6B
SPORTS
THE UNIVERSITY DABY KANSAN
WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 27, 2006
COMMENTARY
Bad calls, blowouts spark this week's commentary
This week marks the first week of Big 12 Conference play. Each Wednesday, The University Daily Kansan will run columns from schools around the Big 12 analyzing the performance of their teams. To respond to the columnists, please send your letters to Kansan sports editor Michael Phillips at mphillips@kansan.com. This week The Kansan is also running a column from Eugene, Ore., responding to the officiating controversy that happened two weeks ago during the Oklahoma vs. Oregon game.
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Nebraska's devastating 56-0 victory over Troy unexpected, encouraging, a little misleading
Troy's Tavares Williams (15) tries to arm-tackle Nebraska Kenny Wilson (27) in the second half of the Saturday game in Lincoln, Neb. Nebraska beat Navy, 56-0.
Nebraska shut out Troy on Saturday 56-0. This Saturday the Jayhawks travel to Lincoln to face the Cornhuskers. Nebraska junior Evan Bland wrote this column for Monday's Daily Nebraskan:
Who would have thought?
I don't know any prognosticators or optimists who thought the fourth installment of Nebraska vs. Troy would go like this.
Saturday's Troy contest was supposed to be one of those "danger games," the ones that usually come right before or after a matchup against a more hyped opponent.
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"This bunch of guys is different," Blakeen said of the Huskers. "Their style of play and their physical approach really gave us more than we could handle."
The comment could apply to Nebraska on either side of the ball Aside from the more glitzy offensive numbers, the Blackshirts were downright nasty. Troy quarterback Omar Haugabook should be getting regular visits from NU senior Adam Carriker and sophomore Ndamukong Suh in his nightmares
Either case could be made just by listening to Troy Coach Larry Blakenev after the game.
The Cornhuskers lost at No. 2 Southern California 28-10 one week ago, but they obviously didn't have much jet lag against these Trojans, grabbing nearly 600 yards of total offense and doing what they wanted on the ground and in the air.
The offensive balance was back, as NU ran for 316 yards and threw for 281 more. (It's interesting to note, though, Nebraska's play-calling this weekend was nearly identical to the USC game, with exactly a two-one ratio in favor of rushing the football.)
"Troy's a good team and we really put it to them tonight," NU senior quarterback Zac Taylor said. "I think we did a good job setting the tone."
Either way, Saturday's win won't put the USC loss out of the collective minds of Husker Nation, but, if nothing else, it has at least had a reassuring effect that the sky is indeed not falling.
No doubt they did. And in a danger game against an increasingly respectable Troy team.
The Trojans were 1-2, but that record came with an asterisk because it included a narrow 24-17 loss at then-No. 9 Florida State and another loss at Georgia Tech, a game the Trojans were in going into the fourth quarter.
T he d e f n s e n s and special teams also got into the act in a major way for NU, forcing three turn-
Now it's time for Big 12 Conference play, and the Huskers can prepare for Kansas with the motivation of a North Division title and, I daresay, a little revenge on their minds.
after taking as many hits as he did from NU's defensive line Saturday
But 56-0? That's probably not a score most Husker fans would have predicted a week or two ago, not because of Nebraska's loss last week but based on how Troy had played in its earlier games.
encouraging or a little misleading.
overs and limiting the Trojans to just 140 yards of total offense.
Heck, the only shock of the second half was having a foil-wrapped hot dog carom on the sixth-floor window of the press box. (Is it me, or are those wiener launchers getting more powerful?)
So what does this game say about the Huskers? Depending on your point of view, it's either extremely
On the other hand, the unruly final score might be giving Nebraska a little too much credit.
It's true, Nebraska represented Troy's third straight road game and that probably had something to do with the Trojans' complete ineffectiveness in all three phases of the game. A team can only take so many road games against superior talent and still expect to be competitive.
"I think the biggest thing is it was the third big game we had played," Blakeney said. "We had been probably just worn and a little bit tired."
--from a b low n call and phantom recovery of a critical onside kick -late in the
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And, after Saturday's shutout, a whole lot of momentum.
I know I didn't see that coming.
Bad call will haunt Ducks and Sooners throughout season
Last week the Kansan ran a column from the University of Oklahoma about how the school was cheated out of a victory in its game against Oregon. This column was written by Luke Andrews for Monday's Oregon Daily Emerald.
Unless you entered a celebratory coma or have been hiding under a rock since Oregon's dramatic 34-33 come-from-behind victory last week against Oklahoma, you are well aware of the controversy that stemmed
game that led to the Ducks' game- winning touchdown.
You likely know all this because the national media refuse to let it go.
A week later, that small sequence of events, which accounted for roughly six seconds of a 60-minute game, lingers and has led to more national media coverage than Oregon has received in a very long time. It's unfortunate that it takes a controversy to finally thrust the Ducks into the national spotlight.
The call was mentioned in numerous televised games last Saturday, Even the Associated Press story on Oklahoma's overwhelming win against Middle Tennessee led with, "Oklahoma left nothing to the replay officials this time."
But it got worse than that.
And it's had quite the ripple effect as well. The officiating crew was suspended one game, the Pac-10's replay system, ironically, was reviewed, and an apology was issued to the Sooners by the conference after Oklahoma University President David Boren deemed the call an "outrageous injustice" in a letter. Boren also demanded that the game be wiped away from the record books, which calls into question his priorities as the president of a major university with more than 19,000 students.
Replay official Gordon Riese, a Portland native, reviewed the play in the booth but was apparently not offered the same angles available to those watching on television. His film was inconclusive, and he made the wrong call. Riese quickly became the victim of a death threat and his family fears for his health following what is now being termed as "Replawnate."
The unfortunate aspect about the entire fiasco is that it overshadowed a truly great game played by both teams.
For Oregon, it'll be a lingering asterisk no matter how they finish. Just imagine what the lead-in will be for Saturday's game on ABC against Arizona State. This is not something that's going to subside any time soon, and that's troubling because the Ducks still posted 34 points against a very good Sooners defense.
No matter your opinions -- Oregon fans argue that it wasn't the officials who let the Ducks score two late touchdowns and Oklahoma fans, well, it's obvious what they think -- that single call will define both team's seasons.
Opposing fans will now have more ammunition than the redundant slams on Oregon's uniforms. A friend of mine received a message after the Oklahoma game from a Washington State student she knows, saying, "dinner is on me when you come to Pullman, since you spent all your money paying off the referees."
Similarly for Oklahoma, this is one game that everyone will talk about whether the Sooners go 11-1 (you can imagine the firestorm there) or 5-7, considering they should have been 3-0 with a big road victory, and you just never know after that.
While Oregon will certainly take the "win", it's one that is truly going to haunt this team and the Sooners for the entire season.
And that's unfortunate considering the play was out of the control of both teams.