Top 10 Husker losses of all time - #3

Top 10 Husker losses of all time - #3





October 9th, 2004

Nebraska 0 3 7 0 - 10
Texas Tech 7 14 21 28 - 70
@ Lubbock, TX
A- 52,954

"It's obviously very embarrassing," Huskers linebacker Barrett Ruud said. "It was an embarrassment to everybody involved in it. This is the worst loss I've ever been involved in." - Omaha World Herald 10/10/04




How in the hell am I supposed to sum this up? I mean seriously, wouldn't it be easier for me to just say..."Here's the #3 all-time Husker loss....Texas Tech 70 - Nebraska 10. Thanks. Goodnight." Is there REALLY anything I can do or say to spice up a 60 point pounding on National TV? Hell, even my own favorite team...who has sucked for YEARS only lost by that much maybe twice in my lifetime. 70 to 10???? 70? to 10???

When you think about it, a loss is a loss. Whether it is on a blocked PAT in overtime, or a 70-10 bowel spilling to a team with 5 bowl wins in the past 30+ years. Sure unranked Texas Tech is always tough in Lubbock (especially at night), but would it shock you to learn that Texas Tech has NEVER won an outright conference championship. (Since 1955 when they won the Border Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Title. No word if New Mexico Catholic Women's University every contended in the conference.)

Good Lord, where do I begin?

The game started innocent enough. Everybody and their mom knew NU was in for a tough game, especially entering year #2 of the great failed Raiders Coach experiment. Nebraska entered the game sporting a top 10 defense after four games. Needless to say, stats early in the season can be...shall we say...a bit deceiving. Tech got on top early, in the middle of the first with a 22 yard TD pass from Sonny Cumbie to Jarrett Hicks. Five minutes into the 2nd, the Huskers were in a bit more trouble after a 3 yard plunge, putting them down 14-0. The mighty Corn however fought back valiantly, with David Dyches blasting an NFL-esque 46 yard field goal into the teeth of the frenzied Tech crowd.

And then....the wheels fell off.

Tech launched a boot to the crotch with an 80 yard Cumbie TD pass with 1:14 remaining. The Huskers, (I'm sure led by words of wisdom and encouragement from the former NFL wizard Callahan at halftime) struck back quickly in the second half on a 74 yard Mark LeFlore pass from Joe "Montana" Dailey. The Huskers were still in it 21 to 10.

And then...the wheels fell off again.

What happened in the final 29 minutes and 43 seconds can only be described in so many terms. Did you ever see American History X? Dude gets his ass beat trying to steal a car. Then, just as he scared and beaten, crazed redneck pushes him down with his mouth to the curb...and then promptly kicks the back of his skull in. Yeah....kinda like that. It became so bad, that EVEN I started to feel sorry for them. After the score reached 42-10 after a Johnnie Mack touchdown run late in the 3rd, you kind of had the feeling this was going to be a tough tough night for the Hick Nation.

And then...the wheels fell off again.

SEVEN NU turnovers later, NU found itself down 70-10 with 7:14 to go in the game. It was one of the first times in 30+ years of watching football that I actually thought they might call a game due to mercy rule. It was relentless. It was ugly and it was embarrassing. Tech finished the year's biggest blowout with 523 yards of total offense, which is pretty impressive if you consider THREE of Tech's last scores were on drives of 12 yards or less. How many times does that happen?

On the flip side, Husker quarterbacks were a stellar 15-42 for 199 yards and five (yes five) interceptions. I'm not sure if it was trying to learn the offense or whatever excuse Husker fans came up with after the game. Whatever it was, it was a Husker meltdown of near biblical proportions. At any second during the 4th quarter, you almost expected to see the skies turn red and watch the four horsemen of the apocalypse come galloping down the sidelines. But alas, it wasn't the 4 horsemen...just the lone Tech mascot celebrating yet another Tech touchdown.....again...and again...and again...and again. In a related note, animal rights activists were livid following the game, as the poor stallion lay crumpled near it's trailer, after spending nearly 2 solid hours running up and down the sidelines. "This isn't Churchill Downs" an unidentified handler said after the game as he treated the ailing horse. "She's not used to running this much."

Although it doesn't qualify in the top 2 Husker losses of all time, it certainly will go down as the most embarrassing. Hell, even Eastern Michigan would be embarrassed with a performance like that, let alone a team that actually went undefeated a few times. For beating a toothless Husker team within an inch of their life, for humiliating Husker fan like no other team has, for bashing Nebraska's ego against the curb face down, the Texas Tech Red Raiders earn our #3 ranking of the greatest Husker losses of all time.

For an excellent example of what I'm talking about, I invite you to view the following. (A personal favorite of mine. Props to whomever put this together.)














http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w0RabAa9sl8


Tomorrow, "Holding a grudge"