A Day of Surprises

Even mighty Nebraska needs some luck now and then.

Scott Frost completed a collegiate version of the Immaculate Reception with no time remaining, then ran for his fourth touchdown in overtime as the top-ranked Cornhuskers avoided an upset with a 45-38 victory over Missouri on Saturday.

“We had some bad breaks and some good breaks,” Coach Tom Osborne said. “Our good breaks came at the end. I thought we were pretty well done for.”

Missouri Coach Larry Smith thought so too.

“It’s just one stinking play,” Smith said. “That’s what it boils down to.”

Nebraska (9-0, 6-0 Big 12) stayed unbeaten and ran its conference winning streak to 37 in a row thanks to a bouncing ball that ended up in the hands of Matt Davison for a 12-yard touchdown pass that forced the overtime.

On a play that began with seven seconds to go, Frost’s pass was knocked out of Shevin Wiggins’ grasp. Missouri’s Harold Piersey appeared ready to intercept the ball, but Wiggins inadvertently kicked it into the air on his way down and Davison made a diving grab just before it hit the turf.

“It was just floating in the air like a punt--end over end,” Davison said. “It just seemed like forever for the ball to get there.”

The catch shocked Missouri fans who had stormed the field and appeared ready to tear down the goal posts before they realized what had happened. Fans already removed one set of goal posts after a victory over Texas in October.

The original Immaculate Reception gave the Pittsburgh Steelers a 13-7 playoff victory over the Oakland Raiders in 1972.

“Franco Harris?” Davison said. “Yeah, I’ve seen that play on ESPN a few times.”

Nebraska still had more work to do after Davison’s catch. But Frost made it pay off three plays into overtime, running 12 yards on the option for the winner. Missouri had two incomplete passes and a three-yard gain before Corby Jones was sacked on fourth down as Nebraska ran its winning streak against the Tigers to 19.

Jones said Missouri might have been mentally drained before its overtime series.

“Maybe, maybe,” Jones said. “We still went out believing in ourselves that we’d get it done, I just made one bad decision.”

Missouri (6-4, 4-3) had been 3-0 in overtime the last two seasons, including a 51-50 triple-overtime victory over Oklahoma State earlier this year.

Frost had 141 yards in 23 carries and was 11 for 24 for 175 yards. He was five for 10 for 67 yards in the final 1:02 to produce the tying score.

“It was unbelievable,” Frost said. “We’re down seven points with 50 seconds left--there’s a lot of doubt.”

Jones passed for three touchdowns, including a 15-yarder to Eddie Brooks that put Missouri ahead, 38-31, with 4:39 to play, and ran for a touchdown. The Tigers led most of the way, heady territory for a team that only last week ensured that a string of 13 consecutive losing seasons would come to an end.

The game drew a sellout crowd of 66,846, the school’s largest since 1984 and about 5,000 above capacity at Faurot Field. Some of the spillover fans sat in temporary bleachers in the north end zone, and most of the crowd was standing at the finish.

Keeping mistakes to a minimum helped Missouri nearly pull the upset. The Tigers had one turnover, an interception by Joe Walker on a tipped pass by Jones in the fourth quarter, and only two penalties for 10 yards.

Jones was 12 for 20 for 233 yards and ran for 60 yards in 21 carries.

Nebraska’s Ahman Green had 189 yards in 30 carries and a touchdown, his eighth consecutive 100-yard game. The Cornhuskers were hurt by two turnovers and blew a third scoring opportunity at the end of the half when Frost dropped a snap while in shotgun formation and the clock ran out.

Nebraska, which outscored its previous four opponents by an average score of 50-5, scored touchdowns on its first three possessions, including runs of 16 and one yards by Frost. Green had 129 yards and a touchdown at the break against a Missouri defense that wasn’t expected to offer much resistance.

What wasn’t expected was Missouri scoring on four of its six possessions for a 24-21 halftime lead. Brock Olivo scored on a one-yard run and a 34-yard pass--the longest catch of his career--and Jones threw two touchdown passes.

“We never did stop them very well,” Osborne said. “It was one of those days when somebody was going to win at the end and we’re very fortunate to have won it.”