NEBRASKA OFFENSIVE GUARD Matt Hoskinson (62), Missouri inside linebacker Barry Odom (39), defensive lineman Tim Mittelstadt (79), inside linebacker Al Sterling (48) and Nebraska I-back Ahman Green scramble for Green's third quarter fumble. Tiger nose tackle Donnell Jones (97) recovered the ball.
ANGELA HEYWOOD/DN
OT loss breaks Tigers' hearts
Gameday Notebook
COLUMBIA, Mo. - On a day when the defense couldn't win a championship and the offense could only tie, Shevin Wiggins' foot beat Missouri.
Trailing 38-31 at the Missouri 12-yard-line with seven seconds remaining Saturday, Nebraska quarterback Scott Frost spotted Wiggins open at the goal line. Frost fired, and Wiggins seemed to come down with the ball. But the play was far from over.
Missouri free safety Julian Jones knocked the ball away from Wiggins on the way down, trying to end Nebraska's hopes of victory. But the pigskin bounced off Wiggins' right foot and into the hands of a diving Matt Davison for the touchdown as time expired.
It's already being called the latest immaculate reception.
"It was just a few inches off the ground," Davison said. "I was just hoping they were going to call it a catch. It was close enough that the officials had to make a good call to see that I really caught it.
NEBRASKA RIGHT CORNERBACK Erwin Swiney and free safety Eric Warfield tackle Missouri quarterback Corby Jones. Jones rushed up the middle for no gain with 1:13 left to play in the game, forcing the Tigers to punt the ball and giving NU one last chance.
ANGELA HEYWOOD/DN
"I dove and had both my hands out firmly, but the ball was just a couple inches from the ground. It was a couple inches from no national championship."
As Missouri fans flooded Faurot Field to tear down the goal posts, the public address announcer said, "Matt Davison, touchdown for Nebraska." The fans filed back into the stands and kicker Kris Brown added the extra point to tie the game at 38 at the end of regulation.
Frost added his fourth touchdown of the day in overtime, a 12-yard rush over the right side to give Nebraska a 45-38 lead. The Blackshirts then held Missouri to a three-yard run between two incomplete passes before NU finished the game with rush ends Grant Wistrom and Mike Rucker - both natives of Missouri - taking down Tiger quarterback Corby Jones to end the game on fourth down.
"It was kind of one of those days where somebody was going to win at the end," Nebraska Coach Tom Osborne said, "and we're very fortunate to have won it."
SOPHOMORE ELEMENTARY EDUCATION MAJOR Tiffany Anderson, front, and junior special education major Kati Beach celebrate on the field after Saturday's game.
ANGELA HEYWOOD/DN
Nebraska's run at a third national championship in four years nearly dissipated into the Missouri night sky in front of 66,846. But NU's 45-38 win at Faurot Field moved the Huskers to 9-0 overall and 6-0 in the Big 12 Conference. Missouri dropped to 6-4 and 4-3, but broke into the Associated Press poll at No. 25.
The Huskers did suffer for the close win, dropping to third in both major polls. Michigan moved to No. 1 in the AP poll, while Florida State ranks No. 1 in the ESPN/USA Today Coaches' Poll.
"Missouri's a great team, but we couldn't let them ruin our chance at a national title this year," defensive tackle Jason Peter said. "We got ourselves into this jam. Hopefully, we can get ourselves out of it."
MISSOURI COACH Larry Smith watches Nebraska's final regulation play. Smith and the Tigers were pushed into overtime by Matt Davison's diving catch.
ANGELA HEYWOOD/DN
Nebraska got out of a huge jam in the fourth quarter. The Huskers took possession of the ball with 1:02 left in the game, trailing 38-31. On the first play of the drive, Frost aired it out to Kenny Cheatham for a 27-yard gain to the Missouri 40-yard line, a play Osborne called "critical" to the final drive of regulation.
After two incomplete passes, Davison earned a Nebraska first down at the Missouri 27-yard-line on a hook pass from Frost. Two passes to Cheatham later, NU was on the Missouri 12, setting up the final catch.
In overtime, I-back Ahman Green rushed on the first two downs for a total of 13 yards, putting the ball again on the 12. Frost ran it in from there, giving Nebraska the lead.
"This offense right now has a lot of confidence," Frost said. "We don't think people can stop us. Even today, the only time they stopped us when we stopped ourselves. We just got to clean that up and use it as a springboard for the rest of the year."
Defensively, Nebraska struggled. The Tigers accumulated 386 yards of offense on 66 plays, the most NU has allowed this season.
"Everybody on defense had their chance to do their ugly duty," Defensive Coordinator Charlie McBride said. "We didn't play good. But I told the kids at half time to show their character and somehow we were going to win this game. And we ended up winning it."
The defense played a major role in overtime. After Nebraska scored, the defense was called upon to keep the potent Missouri offense out of the end zone.
"It was like we were reborn," rush end Mike Rucker said. "We'd been playing iffy the whole game. This was the time we either needed to put up or shut up. So we got our game hats on, and we came to play in that overtime."
Rucker teamed with Wistrom for the last sack and stripped the ball from Jones before taking it the other way - just in case the play was still live.
"I was picking myself out of a pile," defensive tackle Jason Peter said of the last play. "I was spitting up dirt and everything out there. All I saw was Grant and Mike Rucker on top of the quarterback, and Mike Rucker was running down the field with the ball."
That was one of the few times NU stopped Jones. Though he gained only 60 yards and scored one touchdown on the ground, it seemed Jones was all over the field. Jones completed 12 of 20 passes for 233 yards and three touchdowns. He was sacked five times for a loss of 41 yards, which was hurt his rushing total. He even got his foot on the ball once.
On MU's first drive of the third quarter, leading 28-24, Jones punted the ball 36 yards on fourth and 5 from the NU 37. Missouri downed the ball on the Husker 1-yard line. The tactic seemed successful, but Nebraska took off on a 99-yard scoring drive to take the lead at 28-24.
"We shut them down pretty well on first and second down, then they'd get in third and long situations, and Corby would pull through," Peter said. "He was the leader out there today.
"We didn't play the best football this defense ever has, but we played well enough to win."
