 "Photo: Greg Blobaum")
KANSAS CITY, Mo. - Only 48 seconds had ticked off the clock Saturday night, but Oklahoma already had a 7-0 lead thanks to a costly Nebraska fumble.
And so the troubles began for the error-plagued Cornhuskers in a 21-7 loss to Oklahoma in the Big 12 Conference Championship game at Arrowhead Stadium.
No. 22 Nebraska (9-4, 6-2 Big 12) had two fumbles and three interceptions for five total turnovers, while No. 7 Oklahoma (11-2, 6-1) committed only one turnover the entire game.
On the Huskers' first play from scrimmage, NU senior quarterback Zac Taylor connected with junior wide receiver Maurice Purify on a short pass. But Oklahoma's Marcus Walker knocked the ball loose, allowing Sooner safety Reggie Smith to return it to NU's two-yard line and set up the quickest score in the 11-year history of the Big 12 title game.
The Sooners' quick first strike also helped quiet the large Husker contingent among the crowd of 80,031 fans at Arrowhead Stadium.
"You can say that gave (Oklahoma) momentum, and they carried that the rest of the game, but in the big scheme of things we had plenty of opportunities to make plays later on," NU sophomore wide receiver Todd Peterson said.
Nebraska actually out-gained Oklahoma 366-307 in total yardage, but the Huskers' inability to sustain drives and their penchant for turnovers were too much to overcome.
"We squandered too many opportunities on offense to realistically have a chance to win," NU Coach Bill Callahan said.
After scoring in the first minute of the game, Oklahoma found the end zone again in the first quarter on a 66-yard pass from Thompson to Malcolm Kelly to give the Sooners a 14-0 lead.
Nebraska got on the scoreboard in the second quarter when Taylor hit sophomore tight end Hunter Teafatiller for a 14-yard touchdown.
The Sooners went into halftime with just a 14-7 lead, but the Huskers couldn't capitalize on excellent field position with two interceptions in the second half that prevented them from pulling any closer.
Both of Taylor's second-half interceptions came in the crucial fourth quarter.
With 8:53 remaining and Nebraska driving at Oklahoma's 20-yard line, OU's Nic Harris picked off a Taylor pass in the end zone intended for Nate Swift.
The final dagger came on NU's next drive when Smith intercepted another Taylor pass - ultimately ending hopes of Nebraska's first Big 12 title since 1999.
Taylor said the offensive futility was especially frustrating because of how the NU defense played for much of the game in setting up good field position for the offense.
"It's very disappointing," Taylor said. "We kept getting the feeling that we were going to bust a big play or that something was going to go our way, but it just didn't happen for us."
Taylor finished 23-for-50 passing for 282 yards with one touchdown and three interceptions.
Before Saturday, Taylor had thrown just four interceptions through 12 games this season.
The temperature was 28 degrees for the opening kickoff at 7:15 p.m., but Taylor refused to blame the frigid conditions for his inaccuracy. He said the interceptions were a combination of bad throws on his part and good play by Oklahoma's secondary.
Now the Huskers have nearly a month to work on what went wrong against Oklahoma before playing in the Cotton Bowl on Jan. 1.
And after Saturday's costly mistakes, it would seem taking care of the ball would be high on Nebraska's priority list.
"One of our main concentrations in every game is turnovers, and we had too many of them today," Peterson said. "You can't win a game turning the ball over like that. We dug a hole for ourselves today, and it's tough to win when you do that."
