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Nebraska fans, media unload on refs over first-half performance

Derek Peterson

By Derek Peterson

Published:

Nebraska didn’t help itself in the first half of Saturday’s game against No. 4 Ohio State but, to a degree, Husker fans will feel like their team was battling 2 opponents on the road.

In multiple spots throughout the opening half, the officiating crew was called into question. What looked to be a clear first down was spotted short. A blatant hold was missed. And then at the end of the second quarter, a phantom offensive pass interference call went against Nebraska that briefly knocked the Huskers out of field goal range.

Here’s the play:

That call backed NU up to the Ohio State 45-yard-line. With 9 seconds on the clock, NU quarterback Dylan Raiola hit tight end Thomas Fidone for 9 yards to give kicker John Hohl a chance. Hohl would connect on the 54-yarder, but he shouldn’t have been kicking from that far out.

“That’s not pass interference on either player. I’m with Matt Rhule there. My goodness,” FOX commentator Joel Klatt said on the broadcast. “Across college football, every single game, … the offensive/defensive pass interference call is just so inconsistent. That is a bad call.”

And FOX’s rules analyst, Mike Pereira, agreed.

“That whole sequence was so bizarre because I kept seeing the clock run when they had the first down,” he said. “I think the official actually got confused with who had the ball. It wasn’t where he spotted it. And then replay should have noted this to stop it and make this correction. Just a bizarre sequence there.”

Nebraska went to the halftime break trailing Ohio State 14-6. The Huskers were flagged 3 times for 35 yards while Ohio State was penalized only once in the first half.

Derek Peterson

Derek Peterson does a bit of everything, not unlike Taysom Hill. He has covered Oklahoma, Nebraska, the Pac-12, and now delivers CFB-wide content.