Texas Tech holds off NU in overtime
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BY BRIAN CHRISTOPHERSON / Lincoln Journal Star
Lubbock, Texas — Nebraska packed plenty on its visit to Buddy Holly’s town: a fighter’s punch, some resolve, a ball-control offense, even a trick play.
Notice a white flag isn’t present on that list.
Oddsmakers and pundits predicted a blowout Saturday afternoon. They instead got a thriller, followed by Husker heartache and an ending not befitting the previous three hours of steady play displayed by Nebraska quarterback Joe Ganz.
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It took overtime to determine a winner, an interception thrown by Ganz bringing finality to a 37-31 Texas Tech win that left reporters asking coaches about moral victories — you know, if you believe in that sort of thing.
Bo Pelini doesn’t.
“We’re not about moral victories at Nebraska,” Pelini said. “We never will be as long as I’m head coach. If we start being about moral victories you need to get a new coach.”
A week after receiving a five-touchdown whipping, there was no satisfaction in coming close against the nation’s seventh-ranked team, especially not for NU’s senior quarterback.
Ganz had done everything right — completing 36 of 43 passes for 349 yards — only to have it go wrong on the game’s final play.
“That just happened to be the play that ended the game,” said Husker offensive line coach Barney Cotton. “Joe played a great game. Joe’s a winner. I wouldn’t trade Joe Ganz for anybody’s quarterback anywhere.”
Ganz was being tackled as he tried to throw the ball away on a second-and-10 from the Tech 25-yard line. Because of the hit, there wasn’t enough on the pass to make it go out of bounds. It went instead to Tech’s Jamar Wall. He bobbled it, then caught it, and 53,000 people watching at Jones At&T Stadium erupted. And that was that.
“A terrible way to lose the game,” Ganz said.
Said Pelini: “That play did not lose the football game. There were a lot of plays out there for us to win the game. We would not have been in that situation without Joe Ganz.”
Tech came in favored by as many as three touchdowns, but knew afterward it had been put through the wringer by a Husker team that refused to share the football, holding it for an incredible 40 minutes and 12 seconds. The Huskers ran 80 plays. Tech ran 48. Nebraska had 29 first downs. Tech had 16.
Tech had more points.
“Some stats guy could really have a heyday with it,” Tech coach Mike Leach said. “Who cares about time of possession?”
Leach called the game “wild and hard-fought.”
The first 55 minutes were good enough viewing, but the last five and overtime featured enough twists and turns to make for good talk radio.
With the game tied at 24 and Tech facing a fourth-and-5 from its 36 with barely more than four minutes remaining, the Red Raiders lined up to go for it. Then they actually snapped the ball and ended up with a 47-yard pass from Graham Harrell to Michael Crabtree.
Now, whether the Red Raiders really wanted to go for it or not? That’s tough to say.
“That was tough, because I think they thought our defensive tackle jumped,” Husker defensive coordinator Carl Pelini said. “I think they had a no play called. They thought our D-tackle jumped and the center snapped the ball, but the official didn’t throw the flag. Everyone kind of stopped. It’s just one of those freak things that kind of happens in sports.”
Even Leach said: “Well, we were hoping he was offside. I was thinking he was.”
No matter the intent, the result was monumental. Though Husker cornerback Armando Murillo finally made the tackle on Crabtree, NU secondary coach Marvin Sanders said it wasn’t Murillo’s fault. The senior was supposed to have help from a safety. The help wasn’t there. Tech put the ball in the end zone to go up 31-24 with 2:21 left.
Game over? Hardly.
The Huskers marched right back down the field, a 79-yard drive on which Joe Ganz was 6 of-6, overcoming a sack to lead his team into the end zone.
The touchdown came on a 17-yard pass to Todd Peterson. There were 29 seconds left. Go for two and the lead? Pelini said he thought about it, but chose to kick the extra point.
“I liked the way our offense was playing,” Pelini said. “I thought that had (Tech) scored in overtime, I thought we would score.”
Nebraska’s offense had been clicking all second half, rallying from a 14-point deficit after bogging down on some drives in the first half — once because of a couple of holding penalties and another time because of a failed fourth-and-1 attempt.
Tech got the ball to start overtime and wasted no time getting busy. Harrell — who threw for just 284 yards, modest by his standards, given his lack of time on the field — hit Baron Batch on a screen pass. Huskers were there but no one made the tackle. Batch took it down the sideline 24 yards to the 1. Tech scored three plays later to make it 37-31.
But the Red Raiders opened the door for an upset on the extra-point attempt. Tech kicker Donnie Carona, who had made his last PAT only after bouncing it in off the left upright, kicked it low and had it blocked.
All Nebraska needed was a touchdown and the point-after kick to snap a 10-game losing streak against top-10 teams
The Huskers went for the jugular right away, but Ganz just overshot Nate Swift on a pass inside the 10.
The next play was the game-ender, the interception.
“I was surprised,” said Wall, the man who crushed the Huskers’ upset hopes.
“I thought he was going to try to throw it over me, and I was getting ready to jump, and he threw it right into my chest. I said, ‘OK.’”
Reach Brian Christopherson at bchristopherson@journalstar.com or 473-7439.
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