I’m not as big of a football junkie as I used to be (my fiancee appreciates this, I’m sure). In fact, I hardly watch sports at all anymore. However, it’s hard to not appreciate a great contest between two rivals, especially on national TV during prime time and during a flash flood watch. On Thursday night exactly that happened, and I listened to the Nebraska-Missouri game online here in South Africa.
Nebraska won with a flury of fourth quarter points. They were down 12-0 going into the quarter and rallied for 27 unanswered points to beat Missouri 27-12. Honestly, that was the best fourth quarter performance of any team I have seen.
“So what?” you might ask. Well the irony lies in the fact that ESPN announcer Ron Franklin said of a Missouri t-shirt with a hit-list of Big 12 quarterbacks on it: “They had a Zac on there…I don’t know Zac…the Zac they had on there.”
The quarterback the shirt was referring to was Nebraska quarterback Zac Lee. This was during the Missouri-Illinois game earlier this season in which Missouri quarterback Blaine Gabbert played exceptionally. Against Nebraska? Well, let’s just say that Gabbert looked like a normal sophomore without an “S” on his chest. And now, I imagine that Franklin is eating his words. Lee didn’t play like an all-conference star, but he made the plays when he needed to, and he lead his team to victory.
Great game. Great comeback. That’s what college sports are about.
James Pruch 