 "Photo: Greg Blobaum")
There was no shortage of drama Saturday inside Memorial Stadium.
The defending national champions were in town. The stadium-record crowd of 85,187 was extra loud. Snow started falling for the first time all season.
The game itself was one of big plays, bigger mistakes and huge momentum shifts.
But all of it ultimately resulted in one big heartache for No. 17 Nebraska's players and coaches in a 22-20 loss to No. 5 Texas.
"We had an opportunity to close the game and misfortune occurred," NU Coach Bill Callahan said. "Victory was more or less swept away."
With the Cornhuskers (6-2, 3-1 Big 12) leading 20-19 and facing third-and-three at their own 36-yard line, NU senior quarterback Zac Taylor found junior wide receiver Terrence Nunn for a first down, but Nunn fumbled after being hit by Texas cornerback Aaron Ross. Safety Marcus Griffin recovered at the Nebraska 45-yard line with 2 minutes, 17 seconds remaining in the game.
Eight plays later, Texas kicker Ryan Bailey booted a 22-yard field goal with 23 seconds left that sealed the game for the Longhorns (7-1, 4-0 Big 12).
Nebraska regained the ball with 12 seconds to go on its own 24-yard line, but three plays weren't enough for the Huskers to score when Taylor's desperation pass fell incomplete.
"There's a little frustration," NU junior I-back Brandon Jackson said. "We all know that we had the game won, and we let it go."
Texas was effective at shutting down Nebraska's usually potent running game, holding Nebraska to 38 rushing yards on 24 carries - an average of 1.6 yards per attempt.
The Longhorns gained 348 total yards in the game to Nebraska's 340, and 302 of the Huskers' yards came through the air.
"We would have liked to run it a lot more and be more balanced," Callahan said. "But when we got behind, we just didn't have the opportunity to really run it the way we wanted to."
Jackson was a bright spot in the running game, averaging 5.7 yards per carry on seven attempts. He also took a shovel pass 49 yards for a touchdown on the first play of the fourth quarter.
Texas went into halftime with a 16-7 lead, capitalizing on a fumble and an interception by Taylor in the second quarter, but Jackson said the Huskers knew they were still in the game. It was just a matter of limiting mistakes, such as fumbles and dropped passes.
With Jackson's long scoring sprint and sophomore Jordan Congdon's extra point, Nebraska cut Texas's lead to 16-14 with 14:48 remaining.
But the Longhorns struck back on their next drive, marching 77 yards on 15 plays. Although the drive took 8:06 off the clock, Nebraska's defense stalled Texas in the red zone, and the Longhorns had to settle for a 22-yard field goal to take a 19-14 lead with 6:33 left.
However, the Huskers weren't done.
On his first career pass attempt, NU sophomore I-back Marlon Lucky found NU sophomore wide receiver Nate Swift in the end zone for a 25-yard touchdown on a halfback pass with 4:54 remaining to give the Huskers a 20-19 lead. But Taylor misfired on the ensuing two-point conversion attempt, setting up the theatrics to end the game.
"We came out here and battled the defending national champions for four quarters," Jackson said. "We took them down to the last second, so we can build on that."
Despite the loss, NU senior linebacker Stewart Bradley said the Huskers' goals are still intact.
Nebraska is still in a first-place tie with Missouri in the Big 12 North Division standings and in control of its own destiny if it wants to make it to the Big 12 Championship game on Dec. 2, at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City, Mo.
But none of that could provide much consolation for the Huskers after just missing out on a landmark win for the program.
"We weren't just trying to measure ourselves against Texas," NU senior defensive end Jay Moore said. "We honestly thought we could go out and win this game. And for a while there, we had it won."
