By james art Several questionable calls — mostly against the road team — marked the first half of Nebraska’s game at Ohio State.
The most talked about on social media came on the Huskers’ final drive of the second quarter, when NU running back Emmett Johnson appeared to gain a first down near the Buckeyes’ 36-yard line. The refs scored it 38 as the clock ticked down to under a minute before halftime.
Nebraska got a first down on the next play, but not before losing approximately 25 seconds of clock time, given that the clock stops briefly after a team gains a first down.
The Huskers still made it a 54-yard field goal, so the kick didn’t go to waste, but the seemingly bad spot compressed NU’s drive and made a touchdown all but impossible.
Other close calls that were against Nebraska:
» NU believed it had gained nearly enough yards for a first down on its third drive of the game when quarterback Dylan Raiola went up on third-and-seven. The officials flagged Raiola two yards short. Nebraska coach Matt Rhule called a timeout between third and fourth down, presumably to look at the field, but NU ended up punting on fourth-and-2.
» OSU scored its first touchdown on a 40-yard pass from Will Howard to Carnell Tate. Two plays earlier, NU safety Malcolm Hartzog was flagged for defensive pass interference for pulling the jersey of Buckeye receiver Emeka Egbuka. Howard’s pass on that play was 10 yards long, prompting questions about whether Egbuka could have caught the ball.
» On NU’s final drive of the first half — the same one when Johnson was called short on first down — Husker receiver Isaiah Neyor was flagged for offensive pass interference near the Buckeye end zone. Rhule gestured downfield after the call, which didn’t prevent Hall’s long field goal.
Nebraska drew several pass interference penalties against the Buckeyes in the third quarter.