No. 10 Ohio State avoided an upset loss at home to Nebraska on Saturday, coming back from a five-point halftime deficit to win 36-31. The Buckeyes’ performance will do absolutely nothing to put to rest questions about Ohio State’s future, but it does keep them alive in the Big Ten and Playoff races for now.
The worst kickoff in ages was the highlight of Nebraska’s near-upset of Ohio State
The Huskers mounted a nifty upset bid for a while.
The second half was pretty standard — Ohio State outplaying a 2-6 team and pulling away gradually to avoid the shocker. But let’s talk about some things that happened during the first half, one of the more calamity- and controversy-packed halves of the season.
Nebraska’s Caleb Lightbourn had a kickoff literally travel backward, before rolling 1 yard in front of the line of scrimmage and being downed.
I don’t say this to exaggerate or be mean: It’s the worst kickoff I’ve ever seen, and I’m reasonably confident it will be the worst kickoff you’ve ever seen, too. Look at it:
If I could pause that and enhance it for you, here’s a breakdown of the film;
Here’s another angle to help you appreciate the spectacle more fully:
It appears to have been an attempted onside kick. Those can sometimes go horribly awry. The Steelers’ Chris Boswell had this happen to him a few years ago:
Reasonable people could consider this kick and that kick to be tied.
The Huskers endured other shenanigans of their own making, including a blocked punt for a safety and a terrible turnover.
Amazingly, Ohio State didn’t take immediate advantage of the Huskers kicking off 1 yard to their own 31. Emphasis on immediate advantage.
The Buckeyes turned the ball over on downs in four plays and gave the ball directly back to the visitors. But Ohio State did block a Nebraska punt four plays later and get a safety out of it, as the Huskers’ special teams ineptitude ultimately caught up to them.
Later, they committed a turnover on this unfortunate exchange between Adrian Martinez and JD Spielman, who’d been his intended target on a lateral:
The half also had two targeting controversies go in Nebraska’s favor. Ohio State safety Jordan Fuller did get tossed for this hit:
The rule’s a little more complicated than this, but two types of hits are targeting:
- Forcible hits with the crown of the helmet
- Forcible hits to the head/neck area of a “defenseless” opponent
The latter is why Fuller got thrown out of the game on this play. A player attempting to catch a pass (like Nebraska’s Kurt Rafdal on this play) is, by definition, defenseless. And fuller did hit him around the head/neck, albeit with his shoulder and not his helmet.
There’s no reason at all to think Fuller wanted to hit Rafdal in the head here. He was trying to put a hit on a guy trying to catch a pass. If you don’t think players should be ejected for hits that don’t appear to have any ill will, that’s a totally fair view of the targeting rule.
But Nebraska’s Jahsen Wint did not get tossed for this hit on Johnnie Dixon.
Wint hit Dixon hard and near his head, but doesn’t lead with the helmet crown. So whether this hit is targeting under the rule comes down to whether Dixon is “defenseless.”
The officiating crew ruled that Dixon become “a runner” and thus wasn’t defenseless. Receivers are, again, considered defenseless when they’re trying to catch a pass, but they’re not considered defenseless when they’ve assumed a ball-carrying posture.
It’s cool if you don’t think this is a fair rule, or if you think it should be improved. But that’s why both calls were made under the rule as it is.
The Buckeyes overcame the calls and played better in the latter part of the game anyway.
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