Top 10 Husker losses of all time - #2

All Time Husker losses of all time - #2






September 25th, 1982


Nebraska 0 7 7 10 - 24
Penn State 7 7 7 6 - 27
@ State College, PA
A - 85,304


"The play out of bounds wasn't the fault of Penn State or the quarterback or the coach. But it was one of the all-time lowlights of officiating. It affected the outcome of the game, and we lost only one game that year." - Husker secondary coach and noted whiney crybaby George Darlington to the Omaha World Herald



When you're surrounded by Husker fanatics as I am every day, you tend to get a certain vibe about things. You realize the hypocrisy in their relationship with their players when one day they refer to Lawrence Phillips as, "LP" and the day after he is kicked off the team he is suddenly "That jackoff who sucked anyway and wanted to destroy our program." Remember, these are the same people who cry like a 4-year old girl hit by a bus when Harrison Beck leaves them, only to appoint themselves recruiting geniuses when they land players such as Chris Brooks who screw over other teams on their way to Lincoln.

One thing is also crystal clear however....NO GAME in the modern history of Husker football has pissed these people off more than the 1982 game with Penn State. To THIS DAY, if you even mention Penn State football out loud, some guy with a plaid shirt and a Roundup Herbecide hat within 15 feet of you will lurch to his feat and yell, "That fucker was out of bounds!" Sure, there have been other losses, as we've seen throughout this week and after each one Husker fan has shown a variety of emotions. Husker fan has been sad, Husker fan been down, Husker fan has been encouraged, he's been depressed and even ambivalent...but never has a loss so sent Husker fan into a state of anger, rage and denial such as this one.

Flash back 24 years to a Nationally televised game in the hills of Western Pennsylvania. #2 Nebraska is taking on #13 Penn State in one of the nation's best early season non-conference matchups. The Huskers are led by a plethora of all-American's to be, including junior Turner Gill and convicted drug offender Mike Rozier. Penn State's high powered offense featured the best 1-2 punch in the nation in Curt Warner and Todd Blackledge.

With the Lions up 21-17 in the 4th, a 1 yard plunge by Gill put the Huskers ahead with 1:18 to play, sending thousands of goofy looking fans wearing overalls into a delirium. Not to be forgotten, the previous few years of Husker football started a tradition that would last throughout the 80's and into the early 90's....a decent regular season followed by losing late when it counted. But on this night, it appeared that the talented Huskers would pull off the huge victory on the road in front of the largest crowd ever to watch a Nebraska football game.

Ahhh...but Penn State wasn't done. Blackledge guided the Nittany Lions down the field to the Nebraska 17 with about 15 seconds left to play. What happened next would start Husker fans down the road to perdition. To this day, Husker fans who were as young as 2 years old at the time, will fly into a blind rage that would make Russel Crowe proud at the very mention of the follwing play.

With the clock winding down under 5 seconds, Blackledge hit wide receiver Mike McCloskey sliding out of play at the 2 yard line. Husker players were completely enraged that McCloskey had caught the ball out of bounds. Even Husker head coach Tom Osborne, known as the poster child for calm under pressure, reacted to the play violently, protesting to the line judge, "Hey sir...he was out of bounds. I think you missed that call."

Penn State quickly stepped to the line in the commotion, as Blackledge dropped back. The senior hit tight end Kirk Bowman in the back of the end zone as time expired...again to the outrage of the Husker players and staff, who insisted the ball hit the ground. According to the Omaha World Herald (9/9/02), the classiest team in the nation's running back coach Gene Huey smashed a chair against the Beaver Stadium press box window as various other coaches punched walls and threw notebooks. Even former secondary coach George Darlington told reporters 20 years later that never in his 203 years of coaching football had he seen such a shitty call.

Penn State went on to beat Georgia for the National Title in the Sugar Bowl that year, as one of Nebraska's greatest teams ever had to settle for yet another bridesmaid dress. (One they would wear for the next 12 years).

Much like Saddam Hussein's Iraq who are taught from an early age that Zionists in the west were keeping them in shackles, children in Nebraska are taught at an early age that Mike McCloskey royally bent them over a sofa and fucked them out of a national championship. Walk into any pre-school from Bellevue to Cozad, and the first thing the young child will tell you was that that asshole Bowman trapped the ball, McCluskey was out of bounds and the Huskers should have won title #3 that day. You think I'm kidding? Do it. Even when I asked some Husker friends about this game for this post, they immediately went into a tirade about how shitty the officiating was, and how there was no way in hell either one of those plays should have counted. It just goes to show how one bad call and affect the lives of so many who have so little else.

For taking a soft-spoken and upstanding fan base and turning them into rage-filled crybabies...for giving us a new definition for the word "hypocrisy" (i.e. bitching about a call 24 years later..after winning the 97 national title on a kicked ball) and for showing us that nice fans should always finish last...Joe Pa's 1982 Penn State Nittany Lions have the distinction of delivering the 2nd greatest Husker loss in history.

Tomorrow - "The Granddaddy of them all"

PLUS - Honorable Mentions