The Oklahoma-Nebraska game Saturday was nothing short of expectation. Oklahoma, coming in rated No. 1 in the Bowl Championship Series standings, made their first trip to Lincoln since 1997, when they were embarrassed 69-7. The Sooners have not won in Lincoln since 1987 and have not beaten the Cornhuskers in consecutive years since 1986-87. Nebraska, on the other hand, came in ranked No. 2 in the BCS poll, riding a 19-game home winning streak and boasting one of the nation’s leading Heisman Trophy candidates, Eric Crouch. Something had to give. The game was more or less a tale of two quarterbacks. Crouch, the seasoned veteran and Heisman candidate for Nebraska, against Jason White, who was making his second career start as the Sooners’ signal caller. By the second quarter, it turned into a tale of three quarterbacks. Enter Nate Hybl. Five minutes into the second quarter, Jason White injured his knee while throwing to half back Quentin Griffin on the run. Most would say, “OU is in trouble now,” but as Lee Corso would say, “Not so fast, my friend!”
White’s backup for this game was Hybl, the player that initially won the starting position for this season after a heated battle with White. After taking beatings at the hands of Kansas State and Texas and running some lackluster series against Kansas, Hybl was pulled for White. Hybl entered the game after White went down and calmly led the Sooners to the first touchdown of the game. Nebraska tied the score on the ensuing possession and later took the lead after a Chris Brown field goal. Not much later, a play that will haunt the Sooner nation at least until Dec. 1, all but defined this clash of titans.
Deep in Cornhusker territory, Oklahoma decided to run a trick play-a double reverse pass-using Hybl as the final receiver. The play was executed perfectly, or at least it seemed that way on television. What you really didn’t see was Hybl getting knocked down after he pitched the ball and started off on his route. Hybl regained his footing, only to slip on the turf again when the ball arrived, resulting in an incomplete pass. If Hybl had caught the ball instead, the score at the time would have been 14-10 Oklahoma, but the Sooners had to settle for a field goal and a 10-10 tie at the break.
Holding a 13-10 lead late in the game, Nebraska was faced with a third-and-short in their own territory that they did not convert. A piece of yellow linen changed that. A 5-yard facemask penalty on the Sooners not only gave the Huskers a key first down, but set up what will be known simply as “The Play” in Lincoln. Nebraska head coach and offensive coordinator Frank Solich called the exact same play that Oklahoma called late in the first half, but to the other side of the field. Nebraska ran the double-reverse pass to perfection. Nebraska back Thunder Collins pitched it to Mike Stuntz who found Crouch for a 63-yard touchdown, giving the Huskers an insurmountable 20-10 lead, and their first victory over the Sooners since 1997.
The loss snapped Oklahoma’s nation-leading 20-game win streak, extended Nebraska’s home win streak to 20 and more than likely vaulted the Huskers into the No. 1 spot in the BCS poll.
The beautiful part of this game was the fact that, no matter who won, both teams will more than likely meet again in Dallas on Dec. 1 for the Big 12 Championship, but that’s not all. With UCLA and Virginia Tech losing Saturday, the BCS is once again wide open. Before this weekend, Oklahoma had the top spot ahead of Nebraska, UCLA, Miami and Virginia Tech respectively. Now, Nebraska will more than likely have the top spot, but who will be No. 2? UCLA trailed Oklahoma by 5.28 points and Nebraska by 1.94 points. Miami, on the other hand, trailed Oklahoma by 8.95. So it is no guarantee that even Miami, who is one of only three teams whose record is unblemished, will make it to No. 2. The only guarantee is this: the BCS is now officially a mess.