Colorado beat Nebraska after a Huskers DB committed a stunning personal foul

Colorado won at Nebraska in the most thrilling game of college football’s Week 2 so far on Saturday, 33-28. The Buffaloes scored the winning touchdown with 1:17 left on a 40-yard lob from Steven Montez to Laviska Shenault, after tons of back-and-forth.

That touchdown was only part of the story, though. It was made possible by an ill-conceived personal foul that Nebraska defensive back Antonio Reed took just before it. The Buffs faced a third-and-24 from their own 45-yard line, and a Montez pass fell incomplete. But a late hit by Reed on receiver Jay MacIntyre netted CU 15 yards and an automatic first down:

Instead of facing fourth-and-24, Colorado moved up and had a wealth of options. Facing press coverage, Shenault got free for the winning score on the next play.

Nebraska freshman quarterback Adrian Martinez had a brilliant game, completing 15 of 20 passes for 187 yards, a touchdown, and an interception, and running 15 times for 117 yards and two more scores. (He also lost a fumble.) A Martinez injury late in the fourth quarter forced the Huskers to play walk-on backup Andrew Bunch, who guided them to the CU 20 on the final drive of the game but couldn’t finish it off with a touchdown to win.

Below, a chronology of the game:

CU 33, NU 28

A false start on Nebraska backs the Huskers up to the Colorado 26, as walk-on Andrew Bunch tries to win the game. That penalty came with a 10-second runoff, which the Huskers avoided (with 19 seconds left) by using their last timeout.

CU 33, NU 28

With walk-on Andrew Bunch at QB, the Huskers are trying to mount a game-winning touchdown drive. Adrian Martinez won’t return to the game, ABC reported.

CU 33, NU 28

Touchdown, Colorado. A 40-yard heave down the right sideline from Steven Montez to Laviska Shenault with 1:06 on the clock. Antonio Reed’s personal foul moments earlier gave the Buffaloes a chance, and they didn’t miss it.

CU missed the two-point conversion.

NU 28, CU 27

Nebraska’s Antonio Reed just made the error of the game. After Colorado had an incomplete pass on third-and-24 from midfield, a high hit on CU’s Jay MacIntyre went for a 15-yard personal foul that wasn’t called targeting. (It was ruled an unnecessary hit against a defenseless player. Colorado’s now at the Nebraska 40 after a 15-yard penalty.

1:14 left.

NU 28, CU 27

Colorado quarterback Steven Montez just got sacked for the seventh time, this one at the hands of Nebraska’s Ben Stille. (Nebraska only had 14 sacks as a team in all of 2017.)

Colorado faces a third-and-19 at midfield with 1:18 left.

NU 28, CU 27

Spelling an injured Adrian Martinez, walk-on Nebraska QB Andrew Bunch almost converted on a third-and-16, but JD Spielman lost the ball trying to reach for a first down, leading to an incomplete-pass call and a Nebraska punt. Now the Buffaloes are driving, approaching midfield. Any points on this drive would put them ahead.

Inside two minutes to play.

NU 28, CU 27

Adrian Martinez is injured after he appeared to get twisted up while some Buffaloes tackled him. The Huskers earned a holding penalty on the same play, a 1-yard run over right end.

Sophomore walk-on Andrew Bunch is in for Nebraska, facing first-and-20 with 3:29 left.

NU 28, CU 27

Colorado’s James Shenault just missed his second field goal of the half — this one from 43 yards, right after a CU interception gave the Buffs a great shot to take the lead. Stefanou’s missed from 37, too, after hitting from 40 and 35 earlier.

4:49 to play. Nebraska ball at its own 26.

NU 28, CU 27

Adrian Martinez makes his first big mistake since the first quarter: an interception right into the arms of Colorado linebacker Nate Landman, who runs it back to the Huskers’ 32.

5:58 on the clock.

NU 28, CU 27

Another fourth-and-short stop, this one by Nebraska. Colorado turns the ball over on downs with six minutes to play, trailing by a point, and the Huskers get the ball at midfield.

Four drives in a row in this game have ended with either missed field goals or turnover on downs.

NU 28, CU 27

The back-and-forth continues. The Huskers just got stuffed on a fourth-and-1 at the Colorado 42, and now the Buffaloes have great field position.

7:16 to play in Lincoln.

NU 28, CU 27

With 10 minutes to play, Colorado’s James Stefanou just missed a 37-yard field goal wide left. The Huskers missed one on their last drive, too, from 43 yards.

NU 28, CU 27

Colorado might’ve just gotten a hell of a break. On a fourth-and-2 from the Buffaloes’ 46, two Huskers converged on Laviska Shenault right before the first-down marker.

Officials gave Shenault the spot for a first down, though it didn’t look like they should’ve in real time. A video review didn’t overturn it, and the Buffs march on.

NU 28, CU 27

Nebraska’s Barret Pickering sent a 43-yard field goal try wide right, and Colorado’s got the ball with 14-some odd minutes left, approaching its own 40.

A couple of Nebraska receivers and one Colorado DB had a chance to catch an Adrian Martinez lob in the end zone on the last play of the quarter, but nobody did.

The Huskers will start the fourth quarter up one, facing second-and-10 from the CU 31.

NU 28, CU 27

What a drive by Colorado to get back within a point. Coach’s son Jay MacIntyre finished a 75-yard, 11-play march with an 8-yard touchdown catch on a sort-of screen pass to the flat.

Mike MacIntyre decided not to chase a two-point conversion with 16:30 left to play.

NU 28, CU 20

Facing a third-and-19 from their own 16 and the likelihood of a sixth three-and-out in 10 drives, Steven Montez found Juwann Winfree near the marker, and Winfree basically backed into a first down. The Buffaloes march on, though left tackle Josh Kaiser walked off injured after the play. Redshirt freshman William Sherman replaced the senior Kaiser.

NU 28, CU 20

Adrian Martinez doesn’t just run. He throws. And he just threw a 57-yard bomb to JD Spielman for a touchdown, giving the Huskers their biggest lead of the game.

Martinez is 13 of 15 passing for 172 yards, that TD, and no picks. He’s run 11 times for 79 yards and two scores. What a day.

NU 21, CU 20

Colorado just went three-and-out for the fifth time in nine series today. The other four series have all resulted in points. This is very much an all-or-nothing kind of day.

Nebraska starts at its own 20 with 7:52 in the quarter.

NU 21, CU 20

The Buffaloes got a stop after cutting the Huskers’ lead to one. Now they’ll get the ball, starting at their own 41 with a great chance to go back ahead.

NU 21, CU 20

Colorado’s offense hasn’t broken through in a while, but the Buffaloes did just put together their second field-goal drive in a row. James Stefanou adds a 35-yarder to his 40-yarder before halftime, and the Buff deficit is just a point.

NU 21, CU 17

The Buffaloes are on the move, at least. Steven Montez and Jay MacIntyre connected for a 12-yard completion on a third-and-7 at the beginning of the half. After CU went first down-less on four of seven first-half drives, any movement at all is a building block.

All in all, a good half for Scott Frost and company. Nebraska lost fumbles on its first two drives, and both of those giveaways led to Colorado touchdowns (one with a long field, one with a short field). The Huskers don’t just get to erase those, but if you’re willing to set them aside for the sake of evaluation, they were the far better team outside of their turnovers.

Nebraska is putting up a fine 7.2 yards per play and only letting up 4.1. (The total margin is 329-139.) Adrian Martinez is 9 of 11 passing for 86 yards and a 147.5 rating, which is perfectly smooth, and the Martinez-led running game is getting 6.9 yards per carry. Martinez (eight carries for 86 yards and two TDs) and Greg Bell (nine for 80) have both been dangerous. Stanley Morgan Jr. has three catches for 45 yards.

0:28: NU 21, CU 17

Colorado finally moved the ball a bit on this drive, after four three-and-outs in a row. The Buffaloes strung together three first downs and went 52 yards in 11 plays. James Stefanou hit a 40-yard field goal with 28 ticks left in the half. That’s the first movement the Buffs have mustered since early in the first quarter, when they picked up two Husker fumbles.

1:38: NU 21, CU 14

Colorado just got its first first down in five possessions. Hooray!

2:24: NU 21, CU 14

Nebraska’s been dominating this game for a while, and now the Huskers have their first lead. An eight-play, 79-yard drive concludes with an Adrian Martinez 3-yard TD run.

Colorado hasn’t gotten a first down since around midway through the first quarter.

4:59: CU 14, NU 14

Colorado’s offense has gone three-and-out and punted four times in a row. After two game-opening touchdown drives following fumbles, the Buffs haven’t done squat.

And following the latest, NU’s Greg Bell ran 45 yards to the CU 30.

7:05: CU 14, NU 14

On a fourth-and-2 at Colorado’s 32, the Buffs’ defense stacked up Devine Ozigbo in the backfield. The visitors needed that desperately.

8:59: CU 14, NU 14

The Colorado offense can’t get into gear at all. Three consecutive series have now ended in three-and-outs and punts, with the Buffs gaining 13 yards in nine plays.

Nebraska starts at its own 46. It’s the second series in a row Nebraska’s started at least that far upfield, having taken it at its own 48 before its last TD drive.

10:14: CU 14, NU 14

Tie game on a Nebraska touchdown. After a 19-yard pass from Adrian Martinez to Stanley Morgan Jr. — following a great escape from the pocket by the freshman QB — Devine Ozigbo ran in from 8 yards out. The Huskers have out-gained Colorado 241 yards to 101 and been the far better team, save for the two fumbles they gave up that led to two TDs.

13:02: CU 14, NU 7

This game’s last three drives have produced one first down and three punts. The latest, off the foot of Coloado’s Davis Price, was downed at the Nebraska 48.

14:54 CU 14, NU 7

Things have started to favor the two defenses in this game, which have now traded stops. After a Nebraska punt, the Buffaloes start at their own 13, up a touchdown.

0:00: Colorado 14, Nebraska 7

2:32: CU 14, NU 7

Good news for the Huskers: they got a stop after Adrian Martinez scored their first touchdown of the Scott Frost era.

Bad news for the Huskers: A block in the back on the return (one of two that got flagged) pushed them back to their own 10 to start the next drive.

3:47: CU 14, NU 7

Touchdown, Huskers. It’s Adrian Martinez, the true freshman quarterback, galloping 41 yards off a zone read and somersaulting inside the left pylon.

Martinez is a really good athlete.

6:47: CU 14, NU 0

Touchdown, Buffaloes. Laviska Shenault’s 3-yard run on fourth-and-1 capped a 24-yard drive that started when Nebraska QB Adrian Martinez lost a fumble. Things could be going better for the home team, which has given up 14 points in 8:13 off two fumbles.

8:29: CU 7, NU 0

The Huskers just lost a fumble for the second possession in a row. Freshman quarterback Adrian Martinez coughed it up while diving forward on a run, and the Buffs take over at the Nebraska 29. What an ugly start for Scott Frost’s team.

9:00: CU 7, NU 0

And the Buffaloes strike first. Steven Montez threw a 3-yard touchdown pass to Jay MacIntyre, the son of CU head coach Mike MacIntyre, to cap an eight-play, 86-yard drive after the Huskers’ game-opening possession stalled with a fumble at the Buffs’ 13.

This trick play highlighted the drive — a sweep run to the left that became a reverse back to the right, then a toss-back to Montez, who found Laviska Shenault for 28 yards:

14:47: CU 0, NU 0

The Huskers received the opening kickoff and have moved across midfield on their opening drive with a nice Adrian Martinez run.

15:00: CU 0, NU 0

Kickoff’s coming up shortly after 3:30 p.m. ET at Memorial Stadium.