games (plus I'm too lazy to go back and re-calculate).

 

Does anyone else think it's weird that we seemingly got the most help against the two best teams we've played?

[VA Husker Fan]

The Martin suspension seems like an easy one. It was done through the league office, and we don't know the process, and we don't know if it was overt or subliminal bias, but to get singled out for that hit was ridiculous.

 

It's tougher to see how to get refs to call a game against Nebraska. I can't see how they would hold a grudge against Nebraska for leaving. The league office might, but would they really suggest to the refs to slant the game, and would any self-respecting ref put up with this? Chances are just too high an honest ref--and I believe that nearly all of them are--would take this public. I suppose the head ref could be in quiet cahoots with the league, and he probably has a lot of sway in how the other officials call the game. All he has to say is "Pelini bitches a lot about his guys getting held, but I've looked at film and don't see it", and that plants the seed. I could believe he overruled the ref that called the PI on A&M and he would also be the one to call the hit on Osborne, right? He could do it, but would he? And why?

 

Or maybe they really do have something against Bo, and subliminally won't call a holding penalty because of how loudly he screams.

 

It's still tough for me to believe a conspiracy, but last night's game really has me thinking how it could be.

[schuhbdoo]

There is no conspiracy people, the effort it would take to pull something off like that and have it go unnoticed is just ridiculous. Why would all those involve risk their jobs for seemingly no reward? That being said, there is an obvious problem with poor officiated games against Nebraska. I don't understand it, but I don't think its a conspiracy.

I'd hardly say it's gone unnoticed...

 

It is not hard to pull off. When the local media starts writing about it, it's kind of in everyones faces. The USA pulling off 9/11 is hard to pull off. A conversation with the head officials like, "we really don't want NU to win the Big 12 this year". (and a wink) "I think a team like NU that plays with aggressiveness could get a few personal fouls and no one would bat an eye." That head official has an off the record conversation with each one of the head officials of each game.

[suh_fan93]

[3rd and long]

If we beat Colorado, can you imagine what the championship game will be like. Scary to even think about.

[HUSKERCR]

The Martin suspension seems like an easy one. It was done through the league office, and we don't know the process, and we don't know if it was overt or subliminal bias, but to get singled out for that hit was ridiculous.

 

It's tougher to see how to get refs to call a game against Nebraska. I can't see how they would hold a grudge against Nebraska for leaving. The league office might, but would they really suggest to the refs to slant the game, and would any self-respecting ref put up with this? Chances are just too high an honest ref--and I believe that nearly all of them are--would take this public. I suppose the head ref could be in quiet cahoots with the league, and he probably has a lot of sway in how the other officials call the game. All he has to say is "Pelini bitches a lot about his guys getting held, but I've looked at film and don't see it", and that plants the seed. I could believe he overruled the ref that called the PI on A&M and he would also be the one to call the hit on Osborne, right? He could do it, but would he? And why?

 

Or maybe they really do have something against Bo, and subliminally won't call a holding penalty because of how loudly he screams.

 

It's still tough for me to believe a conspiracy, but last night's game really has me thinking how it could be.

 

"I can't see how they (the officials) would hold a grudge against Nebraska for leaving."

 

Really?

If the Conference had folded, or folds in the future due to the defections, what happens to their nice cushy

Conference paid officiating jobs?