Posted: Thursday, December 21, 2006 6:00 pm
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Playing from behind after the second play of Saturday’s Big 12 Conference Game, Nebraska showed a champion’s heart.
The reason the Huskers aren’t on top of the league today and are on the short end of a 21-7 defeat is because they ran up against an Oklahoma team that had the eyes of a champion.
In fact, when it mattered most during the second half in frigid Arrowhead Stadium, you would’ve thought the Sooners had eyes in the backs of their now-championship heads.
The final statistics show Nebraska had 366 yards of offense to OU’s 307. Those numbers don’t bear out what separated the two teams.
Talk all you want about Nebraska leaving the Sooners needing just 2 yards to go for their first touchdown in the opening minutes. The Huskers also got a turnover gift that led to their only score.
The minute difference came down to this:
The Huskers had five offensive possessions in the final 30 minutes, and took all five into Sooner territory only to be left with no points.
Oklahoma, meanwhile, got past midfield just once in the second half but turned it into seven points.
“We knew it would be a tough game coming in here, but we squandered too many opportunities, offensively, to get it done,” Nebraska coach Bill Callahan said. “Our defense played well enough.”
If only it didn’t have to outplay Oklahoma’s.
The Sooners’ only Big 12 loss, to rival Texas, came thanks to four turnovers on their final five possessions.
Saturday, they did a turnaround on Nebraska after driving 99 yards to make it 21-7.
On that march, senior quarterback Paul Thompson was 6-for-8 passing for 88 yards, including a 35-yard completion to tight end Jermaine Gresham on a third-and-10 play from the OU 1. Gresham, by the way, had caught just seven passes all season prior to that one.
“Drive of the year,” OU coach Bob Stoops said. “Without question.”
Allow me to differ, because I’m not so sure his defense didn’t produce the drives of the year on Nebraska’s next three possessions.
The first ended when linebacker Demarrio Pleasant blasted Hunter Teafatiller to separate the ball from the NU tight end on a fourth-and-1 play from the Oklahoma 16.
Undaunted, the Huskers came back on their next series and got a 31-yard gain on a screen pass to I-back Marlon Lucky. Quarterback Zac Taylor then saw wideout Nate Swift behind the OU secondary — or so it seemed. But nickel back Nic Harris recovered with amazing speed and made a fully extended dive in the end zone to leave Swift empty-handed while making the interception.
Strong safety Reggie Smith then finished off the Huskers by picking off Taylor, who had thrown just four interceptions in his first 12 games, for the third time Saturday.
“They did a great job disguising their coverages,” said Taylor, the Big 12 Offensive Player of the Year and prime reason the Huskers advanced to their first league championship in seven years. “That was probably the thing that gave me the most trouble. They’re a tough, tough group.”
Who was Stoops to argue after the Sooners won their fourth Big 12 crown under his guidance?
“They were awesome, (played) maybe one of our best defensive games,” he said. “We gave up a couple big plays — compliments to Nebraska, they’re a good team, they’re going to do that. But we came up with some big stops. Interceptions, pressure was there, rushing the ball, outside of a few plays we settled in and played it well.”
To the champion comes a Fiesta Bowl game, likely against unbeaten Boise State.
The Huskers, who get a nice consolation trip to the Cotton Bowl, get to keep dreaming of Big 12 championships. No doubt, Saturday night they saw the Sooners in their sleep.
Reach Curt McKeever at 473-7441 or cmckeever@journalstar.com.