BRIAN CHRISTOPHERSON / Lincoln Journal Star | Posted: Wednesday, November 24, 2004 6:00 pm
All the craziness seemed to start when a ghost forced a fumble in 1988.
J.J. Flannigan is still haunted by that ghost.
It arrived in Lincoln in the second quarter of a scoreless football game between Nebraska and Colorado.
With the ball at the Huskers' 43-yard line, Flannigan got the pigskin and found a crease. Not one red shirt stood in the CU running back's path to the end zone.
The only thing that could stop Flannigan was if he tripped over a yard line, or if he just inexplicably dropped the football.
What happened next? Flannigan inexplicably dropped the ball.
"I saw the end zone and I guess I relaxed at the wrong time," Flannigan said after the game.
CU recovered his fumble at the 19, but never scored. Not once all day. Nebraska won 7-0.
Little did anyone know, but that moment was just one of many memorable, yet head-scratching events that would consume the NU-CU series for the next 15 years.
"It's become one of the best rivalries in college football," said Nebraska senior linebacker Chad Sievers.
Added veteran Buffs' radio broadcaster Larry Zimmer: "Everyone used to get on (former CU head coach Bill) McCartney for marking the Nebraska game in red. What he was really doing was paying a tribute to these people. He always said, Yeah, we made it a rivalry. We want our program to be just like theirs.'"
But rivalries aren't just created out of want.
Out of snowballs? Certainly.
Three years after Flannigan's fumble, and a year after Colorado defeated Nebraska 27-12 thanks to four Eric Bieniemy fourth-quarter touchdowns on a slip 'n slide field on a soggy day in Lincoln, there was the Snowball Game.
Tied at 19 with four seconds remaining, Nebraska kicker Byron Bennett lined up for a 40-yard game-winning field goal at CU's Folsom Field. But before he could kick it, he was iced, figuratively and literally.
Fans threw snowballs onto the field as he waited through three timeouts. When play resumed, Bennett had his kick blocked by CU's Greg Thomas amid a barrage of snowballs.
After the game, then-CU nose tackle Jeff Brunner said: "This was just like kissing your sister on a cold, cold night. No satisfaction in that."
It was a weird night, certainly. And three years later, in 1994, there was the weird game plan.
Colorado strutted into Lincoln undefeated and ranked No. 2. It was the best Buffs football team Zimmer said he's ever seen. But Nebraska was also undefeated and ranked No. 3.
"(Colorado) had a terrible game plan," Zimmer said. "I'll never forget talking to our offensive coordinator before the game. He told me, We're going into Lincoln and going to do what they always did to us: Run it down their throats.'"
No such thing happened. The Buffs lost 24-7. It was the third of nine straight losses to Nebraska, many of them coming in heartbreaking fashion.
"There was a whole string of good ones, but the Buffs just couldn't win it," Zimmer said. "One of the years (Rick) Neuheisel was coaching, Colorado had a pass up the sidelines to Phil Savoy that would have given us a first down, but they called offensive pass interference. They were down three points. I've seen the replay a million times and I still don't see the penalty."
The year of that game was 1997, Nebraska's last national championship team. The Huskers stopped the Buffs after the pass-interference penalty and won 27-24, but only after watching CU start a 14-point rally with 3:16 left.
A year later, Nebraska beat Colorado 16-14 without scoring an offensive touchdown.
And a year after that, the Huskers blew a 27-3 fourth-quarter lead in a strange game. Tied at 27, NU running back Dan Alexander fumbled an option pitch that hit him right in the hands deep in Colorado territory.
CU drove down the field after the fumble, only to miss a 32-yard field goal that would have won the game. Instead, the Huskers won 33-30 in overtime.
Zimmer said it was the toughest loss to digest for him, labeling it even tougher than the loss a year later in 2000.
In that game, Colorado took a 32-31 lead with 47 seconds to go after a successful two-point conversion call by coach Gary Barnett.
"Gary showed some (guts) going for the two points, then he screwed it up on the kickoff," Zimmer said.
Barnett had his team squib kick. Nebraska got good field position and drove the field for a game-winning field goal by Josh Brown as time expired.
It seemed as if Colorado was snake-bitten. Then arrived 2001.
Nebraska came to Boulder undefeated and ranked No. 1 in the country, a sure bet to win a 10th straight game against the Buffs.
Zimmer was on a Nebraska radio show a few days before the game touting Colorado's chances behind running back Chris Brown and tight end Daniel Graham.
The radio host said, "It sounds like you really think Colorado has a chance to win."
Zimmer replied: "Not a chance to win. They're going to win."
Colorado won 62-36 in one of the most shocking games Nebraska fans had ever seen. The Husker defense surrendered 42 points before halftime.
"It was just like a snowball effect where we couldn't stop them. Unfortunately, it seems like it's easier to remember those types of games," Sievers said. "You remember those for the rest of your life."
Said Zimmer: "I had never seen such a confident football team as Colorado had that week. To a man, there was no doubt in their mind they were going to win. Honestly, I have to say, though it wasn't the best-played game, that 62-36 one is my favorite."
The Buffs had the score of that game inscribed on their Big 12 championship rings after the season.
"That was probably somewhat disrespectful," Sievers said. "Let's just say, I don't think Nebraska would have ever done that.'"
Two years later, another strange game took place between the two teams in Boulder. The week before the game, it was reported that then-Nebraska head coach Frank Solich would be fired.
"It was something that drove guys crazy, and got them ready to play," Nebraska running back Cory Ross said.
The Huskers won 31-22 for their coach. A day later, Solich was fired.
And now another year arrives, and seemingly another freak show. On Monday, CU athletic director Dick Tharp announced his resignation after a tumultuous offseason for the university.
The Colorado program was put under intense national scrutiny. Barnett was even temporarily suspended from his duties after the program was alleged to have used sex and alcohol to lure recruits.
"I don't know that Nebraska has ever had any recruiting problems. Everything in the program has always seemed to be on the up-and-up there," Zimmer said. "I can't say the same for what's going on at CU right now."
But in spite of all the turmoil, Colorado could still win the Big 12 North this year while also handing Nebraska its first losing season in 43 years.
So there is reason to tune in today, though no ghosts or snowballs are promised.
"ABC television has loved this game," Zimmer said. "There was a time when Kansas State was doing a lot better than CU, and they kept thinking they should have the Friday-after-Thanksgiving television game rather than Colorado.
"I talked to (ABC announcer) Keith Jackson about it one time and he told me, Why would we change it? Every year, you're giving us a great game.'"
Reach Brian Christopherson at 473-7438 or bchristopherson@journalstar.com.