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BOULDER, Colo. - As Bill Callahan walked off Folsom Field on Friday afternoon, a man wearing a red Nebraska coat raised his sign: "Adios Bill Callahan."
It offered a hint of what was to come the next morning, when Callahan was fired as the Cornhuskers' head coach after four seasons.
The Huskers' 65-51 loss to Colorado sealed the fate of Callahan, whose squad finished with a 5-7 record and didn't qualify for a bowl game for the second time in four years.
"They've been great years," Callahan said after the game. "I have no regrets of being here at Nebraska."
The Huskers' final game under Callahan was one in which they racked up 393 yards of total offense in the first two quarters to take a 35-24 lead into halftime.
But it was also a game in which Colorado (6-6, 4-4 Big 12 Conference) scored 34 unanswered points in the second half to dash any Husker hopes of a bowl bid.
The Buffaloes' first score of the second half came when NU junior quarterback Joe Ganz threw an interception that Colorado's Jimmy Smith returned 31 yards for a touchdown with 10 minutes, 26 seconds left in the third quarter.
Only seven seconds ticked off the clock before Ganz threw his second interception, a ball that bounced off the hands of NU junior wide receiver Nate Swift before ricocheting to Colorado's Lionel Harris.
Four plays later, the Buffs scored another touchdown to go up 38-35. They never relinquished the lead, taking advantage of Nebraska's three second-half interceptions and a blocked punt that led to another Colorado touchdown.
"Things just weren't going our way," Swift said. "We had tipped balls and we were getting picked off. Everything was going the wrong way, and it snowballed on us."
Ganz was 31-of-58 passing for 484 yards, the second-best passing performance in school history behind his 510-yard game against Kansas State on Nov. 10, but he had three interceptions. Meanwhile, Colorado quarterback Cody Hawkins finished 17-of-29 through the air for 241 yards with no interceptions.
The Huskers (5-7, 2-6 Big 12), wearing all-white uniforms for the first time since the 2002 Independence Bowl, finished with 610 total offensive yards to the Buffs' 518. But turnovers and mistakes were Nebraska's undoing.
"If the momentum's not in your corner, you've got to be able to go back and get it," said NU sophomore defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh. "We obviously didn't make any plays or do anything to get that momentum back on our side."
Nebraska added a pair of touchdowns and two-point conversions in the final 2:08 of the game, but it was too late.
As the final seconds ticked off the clock, some of Colorado's student section ran onto the field to celebrate the Buffs' bowl eligibility. Callahan shook hands with CU Coach Dan Hawkins at midfield before heading stone-faced toward the end zone, surrounded by a swarm of cameras and media.
The man with the red coat held aloft his farewell sign, and Callahan entered Nebraska's locker room to deliver his final post-game speech as the Huskers' coach.
"I told them I love them; I love each and every one of them," Callahan said. "They're great kids, and you learn a lot of life lessons going through a season like this. They gave everything they could and it wasn't enough. As a coaching staff you do the best you can.
"These are lessons you learn now, and you'll take them with you forever."
BENGOULDSMITH@DAILYNEBRASKAN.COM
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