2005 Nov 25 - Nebraska vs Colorado

Join Tierre Green back there, Lucky at a 57-yard return against Kansas. Buffs lost in Iowa State. That's why this game has so much meaning. That was back on November 12th, 13 days ago. K-State defeated by Nebraska by two in the last game for the Huskers. The big leg of Crosby. It's high and about halfway back in the end zone, and Lucky will decide to take a knee.

So Nebraska comes out with the quarterback who is a junior college transfer. I'm Zack Taylor from Norman High School in Norman, Oklahoma, and I hold the Nebraska single-season passing record. Grew up big fan of the Sooners. Dad a coach there. It's come on over to Nebraska after his, uh, junior college stop at Butler Community College, and for Bill Callahan in this West Coast offense, has set a record with 294. As he was handpicked by Bill Callahan to run this offense. Swift, Grant, Mony, the receivers in the slot. First throw is toy. It's through his hands and incomplete. With a second and 10 coming up. Ideal day, temperature in the 50s, very negligible wind. So, uh, this should not be any factor at all today of the weather in this afternoon's game. Tim Taylor hit in the last game, the concussion seems to have bounced back just fine with the weak plus off. Well, everybody's been talking about Harrison Beck, the true freshman who came in and was the hero coming in, gave up his red shirt to do it. B. Callahan says, "I have no regrets, but Taylor is ready to go." Play action. Space to throw. Good coverage by the Buffs, incomplete. We'll have third down coming up. Lorenzo Sims and J.J. Billingsley over there defensively for CU. Sim, this Colorado defense is almost impossible to run on, so it will be important for Nebraska to execute the passing game here today. Tell the offense the way it's designed is predicated on balance, and Callahan's gotten a pretty good run-pass balance this year. They're 49% on the ground, 51% pass. Four receivers out of the gun. Two passes, two incompletions. Third and 10 from the 20. Get the four-man rush. Time for Taylor. Not anymore. Brought down at a sack, a loss of seven as the pressure comes on. Senior Day from Brian Iwu, one of the captains of the CU. Mike, I'm surprised a little bit because they come in with Cory Ross. They want him to be the focal point. They want to establish the run so they can get to the pass. He's just sitting back there way too long. The pressure comes both sides, and it breaks down in coverage, and they get the sack. So Sam Cook comes on to kick. Stefon Robinson back to return. Hey, if there's no threat of that run, Colorado's just going to lay its ears back and come hard. That's playing games up front. Set up a return here at altitude. Kick, kick, kicking it away. A very nice kick goes out of bounds right about the 30. They're going to mark it at the 30-yard line. A 52-yard boot. Three and out for the final time as a Buff. Number 14 takes the field. Joel Clatt, Pomona High School, Arvada, Colorado, playing my last game here at the University of Colorado, and I currently own 35 school records. Those of you here in Colorado know the story. 23 years old, the baseball career with San Diego, stuck in A-ball, wasn't going to get out, so he got out, walked on here at Colorado, and has put together four very impressive years to pass some, uh, big names in the passing charts. First down, first run. Hugh Charles breaks free to the 24-yard line. Daniel Bullock had the angle, pushed him out of bounds, but the gain is 45. That's what Nebraska didn't do. Start with a run. Watch the hole, that zone blocking, and then look at this running lane. He's got one guy to beat now. Watch what he does to that guy. Overruns the play, doesn't break down. He sees that he has no momentum, he takes it outside. Big gainer for Hugh Charles. Great start for Colorado. Hugh Charles could have a big day today because this defense, although it started number one against the run the first four games, the last several games has given up big chunks. Eight up Courtney Grixby. Now the quick tow on the edge to Charles, be tackled at the 17. That's still a pickup of about six or seven on first down. Daniel Bullock, who bumped him out of bounds on the 45-yard run, makes the tackle here. Nebraska brings in Andrew Shanley, a defensive back, extra DB coming in here now. They script the first 15 plays, Mike, but that all changes when they get down in the red zone because they've got an order that they go through down in the red zone plays that work. Everything changes schematically, and so this is now a different script than they started with.

Second and three. Second straight throw. Clatt for the end zone, incomplete, intended for his fabulous tight end, Clen Stein. It was J. Moore on the coverage. He's the prototypical tight end, isn't he? Clen Stein, 6'6", 245, senior, runs like a wide receiver, tough body, soft hands, and Joe Clatt likes him a lot. Look at Joel's numbers at this season in the red zone. He's only thrown two red zone interceptions. So Gary Barnett's quarterback has really made good decisions down here, and this is important for Joel right here. He's coming off a so-so game. Their last game, he threw two interceptions, and that's very unlike him. No, we need a couple for the first down. He stumbles on the way out, sets himself, now tries to run, and it's going to be stopped shy of the first down. Cory McKuen made a very nice play. The middle backer saw the opening, tried to get there, recovers, and forces the field goal unit on. Gary Barnett did not hesitate with the decision. Fourth down and short. He thought he had a lane here. He stumbled out, got his foot caught on the center. Thought he had enough to get to the first, but it's good. Close down by Nebraska. Best kicker in the country, Mason Crosby, Junior, out of Texas, from 33 yards. Easy. Just so easy. Has that huge leg as everyone here in state knows. Good from 33. So Crosby makes his 20th field goal of the year, and just like that, 3-0 Colorado. And credit those points, that 45-yard opening play run for Hugh Charles and the Buffs. That's a little lob wedge for Crosby, and he's had six beyond 50 yards, and he's hit five of those. One of the strongest legs in college football, as you said, but you said so easy, and yet his leg is so strong, and he just splits the sticks. He's got such great confidence. Junior, and they're actually talking about Crosby potentially leaving early to go to the NFL. You don't hear that very often about kickers, but that is the kind of ability that this man has. Well, and, and in my opinion, he should win the Lou Groza Award. He's 13 to 17 from 40 yards or more. That's more attempts from 40 yards plus than 11 of the other 19 semi-finalists, period. Done. So they go five plays, 54 yards, a minute and 39 to get those first points of the game. And for the second time, will Crosby kickoff with Tierre Green and Marlin Lucky back deep. Two received, not a strength of the Huskers this year, only 20 yards per return. Great hang time with these kickoffs, and no return for Lucky. Another touchback for Crosby here on the season. Mike, so far, the story of this ball game has been the, the special teams. And Gary Barnett takes great pride in his special teams. Nebraska, just a little bit better in virtually every category. So this will be fun to watch all day because Barnett challenged his guys. He called him out. He said, "Nebraska's better in every category, special teams-wise, than we are." So far, the Buffalo have the advantage. Get you an update on the Texas-Texas A&M game right after this. First down play for Zack Taylor and Nebraska, trailing 3-0 right out of the gate. Guys, will also update us on a very important game for another team near the top of the BCS, LSU. First down run with Ross. Nothing. And here's John with the update.

New York by JaMarcus Russell. Watch him step forward into the pocket and then throw a strike on the money to Benny Brazil for the touchdown. LSU looking to get to the SEC Championship game with a win. Updating Texas and Texas A&M. Texas is deep in A&M territory. They're on the 12-yard line right now, trying to put this game away with just about two minutes left. Mike, back to you. Okay, John. Buffs hope to see the Longhorns in eight days in Houston if they can win today, get to the Big 12 Championship game. Cory Ross would like to stop that from happening. He gains five to the 25. Senior from Thomas Jefferson High School here in Denver, uh, with his 10 siblings, hoping that this final regular season Big 12 game will be his best. Talked about how emotional this game is for all the seniors. How about Cory Ross, this little running back right here? Grew up in Denver, Colorado. Comes home. Told me yesterday he had to get all kinds of tickets for friends and relatives. He said he was very emotional. He said he's going to have to keep himself calm. He's listed at 5'7", but I got to tell you, standing next to him, he's lucky to be 5'5". Third and five. They need to get to the 30. Look for the first, first down of the game. They complete it on a nice pass and catch to Ross. 15 out of the backfield. Lorenzo Sims made the tackle. 32nd catch for Ross, who has been very dependable this year for the Big Red. Fan talked to the coaches yesterday about Cory Ross. Talked to the Colorado coaches about him, and they said they recruited him. They wanted him here. They liked everything he did. He came to their football camp during the summer. They liked him, offered him a scholarship. He thought that he would have a better chance playing right away and having a better career at Nebraska, but he comes home to Denver. And that's a nice play for the little guy. Ross comes out. Marlin Lucky is the lone back with four wides. A pump and throw by Taylor. Open in the seam. Nate Swift across the 30 to the 28-yard line. First down pickup of 32 before Tyrone Henderson's tackle. His 39th catch of the year. Great patience this time by Taylor. He got good production. They were in a zone coverage. He reads that there's a soft area there and he finds it, and he goes outside to Nate Swift, and Swift is your big play guy. He's your middle receiver there. He knows it's a zone, he stays in the soft area between the corner and the safety, and Swift picks up his 39th reception of the year. Game Tod into block for Marlin Lucky. Got a nice block from his offensive lineman too, across the 20 and to the 18-yard line. Greg Austin, the left guard, came out, opened up that hole for a gain of nine by. And you know how they came out and threw the ball three straight. Colorado just laid its ears back. Well, now they're mixing the pass and the run. Here they come back and they give it to Lucky. Marlon Lucky had a big hole. Good little change-up there because he's 6'1", 210, where Ross is 5'5", 5'6", 190. Freshman out of North Hollywood, California. Back to Lucky to the edge to the 10. First and goal for the Cornhuskers. So a very nice mix of Ross and Lucky moving it down the field. That's a gain of 10, and Nebraska's in business. And they're doing this against a defense that has not allowed a 100-yard rusher this year, number two in the nation against the run. But they get him out on the corner. The contain man was trapped. They had to rely on the cornerback Sims to come in and make the tackle, but the defensive ends Wright and Lucas have to contain and force everything to be back inside. Couple of tight ends, the lone receivers, Terrence, none. Josh Mueller joins J.B. Phillips in the game, and here is Lucky following the blocks to the five. Down of the four, gain of four. As you saw when the score went by a couple of plays ago, Texas had a field goal when they got in close there. So it's a two-score, 11-point lead for the Longhorns, two minutes left in College.

Station. How about that? They came out with the two tight ends, the I-back. It looked like old Nebraska, just power running there by Callahan, as we have seen. We talked about this during the week, Tim. The West Coast offense is not only a passing offense, and continues to change. Back to the two tights, one wide. Dane Todd set to leak away, but I think we had Josh Mueller rock and move a little bit, and the tight end's going to be flagged. Cooper Castleberry, the referee, a false start by number 81 of the offense. The penalty is 5 yards, and it's still second down. J. missed or moved, but again, he comes out with the typical I formation here. You got a tight end here, there he is moving here, your other tight end jumps as well. Here's your I formation, that's old Nebraska. These guys are a little bit too anxious though, trying to get the contain guy. We just talked about. Bring Terrence Nunn, the wide receiver, into the game. Cory Ross comes back at that, uh, running back spot. You hesitate to call it the I-back the way Nebraska had it for years because the offense is just not the same. Out of the gun, here is Taylor throwing to the end zone, incomplete, intended for Nate Swift. That freshman who hauled in the big catch, the 32-yard on this drive. You know Tom Huber is a fifth-year senior, number nine for Colorado, was chasing Swift. Swift had the steps on him. That ball just a little bit overthrown, but he puts a little bit of air under it. Watch the top of your screen here. Good strong move inside, freeze the slot, and there comes Swift. He's, he's open beyond Huber. Just needed a little more under the pass. Timeout here taken by Callahan. They may have had 12 players out there when they started to break the huddle. One player came off. There was certainly confusion. The play clock was running down, so Nebraska will stop it here with 6:46 gone by, first quarter. Colorado leading 3-0. Nebraska trying to add a touchdown or at worst tie the game.

Out of the timeout, we have a third and goal here for Nebraska, trailing 3-0. Todd Peterson, freshman receiver in the game, joining Nunn and Swift as they run out of the gun. Dunn in motion. Taylor throwing to the end zone, and it's incomplete. Good job of coverage by Jared Burl to help knock it away, and we'll have fourth down coming up. Mike, that is great coverage by Burl. Here's a guy that's played more snaps than anybody else on this defense. Look at them battle up top now. Watch you'll look back at the last second for the ball, and the right hand just knocks it away from Swift. Swift has great hands. This ball coming right at you. This time, and it looks like it's going to be complete, but the right hand snips in there and just knocks it away. Very nicely done by Burl. Freshman Jordan Conden has had a good season and adds the field goal to make it 3-3. So both teams, uh, drive down the field after that initial Nebraska three-and-out. Colorado gets a 45-yard run to set up its field goal. Nebraska a 32-yard, uh, pass play to set up its field goal. Well, that's a good-looking drive by Nebraska, a confidence builder for a team that really is still trying to legitimize this offense that Bill Callahan has put in Nebraska. And that time they mixed the run, the pass, very effectively. Almost, almost had the six, they end up with the three. We have our friends in Nebraska and Colorado watching, so obviously so much talk to about the offense with Callahan. Don't you get the sense that the players are starting to get to the level where you can now do a lot of what the offense allows you to do? Yeah, I don't think there's any question about it. You know, he took so much heat for changing the offense. He's now getting some players in. We talked about he handpicked Zack Taylor and Cory Ross, who's one of those all-everything backs, kind of fits into the scheme. He, he lucked out there getting the senior to do that, but it's, it's all starting to kick in now. He was saying yesterday, Mike, that all the criticism, he knows this offense works. He's worked it effectively and efficiently and successfully at every level, and he knows it works. He just has to stick by his guns and kind of infiltrated into the state. Did get him to the Super Bowl, I guess it works, right? Got him to the Super Bowl with the Raiders. Of course, they lost to John Gruden and the Buccaneers. Terry Washington and Stefon Robinson are back deep to receive as Conden is set to kick it off. Returnable from the three with Robinson into the pile, but still going, almost spun on the way out of it, and Robinson's brought down at the 25. 22-yard return. Average field position for the Buffs. Of course, a Colorado win, and they win the North for the fourth time in five years. Texas and Oklahoma have been the teams that have been, been dominating the Big 12, not just in the South, but obviously dominating from a perspective of, uh, contending for national titles. And it's now over as the Longhorns have won by 11. The Buffs will see them next in nine days, or Iowa State. And there are the pretty clear scenarios. Can all be decided here this afternoon. Charles, the tailback, throws complete, gain of eight with Patrick Williams, redshirt freshman out of Dallas, 23rd ball he's caught this season. Courtney Grixby made the tackle. Problem for the Colorado receivers, they're looking back into the sunshine. You can see which way the shadows are going. He looks back into the sunshine to get that pass, especially on deeper passes where the ball's a little bit higher. It's going to be a problem. And there's the sun up behind the press box there that you see, and you can see how it illuminates and comes down. And when the receivers are looking back, they are looking right smack into that sun, and it is tough. Run Charles got the edge. First down. H taken out of bounds. Give him seven to the 41-yard line. That'd be Blake Ticki on the tackle. He's had a Cedar Rapids, former walk-on. So many former walk-on stories in this game. Joel Clatt is well, played one game against Baylor in that first year and burned that initial season, but he's been Barnett's starter here for the last three and done quite a job. With the bunch formation with a couple of tight ends to the near side, and Clatt will throw wide open to Snookie, or rather to Coffenstein, I beg your pardon, and he takes it out of bounds just shy of the 49-yard line. That should be enough for a first down. Mike, one thing that Colorado coaches were telling us, they picked up on tape is the fact that the defensive ends, the open end and the base end for Nebraska, they come hard, they come shallow, and so they want a little misdirection. See how they overrun it there? And what happens is they come back on the little waggle, and I is 49 can't get back out fast enough, and they just dump it over to Coffenstein. These tight ends are so active. You've got to be very careful. Nebraska has become sack happy this year, 42 tops in the country. Run Charles caught behind the line of scrimmage. Very well played by Bou. Brother of Barrett. Loss of five. Sophomore out of Lincoln. It's one of those plays where they just had the right defense called. They were coming with a stunt. Bo Rout, 51, kind of slips through the open area and runs right into Charles, number two, the ball carrier. So 51, Rude with a nice play on the stunt, got into the gap untouched to make the tackle. Just had it, right defense called for the right play. Couple of injuries have forced Rude and Cory McKuen, the two linebackers, to really step up their play a bit earlier than thought. They have been very good. Second and long. Clatt with P.F.R. incomplete. Just a hair late as Bullock was closing in on the coverage on the pass intended for Williams. Lawrence Vickers is going back saying, "Come on, Joel, you got to look my way. I was open over in the flat." We have third and 13. Third and 15 officially coming up. See what Kevin Cosgrove's crew can come up with. Second year is the defensive coordinator here at Nebraska. Welcome to those of you who watch Texas-Texas A&M. You join us. A third and long completion just shy of a first down to Evan Judge, stopped at the 40. It would be a 57-yard field goal from here. And we say that because that's the kind of range the kicker Mason Crosby has. We're in Boulder on the Front Range, a beautiful day with the temperature in the 50s. 3-3 is our score, Colorado and Nebraska. Mike, Tim, Brian, Susie Schuster. Opening drive was a three-and-out for Nebraska. Then we had a Colorado opening drive for field goal, followed by a response from Nebraska getting three. And now Crosby's going to come out and try a 57-yarder. He's made a 60 in his career. He's made a 58 this year at Miami. He's made five from over 50. This one from 57. He's got all the leg in the world, but it's no good. He cleared it by 10. He is an unbelievable kicker. Now five of seven in his attempts over 50 yards, and that's one of those deals, Mike, you hope that those that vote for the Lou Groza Award don't look at his numbers and say, "Okay, well, he missed beyond 50 yards." That now makes it five of seven this year beyond 50 yards because of that miss. But I'm telling you, you see the strength of his leg, he's going to be a great NFL. He's got more over 50 than some conferences do. Seven, and he's made five of them. Almost had this one too. 3-3. We'll get you all caught up on what's been going on and what's on the line here today when you come back to Boulder. College Football on ABC Sports, brought to you by Dodge. You can take life as it comes, or you can grab life by the horns. Dr Pepper. And your local Dr Pepper bottler. Dr Pepper. One taste and you get it. And Drive Insurance from Progressive, available only through an agent or broker. Relax. Just drive. Very easy to relax in this beautiful part of the world, the Front Range of the Rockies here in Boulder. All tied at three after the, uh, missed field goal by Mason Crosby that had the length to be good from the mid to upper 60s. And as Tim pointed out during the commercial, good field position for Zack Taylor and the Huskers. He's brought down, loss of two as he was trying to scramble. James Gary, captain, comes up with the play for the stop. Crestor starting lives. Nate Swift already has a big catch today. Cory Ross is a senior from Denver playing his final Big 12 game back in his hometown, about 40 friends and family on hand. Watch those freshmen on the edges here of the offensive line. Mera and Slawson, they are both young. They have improved, however, they are not experienced. Colorado knows that, try to take advantage of that against this West Coast offense orchestrated by Zack Taylor, junior quarterback out of Norman, Oklahoma. Grew up a fan of the Sooners, his dad coached there. Second and a dozen. His throw is complete about four yards shy of the first down. Connects with J.B. Phillips, the tight end, his 12th grab. So third down. This Colorado defense will try to force a second three-and-out for the Cornhuskers today. At Right Manauna, Gary, the captain on this senior day, making his 32nd and final start. And Maurice Lucas, dies on Washington, and Iwu, Brian is a senior captain out of Houston, big hitter who's overcome a lot in his life. On the corners, Jared Burl, who's helped stop a touchdown, and Lorenzo Sims. But we highlight J.J. Billingsley out of Aurora, a very good defender for Mike Hanowitz, who's come back to where he was the defensive coordinator from '85 to '94, and he's got a defense that's terrific against the run. Taylor, third down throw, complete for the first down to the 43-yard line to Terrence Nunn, sophomore out of Houston. Lorenzo Sims made the tackle after the gain of 10. This is going to be a problem that Colorado has all day. Watch this now. You've got a 6'1" receiver going against a 5'10" corner. This is not the biggest mismatch, but all the way across the board, there's a size differential. This time they just got the quick out, separated. Knew they had to get the distance for the first down. Well-run route. Terrence Nunn with his 36th catch of the year, very, very productive. So now first and 10. Taylor coming out of the gun. Quick toss. They're trying to jump some of these routes, but still completing them. This is going to be a gain of about three or four yards with Todd Peterson, the redshirt freshman. Here's the importance of the game. And you just saw Texas beat Texas A&M, so the Longhorns' next game is in eight days in Houston, Big 12 Championship game. Colorado joins them if the Buffs win here today. If they don't, then it's up to Iowa State. Iowa State must win tomorrow against Kansas, and then the Cyclones will represent the Big 12 North. Gary Barnett trying to win the North for the fourth time in five years. Marlin Lucky stopped only a yard or so. Aara Dawn, really the fourth linebacker that plays. He's a senior, former strong safety, moved up to linebacker, makes the stop for a third down coming up. Watch they pull their guard here. They try to get him out in front on this power play. He comes up, but it's really played nicely. This is a defense that ranks number two in the nation against the run, and Brian Iwu is always in the middle of it. He's 6 feet, 225 pounds, senior, really had that, that hamstring problem a couple weeks ago, had a bad knee, but he's finally healthy again, and this defense is not allowed a 100-yard rusher this year. Cory Ross, her lone running back. Pressure from the Buffs. Taylor in trouble. Hand brought down. It is Dawn coming up with a sack. His second on the year. Third sack of the game for CU. Boy, they were bringing the house too, Mike. They were gambling. Watch this. They're bringing the blitz. They're bringing it straight up, and they know they've outnumbered them, so somebody's going to come free, and it was Dawn who came free. He drew the lucky gap. Bingo. Sack. Sam Cook angled his last kick out of bounds. It was very good. He has pinned the opponent back inside the 20. 28 of his 58 punts coming in, so about half the time, so he's very good directional kicking and getting it to bounce for him. Unable to do it there. Nice diving attempt by Roni, but it goes out of bounds. The kick was 44, the net 24. So the former baseball player, former walk-on, who set the Colorado passing records by a lot, Joel Clatt. He's on the field when you come back at a 3-3 game.

Back in Boulder, all tied at three. Mike, Tim, Brian, Susie Schuster. Hope you're enjoying this day after Thanksgiving. And this has become a day after Thanksgiving tradition for a decade now. Nebraska and in Colorado, of course, Oklahoma, Nebraska on this date for so many years in a fierce rivalry. But this has become a big rivalry on the Nebraska side. It has been since Bill McCartney made it so on the Colorado side. These two border states have become a very significant game. First down run by Byron Ellis for a gain of five. Let's go back to the last series when Nebraska was taken off the field. That'll be our Dodge Defensive Playbook. And on third down and five, Colorado is bringing the house. Here's your guy right here. This is going to be your sack guy. A'Rica Dawn. Go ahead and roll it. He gets the free gap. They overload him. They blitz hard. Dawn comes free. Third down and five. They get the sack, and that all comes from a game plan. They see that that field position, that down and distance, they know what they like to do. Second and five. Throwing the deep ball for Spray. It is incomplete and defended by Zachary Bowman, former junior college player out of Alaska. Let me take you through the Colorado lineup for those of you who watch Texas-Texas A&M on those starting lineups. If Spray and Judge the receivers, Coffenstein, fabulous tight end. You'll see a lot of Quinn Sypniewski as well. As for the guys up front on Senior Day, Gary Moore's a senior, Clint O'Neal's a senior. Those two tackles joined by Fenton Daniels and Daniel Sanders getting the start today at the split guard spot. There's Coffenstein already, uh, in the action today with a catch. He has 26 on the season. Third and five. Ellis is the back. The throw is complete but shy of the first down, gain of four for Coffenstein. So the Nebraska fans, about 5,000 strong, they are heard as the Big Red defense, the Blackshirts, come up with a three-and-out of their own. Good job by 25, T.I., the safety. He knows that Coffenstein's the main guy. Just does a quick button hooking out, and he's right there on his back. Great coverage. Terrific hands by Coffenstein. You know he's going to catch it even if you're hanging on his back. Fabulous kickers. You've already seen the big leg of Crosby, the placekicker. As Courtney Grixby goes back to receive. John Torp set to punt. He's one of the three finalists for the Ray Guy Award, best punter in the land. This is not his best. Tough in the sun. Nice job by Grixby for the 19. That's a hand up by the face. Here comes the flag on a gain of 11 in the return. Let's see if they will call the face mask and if it'll be five or 15. Two mistakes in a row for Colorado. First, Coffenstein doesn't know where the first down marker is and doesn't get enough on his pass reception. Then they come down and get the face mask. It is a 15-yarder as called by Cooper Castleberry. So Nebraska will have its best starting position of the first quarter. Show you why it's a 15 because he hangs on right there, and all of a sudden he's looking out his earhole. Anytime you put a runner in danger like that, they're going to call that 15 if you hang to it. Terry Washington. The Buffs have been penalized a whole bunch. You see that 86.1? That's a lot of yards as it is, but just in individual games, it's just piling up. 17 against Miami, 11 against Texas A&M, 11 against Texas, 10 against Kansas, 11 against Kansas State, 10 against Iowa State. Good teams have to be better than that. No question. And those 10, 10 penalties for 90 yards against Iowa State really were drive killers. Final minute, first quarter. Fourth possession for the Huskers. Two punts and a field goal. Taylor's throw is swooped off the ground and ruled a catch by Terrence Nunn, a gain of just a couple of yards. Tim, while we have a second, let's talk about this West Coast offense. And for the folks nationally who haven't seen the Huskers, give me your feel of where it is in year two. Well, it's not the same West Coast offense that Bill Walsh designed originally, and it, it continues to change all the time. But if you look at these numbers, you'll see that Bill Callahan's offense is starting to take hold now that he starts to get some people in there. I mean, the rushing game has improved, the passing game has improved, he's starting to get his balance. You're starting to get guys with Zack Taylor in there that understand what he's trying to do. Now, is it hitting on all cylinders? Absolutely not, and it's going to take some time. But I'm one of those guys that thinks it will work here if he sticks with it and continues to get the players that can, can play in it. Final play of the quarter is a nice pass to Nunn. Terrence breaks through the tackle. Check that, that's Nate Swift who gets it. A first down to the 37-yard line, pickup of 15 to end the quarter. So a couple of catches here for Swift, who is breaking some of the Irving Fryar receiving records at Nebraska, even though he didn't play the first three games of the year. Nebraska has it in Colorado territory when the second quarter begins. After one, and Boulder, all tied at three. And we're back with more after this message and a word from your ABC station.

And harder to breathe. Is there anyone out there? 'Cause it's getting hard to breathe. Hi, I'm Zack Taylor, quarterback for the Nebraska Cornhuskers, and I just want to wish everybody out there a Happy Thanksgiving. Happy Thanksgiving, everybody. Terrence Nunn, the wide receiver, joining his quarterback Zack Taylor, and all of us at ABC. Glad you're including us in this a great day, Friday after Thanksgiving. And enjoy the football. Nebraska on a drive. Taylor tried the pump and go, was covered. The receiver broke open as Taylor scrambled out and threw it away and out of bounds. Zach was running for his life there. We'll have second and 10 coming up. That breaks his streak. He had five straight completions after throwing into the end zone a couple of times. Pretty good hot streak. And this is a situation where he really had a receiver open for a second. They were in a Cover Two, and he got past the safety. He was wide open, but at that, that time, Zack Taylor now was scrambling right and just threw it away because he lost focus with what he was doing and started seeing his Blackshirts chasing him. We got some, uh, personnel issues with Nebraska bringing France Hardy, the receiver, in and out. Finally got the right personnel for four wides and one back. On second and 10, Taylor, who has broken David Hume's passing yardage record here this year, can run with it, trying to get to the first down. But what a hustle play by Jordan Daon out of Hawaii, the sophomore, first true freshman to start in a while at the linebacker spot for Colorado. You know, Daon, Mike, is like a heat-seeking missile. Just watch 44 now chase him down once he starts to scramble. All right, here goes Taylor. Here comes Daon, 44. And watch the impact. Bam! And just knocks him out of bounds short of the first down. Terrific play by Daon, who's 6 feet, 225 pounds, sophomore. And you talk about lost. Zach was almost lost on that play. You saw that his dad has all those Oklahoma ties. He's from Norman, Oklahoma, and he's going to have to take a timeout here as the play is late in coming in. It was kind of a detox of the system. There were in Oklahoma pictures all over the Taylor house. He and his brother, Press, and was, uh, get that Nebraska red in there and kind of change it up a little bit. And now they are a Cornhusker family, at least as long as Zach is going to be the quarterback. Third and a yard coming up from the Colorado 28 after this Nebraska call timeout.

Beautiful weather day, temperature in the mid-50s, and kickoff, it'll probably around 50 when we're all said and done with most of the stadium going into shadow, at least the west side is right now. Out of the Nebraska call timeout, second one they've used, by the way. We have third and a yard coming up. Game Todd, the fullback, leads the way, and the run by Cody Glenn, the freshman out of Texas, going to get it. When they ran it early on, a big thumper, they called him "Baby Earl" because he grew up 40 miles from Tyler, Texas, the home of the great Earl Campbell. He didn't have that ability just yet, but he's big enough to thump a first down out for the Huskers. Yeah, there's no question about it. They came out in a power formation. He comes in, he's 230 pounds, the bigger back, good change-up, and they had it defended, but he's so big and strong, bounced off of it. His second surge got the first. How about that for a freshman? 230 pounds. He's got three touchdowns. Brings a different style along with Marlin Lucky, a little bit bigger back, and the very short but speedy Cory Ross. This is Lucky coming through there, and he gets a decent first down, gain of about three yards. Second and seven. Brian Iwu made the tackle. Tim, back to Zack Taylor. You know, you showed the numbers, it's just still a shock to your system. For 35 years, we've become used to Nebraska football and the great option. And there they are, 110th in the country in rushing. And Taylor, in one game this year, set a record by throwing it against Iowa State, 55 times. Yeah, and he's still not completely there. 14 touchdowns and 10 interceptions, but he comes in, he was there in time for spring. He went 20 to 27 in the spring game. I mean, he's picking up what they're trying to do. It's a quick-strike offense like that. Nice throw. That's a catch. Play was stopped. Terrence Nunn gets it. We left third and short, and Susie Schuster has more on the junior quarterback from Norman, Oklahoma. Well, Mike and Tim, that time in spring ball has made all the difference. He studied the playbook, the intricacies of the offense. He said, "If talent is equal with Harrison Beck, he said the experience I had junior college will make all the difference." He said, "I knew that Bill Callahan had brought in a so-called Golden Child in Harrison Beck, a kid who played a version of the West Coast offense in high school, but he said the difference is I am used to the speed of the game, and Harrison isn't." And in fact, Harrison did tell me he has been completely overwhelmed with the tempo of the college game. Yeah, and that's big because he handpicked Taylor out of junior college, and Beck is the true freshman out of high school and the future of the program. Third and two. Quick to one. A kick by Ross from Denver, Colorado to the end zone in Boulder. Touchdown, Huskers! The pressure was on. Taylor threw a hot shot, a terrific pair of hands, a little 5'5" guy out of Thomas Jefferson High School in Denver. The 19-yard score puts the Big Red on top. He is their third-leading receiver. Good guy out of the backfield, just kind of slides in like he's going to block, and that was a shot. Hit him in the face, but then he's got the ability to just, after the catch, to find that open seam and explode. Here's the, the guy he's captain of the team. He's only 5'5", but he comes back here at a place where Nebraska's played well. They're 51 and one here in the last seven games in Boulder. Jordan Conden adds the extra point, and Nebraska sees Colorado on the opening drive come down the field, get a field goal. They, uh, stem the tide and come back with a field goal of their own, and then this touchdown drive. Ross's seventh touchdown reception on the season, seventh total touchdown, excuse me, third touchdown reception. It's a 19-yarder, and the Huskers on top by seven.

College Football on ABC Sports, brought to you by Aflac. To find your 2005 Aflac Holiday Duck, visit our website. Ford, built for the road ahead. And Cingular, raising the bar. We're going to do this one again. I don't know if the ball was whistled ready for play before Conden came up and kicked it off, so we will do it again after the touchdown scored by the senior Cory Ross. Ross's touchdown wraps up the eight-play, 54-yard, two-minute, 47-second drive, as that is the drive summary presented by Drive Insurance from Progressive. Taylor was good on that drive, only one incompletion, couple of third-down conversions. I'm trying to figure out between the officials what exactly happened. The, the 25-second play clock does run on kickoffs. The ball has to be whistled in and ready for play on the play. The ball will be re-kicked, and it was not whistled ready, so we'll try it again. Stefon Robinson and Terry Washington out of St. Louis will go back and do it again. The freshman Conden has shared the kickoff duties with Jake Wess this year. Robinson had a big return in the Colorado State game way back at the start of the season. He won't return it here. And Tim will take us back to the last thing that happened in the end zone. Well, it was all set up, Mike, by that missed field goal. They got good field position, and then they made them pay on this play. I mean, here's your guy right here. Here's Cory Ross. He's just going to come right through here and just get a little flat. Go ahead and roll it. You'll see Taylor picks him up, tries to knock him over with the, the pass, but then watch the blocking that he gets up here. Oh, three guys. Todd Peterson's right in the middle of it. They field it off, they block it, they shed it, it's gone in for the touchdown. You saw, got to watch that circle. They were had, they had him circled. J.J. Billingsley, the safety, came up to blitz and bring the pressure, and that's why nobody was home to make the tackle. So Clatt back at it right away, and his pass is incomplete as Nebraska's doing a nice job in coverage. Evan Judge was the intended receiver, and Clatt, the former baseball star, off to a 5-of-9 start here this afternoon. Mike, we go back to that missed field goal, and although he had plenty of leg, missed it wide right, and it gave Nebraska terrific field position to start that drive, and boy, they capitalized. Taylor, four for five, 40 yards on that drive, and you know they've taken this crowd out of it a little bit. Sellout crowd, so often you have on Thanksgiving weekend and students aren't here, sometimes the attendance is down. Not for Nebraska-Colorado. Students here in good numbers, and obviously everyone else filling up Folsom Field. Pressure is on Clatt, and he's brought down. Titus Adams, the senior out of Omaha, and J. Moore, the open end out of El Dorado, Nebraska, combined for a nine-yard loss. Well, I tell you what, they're coming hard, and Joel Clatt's not comfortable anymore. He's wondering where his blockers went. You know, this offensive line that Clatt has in front of him has only allowed a league-best seven sacks coming into this ball game, so that's unusual to see Clatt get sacked like that. But not unusual this season. Nebraska, it's a good matchup today. The Huskers, tops in the conference, tops in the nation. That was their 43rd sack, and it sets up third and 19. The Buffs needing to get to the 30, and they will just draw it to get space and get nothing. And this Nebraska team trying to get to seven wins, playing with attitude. Charles is stopped by Adam Carer out of Kennewick, Washington. He was born in Nebraska. And can't make the point strong enough that this play right here by shutting it down and backing up the Buffalo's, Nebraska is going to get great field position once again. This is a field position game, and right now Nebraska is winning that game. Terrence Nunn, second in the country in returns at 19 and a half. He goes, uh, back this time for Nebraska as John Torp gets set to kick it. Torp, the huge leg, averaging about 45 per punt. And the play clock runs out. Now cost him five more. So all the movement by Nebraska up front, just a little special teams wrinkle, trying to give him a tough look. Head ball foul, delay of game on the offense. Penalty is five yards, and it's still fourth down. I mean, the Huskers are really playing with attitude. You can see in the body language. And both these teams really take great pride in their special teams to the point where Gary Barnett challenged his punt team. This punt team is by invitation only, and they've got a great punter, but right now they're making mistakes, and they back themselves into a corner. For back to the goal line, end line, beg your pardon. Not his best kick. On the bounce, they let it go. It's going to work out just fine. It's going to end up to be over 55 yards, 57 officially, as the decision was made by Terrence Nunn to let it go. So still good field position for Nebraska. Touchdown the last time they were on the field, and it was done by Cory Ross at a Thomas Jefferson.

High School in Denver. Very big homecoming game. His final Big 12 game. Taking one in. We'll see what he can do on the next drive to help the Huskers, who lead by [Music] seven. See you knows no defeat. So roll up at my shoulder to shoulder. We will you see you. Great scene here in Boulder this afternoon. Wonderful tailgating. About 5,000 Nebraska fans making the trip. First and 10 for Zack Taylor and the Husker offense. Throwing the deep ball. Incomplete as he tried to get the freshman Nate Swift sprinting. Taylor just his second incompletion in his nine passes that he's thrown. Seven of nine in the last few minutes. 63 yards in that touchdown to Ross. Mike, can't talk about field position enough. You know, Nebraska's average starting field position was inside the 25-yard line last year. When Colorado got him, and Colorado started everything at the 37 or better. Well, here Nebraska's last three drives start at the 40, 46, and 38. So they are definitely winning the battle of field position. One back, four receivers. Taylor saw covered downfield. Has to get rid of it, and it's incomplete. That's one of those throws into the sun. France Hardy went up. Sun or not, I don't know if he would have caught it. Brian Ewu's pressure forced the quarterback Taylor to get rid of it. You know, normally this is a dink and dunk type offense, but they're trying to give double moves on all these cornerbacks, and they're throwing deeper patterns. Everything's been double moved. And when you think of West Coast offense, it's just dink and dunk. Get rid of it quickly. But you see him throw his shoulders there. It pumps, and then he wastes time, then he comes back and throws, and there's pressure there, and he throws it away. They got to get back into a rhythm. He's got to throw on time. They need to get the players the plays in quicker, too. This play came in late, as well. Dan Erikson coming in. The play clock winding down to two and one. They take a final timeout, and that's going to draw a flag. That is stupid. Oh boy. Alex Lion, the junior defensive end. After the timeout was called. That's just a mental mistake. They feel that he could have stopped in time. First down. Timeout Nebraska. Dead ball personal foul number 51 on the defense. And we have people morons who are throwing stuff onto the field. Had a a bottle thrown and some other stuff. And some of the Colorado players trying to tell him to calm down. Saw the clock called his final timeout. The snap came, firing back, and there you see it, real speed. After he called the timeout, Leon came in. He can't believe it. Well, he's saying that he didn't hear the whistle. He's saying that he thought the fumble was there, and he was just knocking him out of the way. Still a mental mistake. So it'll be first and 10 for Nebraska after we come back. They're out of timeouts, but leading by seven. As we're back from the timeout, it's first and 10 after the 15-yard dead ball personal foul against Alex Lion. They made an announcement to the fans, uh, to try to exercise good sportsmanship and not throw anything, as a few did. Very difficult call, trying to protect a quarterback. Hear a timeout with a whistle, bang bang call, as Tim said, but it's in Nebraska's favor. And Taylor steps up. Wide open. It's Peterson. Todd Peterson. Inside the 15, and he takes it to the nine. First and goal for the Huskers. A pickup of 38. And they are really doing damage to the Buff secondary here in the first half. Zack Taylor really in a rhythm. I mean, we talked about him double pumping, and he had to throw on time. This time he does throw on time, but again, it was the double move. So they've seen something that they're trying to work on. He fakes the out. There's the move. Now he's sprinting down. Nobody picks him up. I think the safety thought he was coming over the corner. Didn't pick him up, and he was wide open. Taylor, wise enough to see him and get the ball there on time. And Timmy, to double move, you have to get time from your offensive line. They're doing a nice job. They go up the middle with Cody Glenn. The big back took it down inside the two. And Nebraska, a yard and a half away from a 14-point lead on the road here in Boulder. A third of the way through the game. Mike, Colorado's got to regain its composure. Look at the referee here on the left side. There's the timeout. The referee on the left side of the screen. He goes to blow his whistle. All right, but here comes the defense, and they don't know if, in fact, the whistle had been blown in time, or whether it's a fumble. So they're still upset about the call. It was a bang bang call, but they've got to regain their composure. They've given up two big plays. Dane Todd, the junior fullback from Lincoln, leads the way. Has Glenn walks into the end zone. Touchdown Nebraska. And those aren't the only people who wear red that are cheering. How about the folks in Ames? The Iowa State fans are all fired up right now, because if the Buffs lose and Iowa State wins tomorrow, Iowa State goes to the Big 12 Championship Game. Boy, Zack Taylor's playing with such confidence. They're working their backs perfectly. Glenn comes back in. He's the big back. His second touchdown. He looks very effective when he runs it down in the in the red zone. Five plays, 62 yards. Jordan Conan adds the extra points. 17 unanswered for Nebraska. They've scored 17 points in 13 minutes and 9 seconds, silencing the crowd in Boulder. 17-3. Big Red. Well, Zack Taylor, the quarterback, who was injured at the end of the last game that Nebraska played, a 27-25 win over Kansas State. He got a concussion. So really, the fourth quarter had to go as Susie Schuster told you earlier, to Harrison Beck. The freshman who burned his his red shirt, didn't play before that, ends up doing enough to maintain the game. Conden comes in, kicks the game-winning field goal. Nebraska wins that game, gets a sixth win, so they are bowl eligible now. They're trying to get win seven on the season, and boy, 7-4 sounds so much better than 6-5 when you're assessing your season. Returnable kick. Stefan Robinson. Room to run. Flag down. He's down at the 25-yard line. So penalties have killed the Buffs throughout the season. They've already picked up three flags for 35 yards, two personal fouls, and there's another 10 on top of that. So as they mark it off, let's go down to Susie Schuster. Su. Well, Mike, to say that this Nebraska bench is elated wouldn't even put it correctly. This team, to a person, said to me yesterday, we need to win this game, not for pride. We're already in a bowl. We need to prove to the nation that Bill Callahan knows what he's doing. They told me, to a man, that they hear all the criticism of their coach, but people don't know what goes on in practice. Guys, this is about proving to the nation that their coach is in charge. And that's a good point, Susan, because this is a national stage. And Nebraska used to be on the national stage on a regular basis. But because of the dip, missing a bowl game for the first time in 36 years last year, 7-7 year before that, they have been slightly off the radar nationally. See how Colorado responds. H. Charles runs it, gets it only across the 15 to the 16. Second and about eight coming up. Yeah, they're trying to accept that challenge and legitimize this offense. But let me tell you something, both of these teams that we're seeing here today run the exact same offense. And I don't think a lot of people realize that. But Shawn Watson, the offensive coordinator at Colorado, and Tom Cable, who was here before that, they worked with Bill Callahan before, and they all have the same offensive attack. Watson and Callahan shared an office back in Illinois when Mike White was the head coach. It's part of this West Coast offense passing tree. Pressure tries to escape. Can't do it. Parer led the charge. Second sack for Nebraska. End up the sack will be credited to the junior out of Louisiana, Barry Prior, but Adam Carer came in off the edge and did the early work. Another third and long coming up. Mike, remember we were talking about the contained guys early in the ball game? Well, now they're trying some stunts on the outside, but they're coming from the outside pressure, which is going to open up things in the middle. That offensive line is going to start stepping out a little bit to help on the outside contain guys that are coming hard down the edge. And by doing that, they loosen up the middle a little bit. And Carer came in. Colorado's going to have to take a timeout. Their play clock is running down to three for the second straight drive. We're going to have third and 19 coming up for CU. The Buffs are wounded right now here on Senior Day. 17-3. Nebraska. Step out. Third and 19 coming up. Be right [Music] back. Pretty stunning turn of events here, really, in about a 13, 14-minute stretch. Nebraska has scored 17 unanswered. Joel Clatt's family, dad, mom, and wife Sarah, watching, and, uh, not very happy about what they're seeing. Joel and company are in a 14-point hole. This ball game has changed dramatically. And since that mass missed field goal by Colorado, their last eight plays have gone from minus 23 yards. And this Nebraska defense is like chum to a shark. I mean, they're coming harder and harder. And as you mentioned, coming into this game, they led the nation with 42 sacks. They've got two here today. They only had 25 all of last year, so you can see the improvement. Out of the timeout, we see what the Buff will do with their second consecutive third and 19 on a drive. Need to make a big play down the field. He's going to run it, try to get some punting space. Charles go on the edge. One man a beat. Brought down. What an open field tackle at the 16-yard line. Terrific play by Zachary Bowman. We talked about him from Anchorage, Alaska. Became a starter in week four. Transferred from junior college. And in that transition year, he's starting to pick up his play as the season winds down. Go back to the point about field position. And certainly Nebraska has had it here of late. But by not getting this first down, and you're right, he came awfully close to getting it. I mean, almost had the corner on Bowman. Number one, he gets around that corner, he's got that and a lot more. It's that horse collar tackle in the NFL. That would have been a penalty. Hand reaching inside the shoulder pads. It's not in college. Wouldn't be surprised if that rule changes in the college game next year. Finally, John Torp gets off one of his kicks. Interference. Interference with the opportunity to catch it. And the Colorado Buffaloes commit another penalty. They're self-destructing. It's Terry Washington's second penalty on special teams here this afternoon. You got to be ready for that big hit, but you've got to have some awareness and be under [Applause] control. That's all timing. All timing. And you've got to break down, wait for him to make the catch, kick catch interference. Number 10. Kick catch interference on number 10 of the kicking team. The penalty is 15 yards from the spot of the foul, and it's a first down. Three 15-yard penalties. He's even waving up here to thank you for the number. Well, let's see who was it. Watch this, Mike. You have to break down here. It was 21. It was. Yeah. You have to break down. You have to wait. You have to. As soon as he catches the ball, then you can explode through it. It's Vance Washington, not Terry Washington. 21, not 10. Right name, wrong number. And you can see he's trying to find somebody to be a sympathetic ear right now. So guys start to walk away from you. Taking over at midfield. A toss to Ross, who throws it back to Taylor, who can still throw it. Look out for Ross out of the backfield. Ross took the pitch, takes the pass, and takes it for about 25 [Applause] yards. What a great job by Taylor and Ross, both. Taylor saw his receiver was taken away. It was one receiver downfield. He was taken away. Good defensive coverage by Colorado, but Cory Ross had enough sense. He was the safety valve. He slides out. Now watch. Here's Ross. Give it back to Taylor. Taylor looks down deep. His receiver's covered. He starts to scramble, and Ross puts his hand up and says, "Here I am." Throws it out to a safety valve, and Ross just explodes. Smart play by both guys, Ross and Taylor. It's Colorado's defense that has not given up a lot of points during the year, on the ropes. Good pressure. Taylor goes down. Abraham Wright out of Oklahoma City comes up with his fifth sack. More than his total from last year, where he had four and a half. It's a loss of eight. In the fourth sack for the Buffs here in the first half. Colorado, basically a zone team, but they're trying to bring some pressure, and so they're using some zone and man combinations. Well, they came hard that time, and they've got to stay in Taylor's face. They've got to make him a little uneasy, because right now, boy, he's feeling it. Second and 18. Again, the pressure sets up a screen for Ross, who couldn't catch it, and a penalty marker comes in. Rakamanuna doing a little bit of a dance. Let's see what the flag's going to be. Yeah, I didn't see that flag. I, I'm watching the play closely, but it looks like it's holding against Nebraska. It's now a little bit of the tide turning with a couple of back-to-back flags against Callahan's [Applause] team. Well, that was a good defensive call by Mike Hitz, the defensive coordinator for Colorado. Second down and long. They don't need the blitz. Set back. They were in a [Applause] zone set up perfectly for the little screen. Will they take the penalty here? Yes, they will. Holding on number 70 of the offense. The penalty is 10 yards, and it's still second down. Was on Matt Slauson when we did the lineups at the beginning. We told you to watch those freshman tackles. Watch the top of the screen, and we're looking for number 70 right [Applause] there. And he comes out, bounded by an injury throughout the season, two injuries, but Slauson comes back in, seeing his first action in a couple of weeks. Second and forever. Throwing the deep ball for Hardy. France Hardy went up and made a terrific adjustment. Caught it inside the 10. First and goal again for Nebraska. Garrett Burl just didn't turn around. He had good coverage. He was in his hip pocket and never located the ball. But again, Taylor feeling comfortable, puts this thing right there where only his guy could get it. And then watch Burl right there on him and can't convert. Hardy with a good body adjustment. See good coverage, separates with a push, a little bit, but look at Hardy with his body adjustment, turns and makes the catch. 35-yard gain. And really a nice job to maintain control of the ball with his hand underneath. Look at the numbers for Taylor. Yeah, Hardy and Taylor played together at Butler Community College. Running back now is Cody Glenn, who's done a nice job running inside the 10. He gets just a yard here. So it's second and very long, being backed up. Second and 28. And Nebraska comes out and gets 35 yards. And I know it's very hard to be patient when you've known nothing, nothing but success for a lot of Nebraska fans for their entire life. But this is what this offense can do that the last offense really couldn't. Second and 28. You were almost in a must-punt situation. It sure is churning out some yards here in the first half. Second and goal inside the 10. Taylor has to get off the edge. Quite over to the back of the end zone. Peterson couldn't bring it [Applause] in. Todd Peterson lost his man. Was just scraping across the end line, just couldn't hang on to it. Cor. Huskers are running some really nice rub offs. Watch the bottom of your screen here. He slides out, takes over, and you wonder where is Lorenzo Sims, 22? What's he looking at? I mean, that should have been a touchdown. All Taylor has to do is put it back there. Third go. Goes to Peterson again. This time he holds on. Penalty marker down. Hold on. Penalty marker came from the line judge. Could be holding against Nebraska. And eras the [Applause] touchdown. It is. Could be the left tackle, the sophomore Chris Patrick, as well. Boy, no rub off that time. Peterson just outran him to the back of the end [Applause] zone. Holding number 54 of the offense. The penalty is 10 yards, and it's still third down. And is Chris Patrick out of Ithaca, Michigan? He's a backup as well. Really saw his first playing time just against Kansas State in the last game. So he hasn't been on the field in a situation like this. Here he is right here. See his right hand on the back of the jersey, full of cloth, and pulling him down. Good call. Three receivers to the top. France Hardy, solo to the near side against what looks to be, and is, man coverage. They go Hardy's way. Taylor had to pull it down. Now he'll run it. Oh, did he get stuck? How did he not go down there? And finally goes down at the 13-yard line. Man, Zack Taylor, who suffered a concussion 13 days ago against Kansas State, was twirled around and set up for a straight-on shot. JJ Billingsley was there. That was okay. Take a look and listen. Wow. Fous Washington's helmet came off. And for a minute, I thought there was a head in it. Conden kicking from 30 to make it a 17-point lead out of the hold of the punter, Cook. He knocks it through. 30-yard field goal. And Nebraska has scored 20 unanswered points and is shocking Gary Barnett's Colorado team by 17. You know, talking with Bill Callahan yesterday down on this field, he said, I'm under so much criticism. He says, but I know my my system works. He goes, for me, the biggest thing is just staying true to myself, doing what I know and what I do best, and that's coach these guys and use my scheme, which is proven. And he's doing that, but he's taking some serious hits. A reminder coming up in halftime, the Capital One Halftime Show. John and Aaron are in New York. Here at Craig James on the game with Gary Thorne and Ed Cunningham. The Texas-Texas A&M game won by the Longhorns, 11-40-29. Well, Pony will talk with Mack Brown and Vince Young as they get set for either the Buffs or the Cyclones. That's all coming up. Capital One Half Show, as we have this, uh, traditional Thanksgiving Friday, and then double header action tomorrow on ABC. And then, of course, Championship Saturday, one week from tomorrow, the Big 12 title game in Houston. Then USC-UCLA and the ACC title game. We need an opponent for Florida State next Saturday night. We need an opponent for the Longhorns next Saturday afternoon. Jake Wes is going to kick off now for Nebraska. Robinson and Washington are back deep to receive. Wes didn't get a lot of depth on this one. And here comes Terry Washington from the three. Get it out to the 20, and the 22-yard line. All right, time now for your Thanksgiving Friday Afflac trivia question. Joel Clatt, taking the field for Colorado, has 35 school records. Only two Colorado players set more records. Who are they? I think I know you do. Why would that be? 10. I've got friends in high places. Give you the answer coming up here before the end of this quarter. 4:38 left. Lawrence Vickers in the game. The V-back plays a lot of first and third down. Let's see what he can do for the Buffs. Not much. That play was read and snuffed out by Adam Kuss right away. You know, there's so much tradition in the Nebraska program. And one of the wonderful traditions of the guys from the small towns in Nebraska who become local heroes because they walk on, they made something of themselves, even on the JV team when it was there in Lincoln. And Kuss is one of those kids from Paige, Nebraska. And they shut down little Paige, Nebraska, on the Huskers' play. And over at the Country Corner, they're all gathered around. The kids wear the 49 Nebraska jerseys. A fifth-year senior walk-on like Kuss is still a part of the fabric of Nebraska football. Loss of one. Second and 11. Clatt to throw. Nice throw to the second level, and the tight end Snooki show the sideline at the 39. That's a first down and a gain of 19 in front of Daniel Bullock. I think Colorado runs that play better than anybody in the country. It's just called a waggle. They have all the play action going one way, they slip the tight end, and in this case, 45, Soski from the other side, drag him all the way across the middle. And on the reverse after the play action, Clatt just rolls that way and hits him. They do that extremely well. That's the first first down of the quarter for Colorado. We had a couple of successive three and outs. Snooki, a sixth-year senior, many injuries forcing him to miss a full season, plus petitioning and successfully getting from the NCAA a sixth and final year of eligibility. Nice job by Charles to be patient. Dance in the hole. Get to the 44. Give him five. We have second and five coming up. Mike, you're talking about all the walk-ons from Nebraska. How about Colorado? And especially Joel Clatt. He's one of the all-time great stories. Came as a walk-on, professional baseball player, gets here, and look what he's done. And they didn't know he was going to be the guy until just in one of the scrimmages. They said, "All right, we're taking the pennies off. We don't have to protect the quarterbacks. Let's just go." And this guy was so tough and so effective, they said, "Joel Clatt's our guy." And you see all that he's done. 35 school records, first in all those categories, one of the all-time great walk-on stories. Just getting this second and five playoff. Here's the pressure from Kuss, and that forces the screen to be incomplete, intended for Hugh Charles. Third down coming up. Tim, when you see all those firsts, obviously offense, more passing these days in college football, but start to think about the quarterbacks just in recent memory here. Coy Demmer, who's still hanging around in the NFL, and a lot of people compare him to Clatt. Daren Hagen, of course, much more of a running threat. Cordell Stewart, who really led the Buffs through a wonderful run. So they've been good, productive quarterbacks over the last 15 years here. Well, you know what's interesting, Mike? Look at this. I mean, I put a note down here when Gary Barnett said the quarterback is essential in the West Coast offense. And then I thought back, how the West Coast offense came about. It's because a quarterback went down, Greg Cook. They brought in Virgil Carter, and they needed to design one for him. Clatt's pass is incomplete. We up fourth down here. He's looking for Coffenstein. It's where he goes when he needs one. Couldn't hit it there. The Buffs have not picked up a third down conversion. They have not crossed midfield in this quarter. The old black shirts from Nebraska getting it done. Boy, they just don't look like they're in sync. Just a zone defense. The ball was poorly thrown, but it was good coverage on made out of the zone, but that that's not a well-thrown ball. Courtney Grixby comes on back for the punt. John Torp, two poor ones, then a better one. I know the average looks high, but he got a break because no one fielded it. Trying to middle rush here, and a penalty flag comes down. This is on Colorado. It would be a sixth flag. Prior to the snap, a false start on the right guard of the offense. I'm penalty is five yards, and it's still fourth down. You know, does that expression tell you a lot? Yeah, he's a good, good coach. Me, a really, really good coach. And his team runs disciplined offense, disciplined defense. Just surprised to see the amount of penalties they have, especially in Big 12 play. It's really hard to figure. So much of that is discipline and focus and concentration. Pressure up the middle. Torp gets it away. Nearly a chance at a block. Brickby is going to field it on the hop at a 12-yard line, make a nice decision and dance out to the 23-yard line. Good job to get the big hop and return it for 11. Mike, time now for the Pacific Life game summary. And boy, what a job by the kicking game. Jordan Conan, 26-yard field goal that tied the game at three after Colorado was out of the gates in a hurry. Cory Ross came back with a great 19-yard touchdown reception. This makes it 10-3 Nebraska. And Ross, great job. But then they come in with the big guy, Cody Glenn, one-yard touchdown. Jordan Conan again, this time from 30 yards out. He splits the sticks, and that's where we are. 20-3 Nebraska. Huskers take over. 2:48 left. They are out of timeouts. Cory Ross, who had that touchdown catch Tim just showed you, that's really going to be no gain as he's still around the 24-yard line. The story so far, Tim, has been this Colorado defense. Very good defense. And their passing stats were not as impressive as their run stats, because they stopped the run, forcing people to throw. And the Buffs have had some leads in some games, but Nebraska has moved it almost at will here today. Tight end J.B. Phillips, far for that extra yard. A very nice mark, and he'll be close to the first down. Lorenzo Sims Jr. made the tackle. But you see him getting everybody involved. You've got so many different receivers that are available to him. They even split their tight ends and make them wideouts. Then you've got Terence Nunn, you've got Nate Swift. We've seen Peterson come in. He was open twice in the end zone. They missed him. But I mean, he's got a lot of receivers doing a lot of different things, getting them involved. And you see the difference in total yards. And right now, it's all Nebraska. We have a half dozen different receivers that have caught Zack Taylor passes in the first half. They're measuring for the first down, and Nebraska's just shy of it. Well, you've got three different receivers that came into this game with 30 or more receptions for the Cornhuskers. It's almost like detox. The system needed such change all the way through the core of it, because it's all they had run, and they ran it as well as anybody had ever run an offensive system. But the game has changed. Yes. And with the game changing, you've got to stay up with it, or everybody's going to pass you by. And so they were late doing that at Nebraska. Bill came in, and now he's got the updated offense, and he's trying to, trying to get it to go. But he's, you know, he's facing a lot of different people that are old school. It's not disrespect to Tom Osborne and Frank Solich, because it was succeeding, but as speed came to defense, a little bit more, that option out of the eye for Nebraska was not as effective as it had been before. That's a good point, because the defenses are changing too. You've got a lot of more, a lot different skilled guys now on defense, especially with that Tampa 2 that they play. You know, you've got those skilled guys out there, and that was designed for this West Coast [Applause] attack. Third and inches, and just a keep by Taylor, who easily gets the first down at the 35-yard line. Remember, the Huskers have no timeouts. They're a 17-point underdog in some places, leading here by 17, and near the conclusion of the game. Tim and I will select a Chevrolet Player of the Game from each team. Chevrolet will make a $1,000 contribution to each university's general scholarship fund. And if we can't agree, we'll let Susie Schuster break the tie. For us, here is Taylor from the 34. Complete just for a couple of yards. Once again, it's the tight end, J.B. Phillips, out of Texas. Of course, they had Matt Haren, a very good tight end, even in the other offense, the option-I offense. But Haren has been bothered by injury the last couple of years. Now wholesale substitutions out of the no-huddle with a minute and a half remaining in the half. Taylor, who's behind his intended receiver, Grant Maly, and almost turned into an interception. Let's, uh, sneak in that Afflac answer now. Clatt, with all those passing records, 35 of them, who are the two who have set more during their days here in Boulder? You mentioned one of them, Cordell Stewart. That's right, with 36. And then, and a great judge, and the great judge, Byron "Whizzer" White, back in the '30s. 51 school records. Mike, this is a big third down for Colorado. They need to make a stop here, get the ball back. They'd have one about 1:20 to work with on the clock in the half, and Clatt has been very efficient in the hurry-up offense. Buffs have two timeouts. First, they have to make the stop here on third and long. Taylor hit hard as he threw it downfield, incomplete, intended for Terrence Nunn. He took a shot from behind, and the front, as Brian Ewu brought the pressure. It's fourth down. They'll kick it away with a minute 26 to go. This was good coverage, too, by Garrett Burrow. Still, Taylor wants to go there. Boy, that's a dangerous hit down on the leg, but it was only a step beyond the completion. I think he hangs in there and delivers the ball. Very tough, especially in that first game after suffering a concussion. The longer he can keep the play alive, guys will come open. Sam Cook to kick. Stefan Robinson back deep to receive. Can somebody make a big play? The Buffs need one here before the half. Cook, rocket shot. Happened to be at altitude. It'll be 63 with a net of 43, and no return. Well, tomorrow we start our college football double header. Virginia-Miami, Oklahoma State-Oklahoma, South Florida-UConn on ESPN in prime time. North Carolina-Virginia Tech. And here on ABC, the BCS Spotlight game presented by AT&T. Third game against Stanford or Georgia. Georgia Tech. Lot of implications in many of those games. Several of those teams, including South Florida. I, I was just getting ready to ask you, what do you think about South Florida going to a BCS? Still alive for the BCS. If South Florida wins, and then beats West Virginia in Tampa in eight days, they would go to the BCS representing the Big East, eight years after Jim Leavitt was running the, uh, University of South Colorado football program out of trailers before their offices were ready. No-huddle, two-minute offense for Colorado. First down to Kapfenstein, the tight [Applause] end. Buffs can stop it twice with timeouts. This is what they call their fastball offense. They try to use that altitude, wear them out a little bit, hurry things up, and melt the clock, use every bit of the clock. Three receivers against the four-man rush, and one of those receivers, Dusty Sprig, fell down. Sprig is from Julesburg, Colorado, and that's a neat story this time of year because it's one of those right on the border of Colorado and Nebraska. And half the town is split. You'll see if you walk around Julesburg, folks in the Buffs colors, folks in the Big Red colors for Nebraska. And, uh, Sprig grew up in that atmosphere with a family divided, even though they love Nebraska, some of that family, I'm sure they're pulling for CU this [Applause] afternoon. Second and 10. Almost a whole as the pass is incomplete, and it may be a defensive flag on the safety, Blake Tkaczyk. Should be a first down. Only 3 seconds went off the clock. 58 seconds remaining [Applause] now. Co. Callahan pass interference on the defense, number 25. It's a spot foul and an automatic first down. It was not. It looked very close to a tip, but it [Applause] wasn't. I like the way Kapfenstein uses his body, sits down. There was contact. He's 6'6", 245. He's saying, "If you're going to come from behind me, you have to go through me." And that'll draw a flag. That's the tip he was looking for, and Adam Carer didn't come. They missed a hold on the left tackle. Clatt throws intercepted. Threw it in the flat, and Ias was right there to take it away. So Clatt throws his seventh interception. He had two against Iowa State in the last game. And Colorado trying to mount something after that opening drive when they went down and got a field goal. They have really done nothing offensively against the Black Shirt defense. But watch the way he throws this, Mike. It's a dangerous pass anyway, but watch. He doesn't step into it. He almost steps and throws off his back foot. Doesn't step into the pass and tries to throw it all the way across the field into coverage. So the rare interception thrown by Clatt, his seventh on the year. And now we'll see what Nebraska will do from the 49, the Colorado 49. 53 seconds left, and no timeouts remaining. It's going to reset the play clock. Is but only half the field to work. That is a devastating turnover. They're thinking about getting points, and all of a sudden, they give Nebraska the opportunity again to walk away with at least three. Conden, the freshman kicker, as long as 41, but that altitude stretched that back a little bit there. And 10 stepping up in the pocket, taking off as Taylor. Made a nice move. It's the 41. 45 seconds left. Merer. Capital One Halftime Show coming up. John and Aaron in New York. Craig James down in College Station. He'll visit with Mack Brown and Vince Young after the Longhorn win to close out their perfect regular season. Now the Big 12 Championship Game awaits. But can Colorado get there? They'll have to rally to do so. Taylor again. He's going to be close to the first down, which will stop the clock. He's got the first. Will move the chain. He's inside the 40 now, Mike, with 23 seconds left. Jordan Conan working, warming up on the sidelines. Remember, he's got 11 straight field goals that he's hit. Two in this [Applause] game. Haven't seen Conan attempt a 50-yarder this year. You'd figure they'd have to get another dozen yards or so to get in more comfortable range for their freshman kicker. Good gun. Oh, it was dropped by Nunn. Taylor shows you that arm. He threw a strike in the seam of that zone coverage, and he stepped into it. That's what Clatt didn't do on his interception. This time he was trying to get it between the corner and the safety. Had a little area to get it into, and so, I mean, he steps into this thing. Looks like a pitcher steps in, fires, bends the back, gets it in between the corner and the safety, and should have been caught. It's a nice throw, isn't it? Oh, I saw Zach. I watched the tape of the Iowa State game when he threw the 431 yards and 55 attempts, and you really see a guy who can put some zip on the ball and understands the game. You could see the difference, Mike, between his throw and Clatt's. 10 seconds left. Has to understand the clock here. Going down the middle. It is caught at the 5-yard line. Four seconds. Can they get up and spike it? They need to get up and spike it and save a second for themselves. It was Grant Maly and Swift running down the middle. They're going to be fine. They got everybody up there before the ball could be spotted. So spike it and get the field goal unit on. What a job by Nebraska here, and they will have that clock with a double zero. That's that's unbelievable. Second left. That is a home clock deal. Let's see what they say. He should have one second left. Nobody's making a definitive call on the officiating crew, are they? Saying no time left. Wow. The half is over. Look at Taylor. Taylor can't believe [Applause] it. That's wrong. That is flat out wrong. They were up there ready. He, look at Bill Callahan's look. Nebraska takes momentum into the locker room. The fans cheer their team as they try to artificially build up momentum. But quite honestly, I think they got jobbed. Susie down there with Gary Barnett. Mike, thank you very much. Coach, quite simply, how do you turn this around? Well, we got to go in and challenge our players. We've been outplayed, outcoached, and today, and then they went no-huddle on it, which was a total insult to our team. So we just got to see if we're going to accept the challenge. That's what we got to do. Inside. Joel Clatt has seemed out of sync all day. What? Yeah, he has. We got to get him back in sync. You're right. Thanks, Coach. Thanks, Su. Good stuff. They're lucky not to be down more. A field goal attempt should have happened there, but, uh, they ruled that they didn't snap it in time. In four seconds, 20-3 Huskers, a big underdog, leading by 17. To John and Aaron in New York. You're watching college football on ABC Sports, home of the full championship series. [Applause] Colorado gets the ball first to start the second half. Nebraska leads 20-3 with Susie Schuster and Tim Brandt. Mike, too. Let's go back to the end of the first half. Nebraska scored 17 unanswered points in the second quarter. Should have been 20. They had an extra point-sized field goal that they absolutely had the opportunity taken out of their hands by the officials. Take us through the end of the game. Watch this now. This is the, the second to last play of the, the half. You see the time on the clock that's interfaced with the score scoreboard. So that's official. They run it down. Here's Maly, makes the catch, and watch. He's down right there. There should be 4 seconds on the clock. They keep the clock rolling down to two. So they lost two seconds there. Taylor says, "Okay, clock stopped as they move the chains. I've got a chance to spike it and get the field goal unit on." But watch what happens now. Soon as they blow the whistle and put this ball in play, he's got two seconds to spike it. He steps back down. It's down, and there's 1 second on the clock. The ball's on the ground. There should have been one second left for the field goal kicker. And if you don't think one second makes a difference, tell that to Penn State, where they put one back, and Michigan scored to beat them, or they would still be unbeaten. That is huge. And that was a mistake by the officials on the field. So Bill Callahan's team, instead of being up 23-3, they are up 20-3. And again, who knows what could have happened on the field goal? It could have been missed, could have been blocked. Colorado could have taken it back the other way. But the point that we were talking about here at halftime, momentum was so strong in Nebraska's favor, and Colorado threw an interception at midfield. Nebraska comes back down the field and does everything they should have done to get a chance to go up 20 points. Instead, they're up 17. Mike, I say that's the best half that Nebraska's played all year. And Zack Taylor looked like he did in the spring game. Off return to the 27-yard line, brought back by Ellis. Let's go back through the Pacific Life game summary. So I'm ready to take you through the numbers of the first 30 minutes. And look at the Huskers on offense. Well, and you look at the third down. Look at this. Colorado 0 for six. Time of possession, really doesn't mean much here, although they've done a nice job with the clock as Nebraska. And then you see the penalty yards, of course, that's big too. 6 for 65 yards. It has not been a good first half for Colorado. And you look at the numbers for Joe Clatt. Seven of 15 with an interception. See if he can get going with one of his tight ends right here. First down throw is caught by Dusty Sprig coming across the 30, 8-yard line, right near the first down marker. Tim, let's look at Clatt in the first half. Well, we give you the numbers on Joel Clatt again. We tell you 7 of 15, one interception. Here's that pick. He threw it all the way across the field. Not an easy pass to start with, but then watch his feet. He doesn't really step into it. He steps away from it. Doesn't have a lot of zip on it, and he wants it back as soon as he released it. Well, they should be stopping the clock to bring the chains out to measure. It's laying right on the 38-yard line. Should be a first down. Everybody looks at it, checks it out here on the field, and they're going to bring it out for a measurement. Has gotten cooler as the sun is, uh, dipped behind the west stands here. And Gary Barnett, I'm sure, was heating up his team there at halftime. They've got to get going. As John and Aaron were talking about, at the very simple scenario, Colorado wins, and they are in the Big 12 Championship Game as the North Champs. If not, it's up to Iowa State to beat Kansas tomorrow to get there. First down. Mike, let me, you know, there was a lot of talk during halftime, especially by the Nebraska people, about a comment that Gary made to Susie at halftime about they embarrassed us by going no-huddle. You know, and it was a slap in their face. And the reason he says that is they've got their fast ball attack, and it's something they take great pride in here. That Colorado tries to hurry it up and use the altitude to their advantage, and they thought Nebraska was doing that right back to them. First down picked up. Three wide receivers. Vickers is lined up. Clatt lost the football. Able to dive back on it and get second down. No gain. Susie Schuster. Well, Mike, Bill Callahan's not surprised that Joel Clatt's out of sync. He says, "With the pressure that we're bringing on him, it's no wonder he's throwing." With how his defense is reacting on the offense, he said, "It's the young guys that are making plays, a tight end, wide receiver, and especially Marlin Lucky, that are catching his eye." And as for that two seconds, as furious as he looked, he said, "Forget about it. It's over. The clock ran out." That's what you have to do as a head coach. You've got to tell your guys, "Hey, it's okay. We did everything right. If we're in that situation again, it will work out." Vickers, the lone back. Second and 10. Clatt, quick toss. Cannot be engulfed by Kapfenstein, the tight end. We have third and 10 coming up. And Colorado, as you said, Tim, these offenses are similar. And one guaranteed trait of the West Coast offense is timing and rhythm. And hasn't been there for Colorado since that first drive. You're starting to see the frustration of Joel Clatt. He throws this ball, and he's saying, "Hey, listen, Joe Kapfenstein, you've got to go and make that catch. You can't stop running your route." So he kind of chastised him there as he came back to the huddle. And I think that's more frustration for Joel Clatt than anything else. He's like having a coach on the field. You hear that so often. But he's from a coaching family. His dad is. Now he's looking at a lot of pressure from Nebraska with man coverage downfield. Clatt hit as he threw it. It's incomplete. Daniel Bullock brought the safety pressure. That man coverage only has to hold up for two seconds when you're knocking the quarterback on his back. Boy, you got to give a lot of credit to this defense. I think Callahan's right. It's his guys that are causing this. You can see that Joel Clatt is not comfortable, and he's getting hit every time he he throws it, whether he's sacked or not. They're having a big effect on him because he is hurrying everything. John Torp on, as mentioned, Torp is a finalist for the Ray Guy Award, goes to college football's best punter. He's one of the three. And the kicker, Mason Crosby, is a finalist for the Lou Groza Award, to the top kicker. It's a rare honor that a school has both. And you might say, well, at altitude, that's going to happen. Well, the, uh, numbers on the road have been just as impressive as their home numbers this year, except for the last couple of games when Torp has had to deal with some wind, as can happen in the Big 12 late in the year. This again, not his best kick. Brickby from the 19, made a man miss, and the flag comes down.

That man who missed was helped because it was a hole 33 on the kick, but the true net will be even greater after this penalty's administer. Mike, as much as we've talked about Joel Clatt not looking comfortable, I don't think the defense for Colorado has looked comfortable all day. I mean, all 11 guys. I mean, they just aren't getting it done. Guys aren't looking back for the football. There's not enough pressure up front. They aren't playing the way that they've been playing the last several weeks.

Gary Barnett trying to get to 4 and 3 against Nebraska. Former assistant. Illegal block back by number 21 of the receiving team. The penalty is half the distance to the goal, and it's first down. Titus Brothers, sophomore out of San Antonio, does just that. There he is, 21 in coverage, hands on both sides of the body. Telltale sign, especially against black jerseys. You can see it on those white numbers now. The fans trying to help the Buffs defense as Nebraska has its worst starting position of the day from the nine. Marlin Lucky sent back from whence he came, and Colorado needing to make a play, trying to get it done with defense. Thus Washington getting great pressure. A lot of emotion down there. They did it on the first down. Now they've got to do it consistently. Washington is their top tackler, went to the same high school as Cordell Stewart. Pulled her guard. Guard didn't get over in time. And look at the follow-up by Thus Washington. Tucked that tail, sky the eyes, and drive right through the ball carrier. That's a piece of apple pie for a linebacker. Something going to hold you up. Terrific. All those pies you guys handed out last night didn't break me one. There's the pressure again. Same guy. Is it a safety? They'll mark it on the one. Yep, they will. The same man coming through. Washington, the top tackler, gets his fifth sack of the season. Well, I can tell you right now, the defense already is different, and they're playing with bad intentions right now. Again, Washington gets great pressure, and his butt hit at the one. Yep, that's where they place the ball. It's the same concept as forward progress, and that's where he was. Now third and goal. Listen to these fans. They will light them up down here. The big back, Glenn, for just some room to punt it. Lucky to get past the goal line, and Colorado's defense pushes Nebraska back eight yards. And now they have the opportunity to get good field position. Boy, Mike, you're right. He was lucky to get back across. I thought for a second this was going to be a safety. Here comes Glenn. He's the big back. He's got the power, and boom, he was hit right at the goal line and just barely got out of there. What a series from Washington. In all three tackles, first negative drive for Nebraska since the opening drive. Now will they come for a block or set up a return? Not the full 15 yards for the snap back to Sam. Cook got it out of there. That two-step hunting so effective, and a huge kick. But a lot of room for Stefan Robinson. Picked up a great drop. But terrific coverage downfield. Robinson is held up and brought down at the 46-yard line. And he didn't get a good spot either. They're going to mark it at the 45. I believe 59 on the kick, just eight on the return. Lot of terrific plays made. Terry Washington's block almost springing Colorado. Still, it's decent field position. Can Clatt and Charles and Coffenstock and the Buffs offense find itself? I'm sure Thanksgiving memories made at your home, home from years gone by. Some of the Colorado Buffalo. The kicker, Crosby, on through. Harrison and Barons. Some Thanksgiving shots of these guys. Tight end, Ken Stein, there. The front right, Justin Adams, looking like a character out of Miami Vice. Greg Pace on top of things. Even then, that's right. Snapper. Well, Happy Thanksgiving from the Buffs, and it has not been a happy Black Friday for Colorado yet. Still plenty of time. 11 minutes left in the third. Buffs trailing by 17. Charles trying to establish it on the ground. We'll give him three right out to midfield. Now, this Colorado offensive line has been victimized by Nebraska's defensive front with pressure. They were challenged this week because Colorado's offensive front was really dominated by Iowa State. Defensively, we've seen Iowa State and Jason Barryman, a very good defensive player. The guys up front, O'Neal and Harrison, Daniel Sanders getting the start today. Fenton, Daniels, Moore. They didn't have their best game, and they stood up in their coach, representing them in front of the team, and said, "We're sorry. We didn't get the job done against Iowa State. We'll do better." They haven't yet. Pressure. Clatt has to get rid of it quickly. He does, but it's caught. Patrick Williams, only getting a yard. The 49, and we have third and five ahead. Zachary Bowman, fourth time we've called the junior corner. Great halftime adjustment by Nebraska. That waggle play was very successful for Colorado in the first half because they were run. Nebraska's defense was running themselves out of the play, and he'd come back on that little naked reverse and throw the pass. That time, they stayed at home and got into his face before he threw it, and there was good coverage as well. Numbers for Clatt in his final game here in Boulder. There will be a playoff game. The question is, will there be a Big 12 championship game? Lawrence Vickers, the seniors, the lone back. They've overloaded pressure again. That ball's on the ground. It is free, and the Buffs get it back. But Nebraska is just dialed in right now to the Buffs, and Colorado hearing it. Well, it's actually the the Nebraska fans chanting for Roode. Dialed in is an understatement. I mean, it's almost like they knew what the play was before it was snapped. Watch Roode, 51, come in. He's there almost as fast as Joel Clatt gets the ball from center. Wow. Bo Roode, brother of Barrett. History of rock and roll. Fait. Clatt never had the opportunity to take that and fit it under my major, but uh, continuing the family tradition, as has happened so often at Nebraska. So Colorado had its best field position of the day by 16 yards, and they went backwards. Grixby at the 11. No block in the back. Works the return across the 20 into the 23-yard line. Nice dozen-yard return after a kick of 45. With Grixby is dangerous, and he's fun to watch. Like he's tap dancing on a light bulb. His feet just ta. Real quick. 49-year-old Bill Callahan watches Grixby get the job done with his quickness, and Bo Roode come through to knock it away from the quarterback. Clatt, as the Puffs offense has gone staged from Boulder, Colorado. College Football on ABC Sports, brought to you by City Simplicity Credit Card, City Live, Richley Chevrolet, an American Revolution, and Allstate, a proud sponsor of the Bowl Championship Series. Nebraska, big underdog, big lead, couple of touchdown dog, leading by 17 on the road, middle of the third here in Boulder. First down run with Marlin Lucky, gain two. Second and eight, as both defenses have settled in here. Thus Washington, fourth time we've called him on four Nebraska snaps in this half. Almost like they use their left guard, Greg Austin, as a decoy. He pulled out of there, went wide, like the play was supposed to go around the outside. So much tradition around this Nebraska program, as mentioned earlier, the consecutive bowl streak, just frightening. 35 in a row, stopped last year with the five and six record, but they bounce back, qualify for a bowl with their uh, last-second win over Kansas State 13 days ago in Lincoln. Second down, beautiful over the middle of Ross, running back into the clear, across midfield. Cory Ross, first down at the 48. Here's John with an update on the number four team in the BCS, LSU. Mike, it's your Taco Bell update. And LSU trying to get their way into the SEC Championship game, but Arkansas has given them some problems. Casey Dick is Tedrick Washington to Payton Hillis, 47 yards. They would score a couple plays later. Right now, LSU has the ball. There's under 5 minutes to go, and they are clinging to a two-point lead. Mike, John, if LSU loses, then Tommy Tuberville and a and Auburn will represent the West in the SEC title game. Look at the time for Taylor. Great pocket. Beautiful delivery down the middle. It's incomplete. Just a half second late, as Lorenzo Sims came over to recover on the pass. Intend. Again, they're in a zone coverage, but they get a little more aggressive, and Sims got a nice break on the ball. Almost looked like a combination defense that time. They were dropping back into their zone. He was the only receiver that came out, and they stayed with him. Look at Bill Callahan. He is calling a perfect game. He's got a sheet there. They have about 200 plays out of 15 to 20 different formations with shifts and motions. Big back cutting one is in. Takes the shot. Ball came out. It's free. Who's got it? At the bottom of the pile. Buffs need one. Say they have. Who's stronger down there? Who's walking out with it? Nebraska gets it back. May have been Glenn, the man who's fumbled it, ended up coming away with it. You know, folks, that didn't play the the game of football, especially at this level, would never believe what happens at the bottom of these piles when there's a football loose. I mean, their hands grabbing and pushing and pinching everywhere. You see the ball's just sitting there. They can't. They don't even know where it is. Is Taylor trying to reach in under legs and cleats and bodies to get it? Cory Ross back into at the tailback. This is third and officially nine. Taylor adjusting the play after what he saw from the defense. That's time on the play clock. Buffs bring pressure. Throw perfect on time. First down to Terren Nunn. And another penalty. It's going to be a late hit on Sims for the push once he made the catch and stepped out of bounds. That'll be their seventh flag, and I think their fourth 15. Mike, they're they're on the ropes. There's no question. And now Nebraska's just looking for the knockout punch. That's not to say that Colorado's still not in this thing, but I mean, it's close. They're on the edge. All know they needed that fumble. They needed another stop, and they had field position in their advantage. But now Nebraska's gained it back, aided by another Colorado silly penalty after the play. A late hit out of bounds by number 22 of the defense. The penalty is 15 yards from the end of the run, and it's the first down. See that? That wasn't flagrant, though, right? Mike Hackitt is saying, "Come on, fellas." That's your defensive coordinator. You're looking at right there. He's checking his defense. There's that chart. He goes back. They've got 200 plays on there. That's his game list, but it's out of 15 or 20 formations. That's it. So he may have it listed only one, but it'll be about eight or nine different ways they can run each play. Looks like my wife's Christmas shopping list. You're in for a good Christmas. I'm hoping she's shopping and didn't hear that. From the 21. Will this be a pass? Yes, it will be. It might be intercepted. Oh, good job by the receiver, Nate Swift, to become a defender and knock it away from Lorenzo Sims. Terrence Nunn almost had in his mind predetermined he was going to throw that one, and it really wasn't there for him. Well, first of all, anytime you get a receiver throwing, you know it's not going to have the same zip. That is a great job by Swift. He comes back. Here's a guy that's so talented. He's the natural receiver. Here's a guy that ran for 4400 yards in high school. He adjusted on the ball and came back. Crowd wanted interference called on him. Well, offensive pass interference. Looking for anything at this point. I think Nebraska is going to call a timeout from the sideline here with 6 and a half left. Nebraska takes its first time out. They have two remaining. The Cornhuskers, who opened four and 0 on the year, they went into a tailspin, lost four of five, beat Kansas State to become bowl eligible, and now trying to beat Colorado, get to seven wins. They have a second and 10 coming up with the Buff 21. When you come back, 6 and a half left, third quarter. Colorado trying to sew up the 12 North Championship, being denied here by Nebraska. The Cornhuskers have scored 20 unanswered. Buffs offense is really stalled since its first drive when they went down and got a field goal. Just seven first downs for Colorado in the entire game. Nebraska called the timeout. Second and 10. Good job by Ross to pick up the blitz and the touchdown to Nate Swift. What a job by the little back Ross to pick up the blitz. Taylor throws a 21-yard strike, and the Cornhusker fans and the Cyclone fans are delirious. What a great run and route by Swift. On for the extra point is Jordan Kaden, out of San Diego. Bangs it through. Since the second time a personal foul has kept the drive alive to help Nebraska go down the field. Swift, sixth of the season. Boy, what a great route this was. Here he is right here. Now watch the route he runs, and just a little post pattern, but he does it with a little hitch when he breaks. Watch. Here's the hitch. Boom. Take it inside, and the ball is waiting for him. Hits him in stride. Just a simple route, but run to perfection. Just fro the DB long enough with a little hitch before the break of the move. There's what you're talking about, Mike. There's Cory Ross picking up the blitz, and then here's the freedom that Swift had after that move. I mean, he just fro Tyrone Henderson, number three, the safety, froze him with that little move before he made the post break, and Taylor fires it on time. He's over 300 yards and has two passing touchdowns here on the afternoon. Jordan Da on from Colorado. Their starting weak side linebacker is 225 pounds. He is 30 pounds heavier and about a half foot taller than Cory Ross, and the senior from Denver helped his quarterback by picking up that blitz. He slid over from the left side to the right side, stood in there, and gave his quarterback time, as Nebraska has scored 27 unanswered points. And I think the Colorado fans are in shock. They didn't wrap it up in their last game. They thought they had a chance to wrap up the title in this game. H's kick is short and returnable. It is Terry Washington getting to the edge, hemmed in, but keeps it alive. Nice return by Washington out to the 40-yard line. Ras was trying to rip at the ball as Jeff Saer was in there to make the play along with Brandon Heron. Joel Clatt's got about 21 minutes to work. It's still not late enough to panic. He's got to run his offense. There has to be more of a sense of urgency, but he needs to find some kind of rhythm and get this thing going here. You see the numbers for Clatt, a drastic difference from his performance in the regular season. H Charles, nowhere to go. That's Bo Roode, as they chant "Bo." We sent it to Susie. Well, Mike, a strange observation. Usually, Joel Clatt is right in the midst of his offensive huddle, and Dave Borley, the O-line coach, and Shawn Sims, the running backs coach for Colorado, calling a meeting. Joel Clatt was nowhere to be seen. In fact, they had to send several players off to find him. He was as far away from the ball as possible. This is just before Nebraska scored. It was strange because he's always on top of his offense. Some players look downright annoyed. Joe Fonda came back, came back into the huddle, and then he switched gloves before he went back out. Why is that important? Well, he's a former baseball player. Very superstitious, very careful about any kind of changes to his routine before a game. Yeah, interesting. He's not wearing any gloves now, but he's, you know, you can tell he's been frustrated. The other thing is, you know, he's just a little bit down on himself. It's his last game here in Boulder, and so I can understand why he was trying to separate himself, but he's got to get that out of him right now. He's got to forget about it, and he's got to play. Their last seven drives, 6-3 and outs, one four. Now, that's not productivity. They haven't kept a drive alive. They rushed with four. It is caught by Spray. The spot should be enough for the first down. It is. Forward progress has it. Well, spotted at the 48-yard line, a first down grab by the sophomore Dusty, and it moves the ball. Mike, across midfield. They go to their playbook. They open this thing up, and now it's like running downhill. Now you can really open up against Nebraska because you have half a field to work with, and they're going no-huddle here. Patrick Williams, one of the three receivers in Nebraska has been wise to the two tight end set. Penstein went down the middle and was almost intercepted as he made another dangerous pass. Cory McKuen, the middle linebacker out of the Chicago suburb of Naperville, was there to break it up. Comes a point where I'm going to tell if I'm Kapfenstein, I'm going to him and I'm going to say, "Hey, look, Joel, just throw it to me. I don't care who's open. Just throw it to me," because I don't think he's missed the ball yet. When they throw it to him, he's making the catch. Coffenstein and Spratt have three grabs each. It's a poor passing performance of the Buffs, just 11 completions and under 100 yards. L stages of this third quarter, and now they're almost exclusively pass. Flatt escapes one, not the next one. Another sack. L Smith comes up with that one out of Georgia. He's the guy who had almost huge play. Remember, he intercepted the ball against Texas Tech. That would have clinched the victory over the Red Raiders, then he fumbled. Texas Tech came back in the last minute and won on the final play. But look at the white jerseys getting up field. Barry speed and power. Barry Carter comes in. Their rotating guys trying to keep him fresh up front. Third down pass is incomplete. Well, a fourth down coming up, and the Buffs have to punch it away again. Unbelievable. Not even close. And give a lot of credit to the defense of Nebraska. I mean, we've been talking about the offense, how they played a near-perfect game to this point, how good Zack Taylor's been, but this defense is playing a terrific game. Kevin Cosgrove, the defensive coordinator, restoring some of the pride from the great Black Shirt days back when Charlie McBride, one of the legends in coaching, was uh, the defensive coordinator with Tom Osborne, and then the early days with Frank Solich as well. Twerp to kick. None back to receive. Going to let this one bounce, and it will be a kick of 43 yards, and they'll take over at the nine. Well, the NFL wraps up this great holiday weekend of football. Sunday night over on ESPN, it will be the Saints battling the Jets at the Meadowlands. And then on Monday Night Football, the Al Michaels, John Madden tandem will up quite a game. Steelers, Colts, the undefeated Indianapolis Colts at 10 and 0. And now we're past Thanksgiving. People are starting to ask, well, can they do it? Can they do it? The game against Seattle's. That Steelers will be tough. Rothberger. The game against Seattle, I think, will be really tough. A power running team. What do you think? Hard to go against him with Peyton Manning on his game. Todd Peterson, wide receiver lined up at fullback, flexes out. Passing look on first down. Taylor pressured. Peterson's open underneath to the 22. What has impressed most about Taylor is the moxie he has when the pressure's coming. He knows if I hang in here a half second, I have somebody clearing out, wide open. So much of this West Coast attack, the way that Bill Callahan has designed it, is timing and rhythm, and it's throwing on time, and it's one, two, three step throw. A lot of times with the short dink and dunk passes, and Taylor has done that so well. He's been in sync, he's been in rhythm, he's throwing on time, and he's been very, very effective. Just remember, before 2000, before a Nebraska quarterback had never thrown for 300 yards in the game. Joe Daly was the quarterback last year and uh, left after a little battle in the off-season. Once Taylor was uh, brought on board, he did it twice, going over 300 yards, and Taylor's done, including 400 this year. First and 10 again. A pocket again. It is Ross. You don't care who wins a football game when you come to a national broadcast and you're neutral, but it's great to see a kid come back to Denver and play so well in his final Big 12 game. Back to John for an update. Mike, Arkansas is marching for what would be a game-winning field goal. First, they take a sack, and then Casey Dick, this time, just puts it up in the air. Lauren Landry steps in front of it, has the interception. LSU runs out the clock and wins it 19-17. So LSU is headed to the SEC Championship game against Georgia. Thank you, John. That'll be next week. First down run with Marlin Lucky, as Ross had to come out of the game. Ross is being looked at. Lucky gets nothing. For a lot of those people sitting back saying, "Can LSU leapfrog Penn State in the BCS?" This is not going to help LSU because you look at the schedule, the strength of schedule, how they win, if they win, that type of thing. Right now, Penn State sitting in the clubhouse looks pretty comfortable at three, waiting for one of the top two to stumble. Looked that way for a while. If you weren't with us earlier today on ABC, as they continue to look at Cory Ross. Texas was pushed a lot harder than people thought by Texas A&M, able to outlast the Aggies by 11, 40-29. USC waiting to play UCLA next Saturday afternoon on ABC. Taylor, lucky, dropped it. Incomplete. Okay, so Texas has the championship game left. UCLA comes in 9 and 1. Drew Olson having a terrific year, really is. But the defense for UCLA has been banged up. Justin London's been out, a couple of guys have been out, and so you, you've got to say they're not going to be able to stop USC very often. It's going to be a game, whoever scores the most and has the ball last. Exactly. It's going to be a wild shootout. Least sets up to me. And the referee has called an officials' timeout. He's talking with one of his fellow officials. I've seen four different things come out of the sideline where the students are sitting over here for Colorado, and um, they haven't been large items, but certainly it's a problem. And I think they're going to do something to try to get some sort of an announcement or a warning made that any more of this, and it will start penalizing Colorado. There was a plastic football. A couple of possessions ago. Earlier, after a bad call, there was a bottle, a beverage. You see the referee just picked up something and threw it over there, and he may have just worn the sideline as to. Third and 10 here with 311 left in the third. We saw the Colorado defense come out, be very emotional to start this half, and we've seen that emotion start to wane here as the third quarter starts to wind down, and they're starting to feel this thing slipping away. And now we get a uh, another thing thrown from over there on that side, and the back judge stopped the game here to come talk to the referee. I don't know if the clock had started, but something else was thrown. Please reset the clock to 311. So they put 10 seconds back on the clock. Those little yellow pom-pom shakers was tossed, and a Colorado player picked it up. If the officials had not seen that, oh, the clock operator did one thing right today for us before halftime, and very quick trigger by the clock operator caused Nebraska a field goal opportunity. This is third and nine. Good pressure by the Buffs. Off the hands of Lucky, and incomplete. And Colorado's defense able to make a stand and force Nebraska to kick it away. Vaka Manapua Manauna coming up with the pressure. Lucky, first he misses the ball, then he takes a pretty good shot here at the end of this. Again, Taylor keeps it alive, but watch this. Bam! All just off his fingertips. Got to make that catch. We saw Cory Ross do it earlier. Ball that was thrown hard right at his facemask, but he somehow made the catch, and Lucky didn't do the same on that one. Sam Cook back deep to kick it away. Stefan Robinson awaits for Colorado. Cook has put nearly half his punts this year inside the 20. Robinson at the 11, stretching it out. Turn of 20, brought down at the 31-yard line. The kick was 50, so a net of 30 yards. And Bo Roode is having a fabulous third quarter defensively. Comes up with the special teams tack. Well, you're running out of possessions here, Colorado, and Joel Clatt. They've got to start making something happen against this outstanding Nebraska defense. Well, you mentioned he holds 35 CU records and having another great year, although he struggled here in this ball game. Had he not wasted his red shirt in mop-up duty and a 34-0 win over Baylor, he'd have another year to play here. He says he doesn't regret it, but he sure would like to get a rally going here and somehow find some energy. Drive start from the 31. New Charles, nice little shake look, get a first down. See, maybe the mark will be just a hair short. It's over by the 41. Clock turns inside of 3 minutes here in the third. Sellout crowd, feels some field, and a very quiet bunch now. And here's why. The offense has no momentum. Well, and give the defense a lot of credit for Nebraska. I mean, look at this punt, interception, punt, punt, punt. We talked about all the three and outs, a four and out. I mean, it's just hadn't been a pretty situation here in the last five possessions. 49 yards. Last five possessions because of his pressure. Flatt got rid of it. Receiver couldn't hang on to it. It was a hair behind Evan Judge, who couldn't bring it in. Brickby was waiting to hit him. We'll have third and less than a yard coming up. Nebraska is taking away Clen Stein. I mean, they're just taking him out of the ball game, and that is the security blanket for Clatt. 25 times they've hooked up this year, coming in three more catches this afternoon. Clen Stein and Quin Snooki has been not hurt from it all. Here's Clen Stein. Right there, they get the first, just on the keeper with the quarterback. Clatt, you mentioned Clatt. Baseball pass, and Susie was talking about it a moment ago. A couple of years in the San Diego Padres' organization, played in A-ball, and decided that if he wasn't going to get the call-up to Fort Wayne, which is the next level of A-ball in the spring of 2002, that was it. He was going to leave. Former 11th round pick. He did not, and that's when he decided to walk on at Colorado. And Tim mentioned that first year he came in, played mop-up duty against Baylor, but has really been the guy for three years and a captain and a terrific leader. Charles taken out of bounds, and they'll keep him inbounds. Gain of three to the 45. I'm impressed with this defense. They even have speed at the linebacker spot where they're running with the backs. I mean, Nias was just as fast as Charles. Dr Pepper Big 12 update. There's the score from earlier today in College Station. Iowa State, Kansas could be for getting to the Big 12 Championship game if this score holds up. On ABC tomorrow afternoon, you'll see Oklahoma trying to close out its season at home in Norman on Senior Day against Oklahoma State. Oklahoma at 5-2 in the league, 6-4 overall. Kis flushes Clatt, who throws it away as he escapes the pocket. We talked about Charlie McBride when he was with Tom Osborne in the defense, the Black Shirts tradition is still here, even though we have a different defensive coordinator at Nebraska now. The Black Shirt tradition started back with Bob Devan in the 60s. All the Nebraska folks know it, but you hear the name. Those new to college football as fans who are learning the game might not know the tradition that Kevin Cosgrove and Company keep going. Just wanted to delineate the defensive stars and starters. So it went down to a sporting goods store in Lincoln, got black shirts, and if you were a starter, you got a black shirt. And now still getting your black shirt is like getting that piece of apple pie after Thanksgiving dinner. And one of the black shirts flushes Clatt again and just forces him to get rid of it and throw the incompletion. It is Moore coming off the edge to force fourth down. Another drive when they back up, and we're given all the props to the Nebraska defense, and we should. But I, I have to tell you, I mean, even though we're trying to be as balanced as we can, you hate to see a guy who's had the success that Joel Clatt has had in his last game at Boulder being thrown around like this and not being able to do anything offensively. Don Trell Moore, who has played very little today, came in for the pressure that time. And John Trup's a very good punter, but I don't think Gary Barnett wanted to see him kick eight times in the first three quarters. Kick 44. Flag down for this beautiful return is not happening. Blocking the back against Nebraska. Colorado says, "We stole the ball on the way out." They did not, as the uh, return man Courtney Grixby got a little bent around on that return. Tier Green was back trying to block for the Huskers, so it'll back them up inside the 10. 10. This is a very good day for Nebraska, but as every Nebraska fan knows, no matter what happens today, it's not block in the back by the return team. The penalty is half the distance to the goal from the spot of the foul, and it's the first down. Not the best November 25th in the history of Nebraska football. Don't care if you beat somebody 83,000 to nothing, it will not top what happened on uh, November 25th, almost 35 years ago. November 25th, 1971. It's high in the air, which is what Wy wanted to do. So there'll be kick cover. Then Rogers gets away. Look at that. Johnny Rogers. Look at the move by that sensational player, a native of Omaha. The late, great Chris Shankle with the call of uh, the first game of the century, number one against number two Oklahoma, Nebraska. It was uh, terrific. Nebraska defense against the Oklahoma offense. About uh, 34 of the all-Big Eight team from that year played in that game. At the Cornhuskers won back on November 25th, 1971. Great to hear Shank, who passed away. And he used to start his broadcast with, "What better way to spend a Saturday afternoon than college football?" Still the truth. After the first down run by Ross, it is second and five. This should be the final play of the third quarter. Taylor flushed, running for the sideline, running for the first down marker. Great awareness. He went out of bounds before he got to the marker at the 12-yard line. Only going to be a pickup of two. We have third and short when the fourth quarter begins. Nebraska shocking Colorado 27-3. ABC Sports presentation of college football continues after this message and a word from your ABC station.

Pushing down on me, pressing down on you. No man for who? Pressure that building. Downhill family, people, street. Here's a little guy excited for the coming of Santa Claus and excited by the other big red Nebraska. His team has uh dominated since 3-0. Huskers have scored 27 unanswered. They have silenced the sellout crowd here in Boulder. Lead 27-3. It's off. We go to the fourth quarter with Tim Brando, Susie Schuster, Mike Tooey. Glad you're with us on this Friday after Thanksgiving here on ABC for a uh post-Thanksgiving tradition here in the Big 12. Third down throw is a completion for yet another first down. The passing game looking so good. Grant Maly comes up with that reception. Here's Susie on the sideline. Well, Cory Ross, we saw him on the bench moments ago. He is in fact ready to go. He's back in the game. He said that it was just a cramp in his right calf. You kidding? This is a kid from Denver. He's not going to miss one moment of this game. And on the other side, defensive coordinator Kevin Cosgrove had to counsel his players on the defense, especially Wally Mohamed. Stay away from the crowd. He's already high-fiving guys. 15 minutes left to go in the game, guys. They've shut him down. They've got to maintain their focus. As Marlin Lucky comes in, twos and runs it. 44 yards. Tim, that certainly has got to be the surprise coming in here is that Colorado since that first drive, it really was running play that got him down at the field goal range, hasn't even come close to doing anything positive. Well, they haven't. It, we've complimented Nebraska's defense, but I mean, this offense has just been sensational. They told us this week about how Colorado doesn't play much man defense, and so they said, you know, the crossing routes in the middle are going to be very, very important in this game, and they've worked that game plan to perfection. Second and six here is Lucky running to the left side. He is stood up. Not going to go anywhere. Gary makes the tackle. James Gary, senior captain, one of the group in there. Mike, Nebraska's game plan does change now. With 13:45 to play in the game, now it goes from attacking to melt the clock. They they're not going to be in a hurry. We saw them go some hurry-up attack first, first half, and it upset Gary Barnett, but they won't do that now because they want to melt the clock, shorten the game, and get out of here with this win. Third and five. Terrific passing day for Taylor, adding to it with the throw to Ross against a linebacker. They have destroyed the Buffs with that play all day, and that's what we're talking about. They say because they don't play much man, crossing routes and hit the middle, and that's what they're doing. They've been hitting the middle, they've hit some touchdowns there, they've hit some big gainers. They are now they move the chains and get a first down there. Gain of 20, takes more time off the clock. New set of downs. Just get it. Step up. It almost looks like they're in practice now on seven-on-seven drills. How about Cory? Well, first job is a shoe salesman. Sign language is favorite class, and TD Story is his favorite book. So, I mean, he's fun. He's a fun guy to talk with. And I couldn't believe how tiny he was yesterday when we were talking to him. What would you expect for a kid who during his high school days here in Denver was watching the Broncos in their great run? Perfectly timed out pattern completed to Nate Swift, shy of the first down. Fourth grab for Swift. Well, going into last year, there has never been a 300-yard passing game at Nebraska. Joe Daly did it twice last year, including this game against Colorado. Today, Zack Taylor's at 376. Against Iowa State, he had 431, that was on 55 pass attempts. He's only thrown it only 37 times today. Has been extraordinarily efficient and accurate as well. Ross stopped. Loss of a yard. Third and short. Four long three coming up. All the life out of the Buffs. They had everything to play for. They were hoping to beat Iowa State and A&M 13 days ago and win the Big 12 North. A very bizarre game. Lightning strikes, tornado warning in A&M, so the game was delayed, the start, and Colorado really had a couple of gift touchdowns and points. They gave Iowa State unsound in special teams. Iowa State wins that game, but still the opportunity back at home to take care of business on their own, beat Nebraska, get to the Big 12 title game. Taylor scrambling, picks up the first down at the 46-yard line. Mike, watch what happens now. The next time he goes into huddle and calls a play, and it comes out once they start that clock, he's using almost all of the 25-second clock. Once it gets down inside 10 seconds, he doesn't want any delay penalties or anything, so he's snapping at about eight. Five. Five on the play clock. He's just taking his time back there. That's part of the maturity of a quarterback, a veteran quarterback you see in the NFL. The guys get it when the last light's about to turn to zero. Looking at the clock right now, down to eight. So we'll get the snap, and it's to Ross, just a couple here. Is the coach talking about this junior college quarterback who's turned into something special in Lincoln? He's courageous, smart, uh, intelligent, has a good grasp on what we want to get done in terms of managing the system. Uh, he's a coach's dream. You know, he's a hard worker, a lot of pride, and like I said, he, he is a courageous individual. We mentioned his dad, Sherwood, starting DB at Oklahoma in the late 70s, uh, volunteered as an assistant coach for many years. So this got to be so strange for that entire family, an Oklahoma family, growing up in Norman, leading the team from Lincoln. He makes so many good, heady plays today. He knows when to run, knows when to throw it away. It's amazing to me that Colorado is allowing him to do this right now because his big concern is the clock. Every time he breaks the huddle, he's looking at the clock. He's taking his time in the huddle, and then he lets that clock melt all the way down. You saw it that time. They snapped it at three. Normally, he gets it under eight, but it's amazing him. He's more concerned with the clock right now than the play that's being run, and he's still moving the chains. Watch that play clock. He's looking at the clock, and we have a couple more things thrown from that student section. About five, six things now thrown, and the officials stop. Remember, we told you they went over and said something to Gary Barnett earlier, and they're throwing water bottles and other projectiles down, and they don't realize this is hurting their team because they used 20 seconds off the clock there, that last play, and now they'll reset the play clock, and he'll get more time. Forget that. You're right about that. From a game standpoint, the people are idiots. And to come to a game and do something like that, there's no nice way to say that. You're a fool. And uh, these individuals, hopefully the people around them are pointing them out, and they should spend the rest of the holiday weekend in jail. And if they're students, it should be on their record, and that'll hurt them in the long run. That's over where a lot of the students were sitting. I don't know what the referee's talking about. He's talking about clearing out a section, perhaps. Cooper Castlebury, veteran official. Nothing has happened in the last minute that would be the problem with the officials were their fault, for sure. You have a feeling that you're, you're on the verge of a very ugly situation. I mean, this is ugly, but I mean, you got a feeling that it's worse. He's involving all the security people now. The referee went to the security people, and the announcements are being made by the public address system. It, it should not put a negative light on Colorado's fans, and most of their fans are behaving just fine. It's this group of people that is in the student section. And Cooper Castlebury, I think he's telling Gary Barnett, "I might clear out that whole section," and hopefully there's security there to get them and find out who's doing this, or videotape where they're able to see who's doing it, and it should affect what they do as students. If it's students at the university, and the university does the right thing, the smart thing, it should affect what these kids do in school. Gary Barnett trying to tell him to stop. Nebraska fans chanting, "Let's go Huskers," trying to influence their team in a positive fashion. The officials have stopped the game. What an embarrassment. What an absolute disgrace and an embarrassment. As this gets sorted out, here's John in New York with an update. John, they've got all kinds of security people over there now. A lot of people are heading, as you say, to the middle of the uh, the stadium, and some even taking exits. 27-3, Nebraska leading here. 10:19 left. That is the area where the students are seated. Uh, obviously, it's Thanksgiving break, but so many students here from the state are in the area. He's going to try to restart this thing again. The officials are all huddled over there, security trying to watch again. A great university, wonderful setting here this afternoon. Crowd was enthusiastic, and as we've seen, you know, one thrown item can touch off a riot. It sounds like an overstatement, but it is what actually happened in the NBA, exactly a year and two weeks ago. Taylor throws Ross, complete. 26, gain of seven. Second and three coming up. This will take us inside of 10 minutes. Like everything they're doing, they continue to work on the crossing patterns, and again, they had Peterson, who was down the middle deep and had some space as well. I mean, those are the things that they've attacked this zone. They've done it so effectively. They put 27 on the board, and you have a feeling it could have been more than that. Shovel pass with Ross, that was well read by A'Rica Dawn. He's one of the seniors on this Colorado team. A'Rica Dawn, today marks his 50th game in a Colorado uniform, one of the team's best pass defense, who also leads the Buffs in special teams tackle. Don, a musician, plays uh, four different instruments. You know, for the seniors, Mike, and all of us who played at this level, remember that last home game vividly, and you do the rest of your life, and you hate to have it end like this for these guys. Embarrassing on the field, and embarrassing in some regards in the stands as well. Option with Ross, tried to smartly cut it up, stay inbounds, and keep this drive alive. First down. What a long, successful drive this has been, starting way back at the 18-yard line for Nebraska. 13 plays on the drive, just kind of rubbing it into the wound here for the Buffs. Well, and and we said, they're thinking in this drive was to melt that clock, shorten the game, and they're doing that. They're moving the chains. We're down to 8:57. Clock continues to move, and again, we'll watch and see how Zack Taylor uses every bit of to the play clock. You saw that uh, that carry takes Ross into 10th. That's a pretty impressive list when you are top 10 at Nebraska in terms of yards rushing for your career. Toss the middle. Yeah, still open. It's like a broken record. Either Moy or Ross or Nunn or Swift has worked the outside. Top 10 rushers, career in Nebraska history. Uh, remember were Darren Dedich, Derek Brown, he just passed Jamal Lord. Go up the list. Lawrence Phillips, I am Hip in the 70s, Kenny Clark, the I-back, uh, in the late 80s, Calvin Jones, of course, Eric Crouch, the Heisman winner, Aman Green, and the all-time leading Nebraska rusher, Mike Rozier. Pretty impressive list. Cory Ross joins them, one of the 10 best in Nebraska history in terms of yards gained. Cody Glenn with the carry and the first down, and so they keep the drive alive. Mike, it's hard for me to fathom that. I mean, in the 2001 season, 2002 national championship game, the Rose Bowl, Nebraska was in it, and then they fell off so fast after that. I mean, Frank Solich last year was 9-3, but they wanted to go in a different direction, certainly to keep up with the game, update the system, and they bring in Bill Callahan. Of course, that that took some time to integrate this system, and we're starting to see it take hold now. But I mean, it was unbelievable the roller coaster ride that this program has been on. Marlin Lu, the lone back. This uh, just punishing drive. Taylor throws it high and in. Incomplete. Way to injure your shoulder as Peterson went up and got hauled down with his arm exposed, and he is.

Slow to get up. All exposed as he went up to get that. That shoulder wrenched down. Hopefully he's okay. But again, Mikey's open. I mean, they use a lot of the clock. Zack Taylor looks over the middle, comes off that receiver. Now goes outside. Here comes Peterson. And for the moment, if he threw it on time, he was open. See 22 there. Sims come over, but he was late. And then throws Peterson down. Peterson coming off. Hey, remind you that time permitting, here we'll have a Thrifty Car Rental post-game. John and Aaron back in New York. Highlights, analysis from today's matchups. Craig James heading back from Texas to join the guys for our double header tomorrow. Regional coverage at 3:30 Eastern time, and then at prime time, Notre Dame tries to essentially get itself to the Bowl Championship Series, playing Stanford or Georgia. Georgia Tech shovel pass with Ross. He is stopped shy of the 10. Clock continuing to spin. Seven and a half left in the game. And back to Susie.

Well, Mike, I am now practically all alone in section 110. Behind me, kids are getting very ordinary with the security guards being pushed out of this entire section. In fact, a couple guys coming back in to ring the cowbell, of course, but they were trying to clear out this entire section of 110. This is where that they were saying that a full water bottle came down and almost hit a referee right in the head. So all these guys going back down, they're about to get escorted right back out of the stadium. Get out of there! Get out of there! Get out of there! Be careful. Not rocket science sitting over there. Pass incomplete as, uh, even more stuff gets thrown by the people who are on their way out. They're just kind of flipping their bottles over their shoulders. 6:53 remaining here. And this will lift. Third down coming up. This is a move point now. Just let that clock roll. What a drive! This drive is unbelievable. We had a penalty marker thrown somewhere, uh, in the mix, sitting right about the 12-yard line or the, uh, 17-yard line. It's a 16-play Nebraska drive that's been going on. Face mask on number 76 of the offense. The penalty is declined. It's fourth down. Lyndon Mera, who is from, uh, Minnesota. Hutchinson, same hometown as Nate Swift. These two freshmen to come in together and done a nice job. And now Jordan Kaden will come on, try to add the field goal and make it 30 to three. Good from 26. Good from 30 already today. He's going to miss from 28. So from the angle, he misses a drive of 18 plays and 77 yards. That is no good with a missed field goal. And after that, a student ran onto the field. That's why the fans are cheering, and the officials noticed that as well. So, uh, this continues to be a very embarrassing situation for Colorado as, uh, this game winds down.

[Music]

From the beautiful city of Boulder. College football on ABC, brought to you by Pacific Life for insurance, annuities, and investments. Choose Pacific Life. The power to help you succeed. IBM Business Consulting, of a different order. Dr Pepper and your local Dr Pepper bottler. Dr Pepper, one and you get it. And Pontiac. Go online to nominate your Pontiac game-changing performance. Scenes of the holidays starting to settle in. Will the Colorado postseason include an appearance in the Big 12 North championship game? It's up to Kansas now. Kansas is going to have to beat Iowa State, barring an unbelievable comeback by the Buffs. Colorado takes over first and 10 at its own 20. This is the first Buff snap of the fourth quarter. Flatt throwing the deep ball, incomplete. Bowman defended pass intended for Dusty Spray. Take a look at the Pacific Life game summary. Bring you up to date a little bit. How about Zack Taylor? What a day that Zack Taylor has had for the Cornhuskers. 392 passing yards, doing it on crossing routes and straight down the middle, little post patterns. Here he at Cory Ross. Cory Ross had a big day. Little guy, hide and seek. Guy hides behind the big guy, seeks the hole, then he comes back and he goes after Nate Swift. This, this is a 21-yard touchdown strike on the post pattern down the middle again, where they split the safeties. Just a terrific day for Zack Taylor and for Nebraska. Second and 10 for Flatt. Complete it to, uh, Patrick Williams. The freshman, taken out of bounds at the 24-yard line. Third down coming up. There is Zack. Oh, it's funny. Just, uh, two weeks ago in Lincoln, Steve Peterson, the athletic director, formerly at Pittsburgh, uh, he was, uh, in the hot seat and really having to answer questions about, should Bill Callahan come back next year? Should he be fired? Amazing turnaround here. How quickly, I'm sure the phone calls, uh, there's a movement on the left tackle. Phone calls, the reaction of the fans be drastically different after this one. Beating your rival in the division. Number 79 on the offense, a false start. The penalty is five yards, and it's still third down. Gary Moore, the senior, who's a singer, whose dream is to be on American Idol. Mike, Bill Callahan has to have time to get the players to make this system work. I mean, we're starting to see the effects of it now. He believes in it. You can see what it can do by today's performance. He gets some more players in here, the designed for this kind of offense, and then get the defenders that he needs, and he's just starting to do that. He's only been there two years. So, I mean, you know, you've got to start working this thing a little bit. Give him some time to get the right guys in here. Essentially, what's happening at Nebraska is they're learning a new language after speaking the same language for about three and a half decades at a very fluent level, by the way. And nobody ran option football like the Huskers did over the years. And over time, play clock down at zero. Delay of game before the, uh, missed snap here. It's just a nightmare. Snap. A delay of game on the offense. Penalty is five yards, and it's still third down.

John, what do you have for us over there in New York? Mike, it's a singular All-America Player of the Week update. And here's a guy who came up on the losing end, but he had to step in. It's the freshman Steven McGee, who was in for Reggie McNeal. Had a great day rushing the ball, two touchdowns, 24 carries, 108 yards. A&M still came up short, but Stephen McGee had a great day. Texas to word vote the 87654 now on your singular phone for your ballot and a chance to win a trip to the national championship. If you can hang out with John. John will be there. Championship game, of course, the Rose Bowl, as we get to the Bowl Championship Series. Here's another pass that is, uh, misconnected. Intended for Dusty Spray. That ball was catchable. Spray dropped. And another bottle comes on, just misses the side judge. What a disappointing day for Joel Clatt and the rest of the seniors of Colorado. 20 seniors, 10 of them were walk-ons at one point. Uh, seniors who had been through a lot, very tumultuous time in the program going back over the last couple of years, well-documented. A group that bonded together. Joel Clatt was the face of the Colorado football program from a player standpoint amidst all the adversity. Is the punt? Is fair caught at the 47. So popular, so well-liked, married six months ago. Set up for a special senior day here to win the Big 12 North. Except the Husker defense got in the way.

[Music]

Zack Taylor. Thanksgiving weekend, some 14 years ago, all dressed up for a little Thanksgiving parade. Well, he has been on display and put on a pretty good show. He's now out of the game. His day's work done. One of the best performances by a Nebraska player in this long series with Colorado. The new quarterback is Harrison Beck, and he hands off on first down to Brandon Jackson, the sophomore, who takes it to the 49, a pickup of four. Let's wrap up the day with the starting quarterback, Zack Taylor. He's the IBM Star Watch today and has been a star from the get-go. Came in, he found his rhythm in a hurry and put up some spectacular numbers. Did everything he wanted to do. The game plan was perfect. 27 of 43, look at that. 392 yards, couple of touchdowns, and no picks. Second most in school history, as you pointed out, Mike. And it was one of those deals where they had a game plan, they stuck to it, it worked, and they just, uh, they were very, very efficient. So Beck, who had not played all year, a lot of questions as to, should he have come in the game a couple of weeks ago, the last time Nebraska played against Kansas State? But he did come in, seeing his first action on the road, took his first blindside hit on a blitz from aara Dawn. Now, I've got my feeling on him coming in and wasting the red shirt in that last game. And of course, Bill Callahan said he had no second thoughts about it. He said the kid wanted to play. He didn't want to play. I wanted to know what the parents thought. And having been a parent of somebody at that level, as a matter of fact, Bill Callahan's son plays at UCLA, my son was his teammate at UCLA. And as a parent, I would be very concerned about that. I would not want to waste the red shirt year. But he did come in, he won the ball game for him. And so you say, all right, well, it paid off, but it's going to shorten his career by one year there. And put your coaching hat on, and you said the same thing. Callahan said, hey, you know, we've got our seniors, we're trying to win one last game for them. And Zack Taylor. Timeout taken by Nebraska. Wasn't going to be out for one series. If he was, he would have kept that red shirt, but he wasn't going to be. So he had to get back in there. Be right back. Timeout Nebraska. Five and a half remaining as Nebraska is on its way to ruining Colorado's Thanksgiving and maybe Big 12 North Championship hopes. College football tomorrow, triple header. Virginia, Miami, Oklahoma State, Oklahoma, or South Florida and Connecticut. ESPN as Virginia Tech trying to clinch the ACC division title against North Carolina. Then on ABC at about the same time, Notre Dame, Stanford. The Irish with a win will get in position where they can be chosen at large in the BCS. Or Georgia, Georgia Tech. Beck's pass is dropped incomplete, and we will have fourth down coming up. You know what's amazing to me? Nebraska comes in here, and in the last eight games played here in Boulder between these two teams, Nebraska is 6-1 and one. Amazing, amazing. Meantime, just updating our security, they had to clear an entire section, restore the order. Nebraska was the top of the Big 12 North at the inception of this divisional play. We're going to show a pressure off the corner here. Washington was sneaking in to come for the block. Here he comes. Can't get there. Another penalty, running into the kicker. Probably be roughing him, and looks like it will keep possession as another object gets thrown onto the field. This one coming from the near side. I think we're getting close to where the game's just going to be called because of all the missiles that are coming down on the field. Well, I was starting to say that section that the referee has to be cleared out. Took quite some time. They finally cleared it out. Now there's uniform presence there. It is personal foul, roughing the kicker on the defense. Penalty is 15 yards and an automatic first down. That entire section where the students were had to be cleared out. If you're just joining us, because of objects being thrown onto the field. There's the roughing the kicker. They're finally able to clear the people out. They've had to bring a uniformed police presence over to the, uh, sideline. Great city, a wonderful university, and, uh, because of the act of more than a couple of, about, you know, 25, 35 people who've thrown objects, uh, just really put a black mark here on, uh, a wonderful weekend and a great slate of college football. What a nightmare for the Buffalo today. They came out and it looked like they were going to do something. First play, 45 yards. Their next 50 plays, just over a hundred.

[Applause]

Wrong football in there. I think they threw in a Colorado football. Perhaps each team brings its own footballs to the game. Get the right ball in there. You're right. That first play run it down the field with Hugh Charles. Kick the field goal up. Three nothing. Nothing since. Peck back at it. Throws into double coverage and zone coverage, and the pass is incomplete. Hey, why don't we show you the BCS standings, brought to you by Allstate? USC and Texas. It's getting hot at the top there. What a job Fresno State, Pat Hill did last Saturday. Deep into the night. Reggie Bush, over 500 yards of all-purpose yardage. Texas pushed today by A&M. Penn State season done. They're in the clubhouse. First one's in the BCS. You see, USC in their LSU push today, as we see these rivalry games late in the season with so much on the line. Somebody might be a favorite, somebody might be the team likely to win, but you never know what's going to happen. Brandon Jackson, the carry there. And Nitty Li fans everywhere. Still thinking about that last play at Michigan where they put time back on the clock and they Wolverine scored. And Penn State, or they'd be undefeated. Two steps away now. Us, UCLA and Texas against either Colorado or Iowa State. Those games will be back to back on ABC next Saturday. And if the top two teams win them, they will be in the Rose Bowl for the national championship. Job by Jackson, able to maintain his balance and stay in bounds. Yes, at the, uh, 18-yard line. First down. Remember, we have the football tomorrow on ABC. Our day will start with the Maryland-Skins game over in the desert in Southern California. Fred Couples, Fred Funk, join Anika and Tiger. No surnames needed. 3:30 Eastern, 12:30 Pacific on Sunday for the back nine. We'll see you at 1:00 Eastern, 10:00 a.m. on the West Coast for the front nine of skins. Tomorrow, a Thanksgiving tradition continues on ABC. Tell me my guy. Freddy Funk is fun to watch. And does he have fun playing the game? He does. And it's going to be fun to see if Anika outdrives Fred Funk at any point. Fred Funk is one of the straightest drivers. Yeah, exactly. Well, Nebraska takes another timeout. We'll step out as well. 4:02 remaining in the game. So Colorado will wait and watch. I, I read something this week that Iowa State, if they beat Kansas tomorrow in Lawrence, they win the Big 12 North. I read where Dan McCarney's team was scheduled to bus over to Lawrence, and they weren't going to change their time so they could sit around and watch this game. Game's going on long enough, I would imagine they've arrived in Lawrence already. Dinner. But I, I would not be surprised. Cell phones work on buses. I'm sure word has gotten to the bus that Colorado has gotten the job done. No question. They don't. Shot by Jackson, probing to the outside, maintaining balance to get to the 12-yard line. This quarter, Colorado's run four plays. Nebraska's taken three timeouts. 3:45 left. Yeah, Glenn comes back into the ball game. What a job Jackson's done in there as a runner. Got production at it. All four of their running backs today, Ross, Lucky, Glenn, and Jackson. Nice run by Glenn and stop. Well, one thing great did happen at this field today. Don't want to leave before we tell you this. Talk about your heartwarming holiday stories. This was earlier today here in Colorado. John Giden, the senior defensive lineman, proposing to his girlfriend, Megan. Gets on his knee before his final game. Here. This is a guy who's interested in stand-up comedy. That's his main hobby. There's no comment. It was all serious stuff. Megan said yes. And, uh, the proposal happening before the game on the field. Hope he doesn't read too much into this game and what that means for their future. I hope not. It's nice. Seriously, he's a guy who's a comedian, so I'm sure that, uh, it'd be surprised by that whole deal. But, uh, delay game here taken by Nebraska. Y- should be a delay of quarter. This the longest quarter in the history of football. Gives me a chance to remind you that time permitting, we'll have a Thrifty Car Rental post-game report with John and Aaron coming up as soon as we're done. You. Tim. Nebraska's bowl hopes and postseason hopes. There was a conversation coming in of the, the bowl in Houston, the Champ Sports Bowl in Orlando. And that would be important either one to Bill Callahan to get into Texas, get into Florida, a chance for high school coaches to come by and see the program, be around the program, and hear what's going on here. Is Beck throwing incomplete on third down with 2:08 remaining in the game. However, with this victory, Nebraska, very impressive showing, could open up another bowl possibility depending what happens in the Big 12 championship game. Colorado has not looked very impressive in this game. So a lot of the bowls, even higher up, like the Alamo Bowl, will now be in question. What will the Holiday Bowl do? A lot for the, uh, the folks in the funny color jackets to figure out. Independence Bowl, Houston Bowl, and Champs are all here today. Representatives of those bowls. Nebraska is so used to, you know, Orange Bowl, this Fiesta Bowl, that it doesn't sound like the same thing that made people happy. 30-2-yard field goal is good by Kaden. He's hit three or four. Not the same. It made them happy in the past. However, given what happened last year at no bowl, Nebraska, one will appreciate going to the postseason. I think secondly, will benefit greatly from one more month of practice, which comes with getting to a bowl game. Sure. And you know what happens in college football, I think, is so circular anyway. And with the 25-85 scholarship rule, you've seen a lot of parity. So teams are going up, and teams are coming down. Remember the last time the national championship game was played in the Rose Bowl, Nebraska was in it. So, I mean, that wasn't that long ago. And you can see signs now that they're coming back to life. And Bill Callahan certainly hopes so. And you're right about the recruiting aspect of going to certain bowls, and so they'll look at that very closely. Yeah, the 5,000 who came across the border have reason to cheer. They are very proud of what the Huskers have done here this afternoon. Our Chevrolet Players of the Game on this Thanksgiving Friday. Great performance by Taylor and Ross. We'll give it to Cory Ross for his 142. He's a senior from Denver, coming on, uh, back here for his final conference game. And Hugh Charles at 12 carries for 78. In recognition of their effort, Chevrolet will make a $1,000 contribution to each university's general scholarship fund.

[Applause]

Stefan Robinson will take a knee. 2:02 to go. Kansas, who talked about playing that game against Iowa State. Kansas needs that to get to a postseason game as well and be eligible. Well, Mike Pear, Bob Toms, Bob Good, Chris Pfeiffer, Larry Cavalina, lead the names going by. But there are the, uh, the key people on our football family who we've spent every Saturday with along the way. Women and men of our ABC Sports crew, as they celebrate a Thanksgiving away from their families but together with our football family all the way through. Thank you, one and all, for a wonderful 2005 season. So F and Larry down in the truck who led a, a great tour of the country here as we've had a chance to see some wonderful places and enjoy some good times together as a group. Certainly appreciate everything that they do for us. Patrick Williams caught it. All this, all the sacrifice. We talk about the holidays are wonderful to be at home and watch sports, but so many crews, every network across the country, cable, over the air, thousands of people who are away from their families for the holidays to bring you these games that have been becoming or become a part of your holiday experience. Thank you to everyone. Clap. Throwing complete for Vickers, who was tied up at the 26-yard line. Tim, it was four years ago in this game that Nebraska was number one in the BCS standings. They were cruising, and then Colorado came in and walloped them, 62 to 36. Bobby Purify Company running for almost 400 yards in that game, 380. Chris Brown in there as well. Nebraska lost, but didn't lose enough momentum in the standings, thus they remained eligible for that title game. You call? No, and I, and I do believe that that was the beginning of the end. I mean, you could see, especially in the championship game against Miami, they were much slower, they didn't have the same kind of talent. The game was outdated, and that's when the change really started to, to be implanted. I think. Pass down the middle, incomplete, intended for Snooki Qu, the other tight end, who will get an NFL look as well. This will be the worst home loss for Colorado in this series in almost 20 years. Go back to 1982. And we're at fourth and two. What could be the last play for Joel Clatt here at Folsom Field in Boulder. And terrific career. He'll leave the all-time leading passer. Have another game to add to it, certainly. And they might have two more games. They may have to dust themselves off and play in the Big 12 championship game if Kansas can rise up. I mentioned Mark Mangino's team is going to at home try to get a sixth victory. Now the scoreboard's gone haywire, and the clock can't be read. Well, there's one in the corner that says a minute 7 that is running just fine, which we can use. The main scoreboard has gone down, but the officials don't see that. There's one right over there. They can continue to use. The field judge sees it, he points it out to Mr. Castleberry, the referee. How about that? Even the Nebraska coaches are saying, just, we'll use that one. We're okay. Right now, the official time is kept on the field. So, except for the play at the end of the first half, where you were with us, Nebraska got a raw deal on a clock situation where they should have had another field goal attempt, but they did not come back and were adversely affected. They have shut out Colorado here in the second half, scored 10 points of their own to take a 30-3 lead.

[Applause]

Been a tough day for the officials. One questionable call. Not having to deal with the, the situation of having to clear out an entire section for unruly behavior by the students. Vickers catch it, taken out of bounds at the 39-yard line. So Colorado regular season, like Nebraska, will finish 7 and 4, 5 and 3 in the Big 12 North. Huskers will be 4 and 4 in the league. Colorado's not what they do, though. I mean, even with just 61 seconds left, they're still jumping out of bounds, still trying to make catches, still trying to move the chains. Clatt passes caught up to the 48-yard line, but that'll stop the clock as well. So they can move the chains with 54 seconds left. They open 2 and 0, lost to Miami. Their next couple of games, we saw them get soundly beaten in Austin, 42 to 17. Then the Buffs turned around, won three in a row. They were getting into pretty good shape after beating Missouri, but that lost at Iowa State by 14, and will close the regular season with back-to-back setbacks. On the first down, right at the 40-yard line, as we're down to 37 seconds. Clatt lost his, it was mouthpiece or a pad from his helmet as he was hit. I'm watching Joel down there, and he's still going through his playlist, still looking at his wristband, still trying to make this team move, still trying to get on the scoreboard. It's a senior class. Incomplete pass that had gone 20 and 4 within the North, and it really dominated this division of the play. That's Brur. It's going to be interesting to see what the bloggers all say, what the fans are saying about Bill Callahan after this, right? Wouldn't it be nice if with the same passion, the same luciferous nature, nature, people came and said, what a great job our coach did, as they do so quickly when a guy struggles? Well, whether they like the system or not, whether they like what's taking place or not, whether they want them there, I think they have to praise this performance. I mean, this was as good as you could get. This was as good as, as I mean, you designed a game plan, you executed it almost to perfection, you moved the ball, and you scored 30 points. I mean, how can you criticize? Kevin Cosgrove and the defense did a great job. Colorado taking a timeout here with 15 seconds left. That draws a smile from Bill Callahan. Just made him smile quickly as he was, uh, doused with the Gatorade. It wasn't me. You. Bill Callahan has a clue of what to do. He did take a team to the Super Bowl, taking the Raiders to the Super Bowl. The loss to John Gruden and the Bucs, what a tough spot that was, as Gruden knew that Raider offense inside out, as he was the coach. That's why I asked him yesterday, I said, you know, I know you hear all this stuff. Matter of fact, the reporter, his press conference this past week, said, if you were in charge, would you fire yourself? But he's sticking to his guns. He believes this thing works, and he knows it works. First down. So the clock will stop there with 9 seconds remaining. Mentioned all the people, uh, you saw a lot of the people who help us out throughout the year. Thanks to Ben Bulma, Joe Gallen, Chelsea Tub, up here in the booth. 30 timeout. Certainly appreciate what they do. And again, another 30-second timeout taken. Draws boos. Just an appreciation for the process of Colorado here. And obviously, we're all sitting here, so let's go, let's end the game. But these guys are trying to do everything they preach, not give up. If you can score a touchdown, score a touchdown. 30 to 10 might not make a difference to anybody in the outside world, but for these guys, it would get on the board, to get the offense not to be shut out.

[Applause]

First and 10. Platt rolling, throwing end zone, incomplete, and the clock goes to triple zero. That is it. What a great win for the Nebraska Cornhuskers. A much-maligned team and staff of Bill Callahan have come to Boulder and thoroughly dismantled the Buffs, 30-3. Nebraska 7-4, Colorado 7-4. And now Iowa State has a chance with a win over Kansas to get to the Big 12 title game. And here's Susie Schuster with the winning coach. Mike, very much. Good thing your quarterback had better aim than the guys that dumped the water on you. But was that one of the more gratifying dumps you've had? Absolutely. I tell you what, I'm really proud of our kids today, Susie. They, they played so well. They played hard. You know, we're underdogs coming in here, but I'm really proud of all these guys, especially this guy right here. Yeah, 392 passing yards for Zack Taylor, two touchdowns, second in school history in passing yardage. How proud are you of him? Like I just said, I'm, I'm elated for our team first off, our kids. They all played offense, defense, special teams. But this is the guy that led us today. He did a great job in the huddle, great job on the field. Zack, you wore shirts that said "Restored the Order." You weren't here last year when the Buffs were able to take care of business. They brought hammers with them to Lincoln. What does this win mean? Oh, it means everything for this program. And just to be able to come on Colorado's home field and beat them like we did, oh man, that, that, that means a lot to us. Congratulations, guys. Thanks, Susie. Thank you. Happy Thanksgiving, everyone. Congratulations to Nebraska on a great effort, partner. Wonderful season. Enjoyed it. Great job, Mike. Thank you very much. With Susie Schuster, Tim Brandt, our producer, Chris Pfeiffer, director, Larry Cavalina, rest of our ABC Sports crew. Mike too, saying so long. Our final score, 30-3, Nebraska. ABC Sports Online, espn.com, search ABC Sports. Now stay tuned. The Thrifty Car Rental post-game report comes up after this from your ABC station. Black Friday colored red as the Huskers win by 27. And we say Happy Thanksgiving from Boulder.

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