Painful Losses

Prior to kicking OSU’s ass, 55-24, Iowa fans thought that we might have wasted some Kinnick mojo when PSU won as time expired on a 4th down touchdown from Trace McDouchey. Do you remember a time when you came into a game figured you’d get your as kicked, convince yourself that your team would win add the game played out, only to get kicked in the nuts at the end?

Beez: My other fav team, App State, did exactly this three(?) years ago. Opening weekend at a top 10 “we’re back now!” Tennessee team where I think App was like a 30 point underdog. Great defense kept App in it all game, and as time ticked away, I started to believe more and more they could actually pull a huge upset. They missed several kicks in the game, each of which felt like the beginning of the end. Somehow, they made it to the end of regulation tied and won the flip in OT. On a third down at the goal line, App caused the QB to fumble on a run just before the end zone. Somehow the ball bounced straight back up off the ground and Tennessee recovered in the end zone. Right in the App State nuts.

Oh and that time Wisconsin drove down the field for a game winning FG on the road against what was supposed to be a good opponent, only to somehow blow the kneel down play and/or get Pac12’d. That was a real nut kick ending

Candy: Every game we’ve played against a team ranked in the top 15 for the last decade or so.

[Editor’s Note: I hadn’t gotten any response this week from any UNL writers, so I prompted them to see if they had any thoughts on the 1 second game.]

BRT: Too soon.

But hey look, Stew finally wrote the Nebraska hate piece. Owie. :disappointed:

Boilerman: All of these questions are too soon. It’s like Stew is trying to free repressed memories to release Iowa hate for Friday.

Purdue vs. OSU in 2012 is the one that comes to mind. Like so many Purdue teams from those years, they had zero business being in that game. The Buckeyes were simply better in every measurable way. Yet, Purdue went into the shoe, hung with Urbz and Co., and led for large chunks of the game. When Braxton Miller went down, I figured game over, but no. Kenny Guiton came in, got the TD, forced OT, and Purdue lost in another heartbreaker.

MNW: ‘Cats-OSU, either in the Gameday game of 2013, or the game at the Shoe in 2016. Fuck. Dumb dumb dumb fucking dumb. Fuck. I’m gonna get drunk and fight a bush again.

[Editor’s note: WARNING, THUMP RANT INCOMING!]

Thump: Hmmmm.........Well, there’s several candidates here, as we used to habitually put the fear of god into ohio state. from kicking the field goal down 7 points in 2010 to allowing one pass completion in 2011 to going down 28-0 only to come back to 47-35 with plenty of time and then give up two one-play drives...but nah the best example of this is the infamous 2011 Wisconsin game.

Illinois comes in 6-4 on a 4-game skid, wisconsin actually has a quarterback and is ranked #15. Minnesota is our last opponent, but they are so awful that I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that we’ll lose to them (how could we not?) this game is the last chance to stop the 6-0 to 6-6 nightmare I had foreseen during the first quarter of the second loss. We’re pretty big underdogs. Even though I know we have a better chance to beat wisconsin than Minnesota, I still think we’ll get rolled. Since the Minnesota loss is a foregone conclusion, we’re probably seeing the end of the bittersweet and mercurial Ron Zook era unfold right here.

Pregamed with three of my best friends. Started at 7AM. 12 bottles of egg nog, a fifth of orange vodka and a fifth of blue vodka are slain. nevertheless, four flasks are smuggled in. We arrive and of course there’s wisconsin fans around us; many Illini fans have seen enough and won’t show up.

As the game starts with the defense frustrating Paul Chryst’s offense, the wisconsin fans become confused as to why we’re still so dour and sarcastic, as though we’re in on some joke. “Oh ladies and gentlemen, believe me. We know how this ends. We haven’t even fucked up a punt yet.”

After Donovonn Young’s second touchdown put us up 14-0 early in the game thanks to a turnover, I started to allow myself to get emotionally invested again, to the point that I finally let some of it out when the defense forced a punt on the ensuing drive. It wasn’t even a huge deal when we could advance no further.

WOOMP THERE IT IS! Punter Justin Duvernois fumbles the snap at the 2 where it’s recovered by wisconsin to set up a touchdown right before half, but not before Illinois adds a quick field goal to bring it to 17-7.

All through halftime we kept talking about it. If the offense just takes a knee for three downs and punts, and then we don’t attempt to field any punts ourselves, we can win this game. Just run out the clock and do not turn it over again.

The 3rd play of the 2nd half we lose a fumble at our own 30. This somehow sets up a touchdown drive of 30 yards and over 7 minutes. For some reason, Scheelhaase is yanked for freshman Reilly O’Toole, who promptly throws an interception. Thankfully, it’s far enough down the field that they can’t hurt us and with Nate back in the game we start at our own 3, but do nothing. Duvernois has been pulled for wide receiver Ryan Lankford, who can’t get the ball past the 45 even with generous bounces.

An annoyed defense is once again faced with a short field to protects and allows the go-ahead touchdown.

Now, we have to come back late just like we did against Northwestern...so the guy who led that comeback (Nate) is benched for O’Toole again. AJ Jenkins fumbles on first down but Troy Pollard hasn’t gotten the memo about us losing the game and recovers it. Nevertheless, O’Toole tosses another pick to set up wisconsin with another short field. They convert that into 28-17.

Now we’re desperate. Scheelhaase heros his way down the field only to be picked off at the wisconsin 19. They run out the clock, we leave the stadium chanting “NO MORE ZOOK!” and then the tape ends in the line for fat sandwich.

I can’t believe I remember so much of that game.

Zook probably knew he was just about toast, based on the fact that he couldn’t stop fucking yanking starters for no good reason.

Jesse: WHY ARE WE DOING THIS TO OURSELVES FRIENDS... But honestly, for recency bias, it’s either Texas :01 or Oklahoma in the Big XII Championship the next year. Had the ball with two minutes or so to go and just kept being awful on offense. That would of made Nebraska 11-2 and in a BCS bowl heading to the Big Ten with some momentum. LOLOLNOPE

The other game that comes to mind is definitely the 1994 (1993 Season) Orange Bowl against FSU. I think we were two TD underdogs, played out of our damn minds and lost on some awful calls and a missed FG as time expires - with some fireworks to get to that point. It was this scenario embodied.

MNW: Oh. Fuck. Since Jesse responded, amid its epic collapse in 2013 Northwestern was 0-4, yet stood poised to run its Memorial Stadium record to 2-0 after Treyvon Green decided he was a good running back and ripped off like 3 TDs.

Then FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK SHIT DAMNIT WHY FUCK FUCK SHIT COCK FUCKING SHIT FUCK FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUCK.

Aaron: 2014 Penn State against Ohio State fits the bill pretty well. After starting off 4-0 that season, Penn State suffered consecutive losses against Northwestern and bad Michigan. In both games, the offense looked pretty awful, and it was awful seeing how this was the same season as the Indiana game I wrote about in the other potluck. Needless to say, we were not feeling pretty good about our chances against the Buckeyes at home, and when Ohio State got out to a 17-0 halftime lead, the game looked pretty hopeless.

However, in the second half, the Penn State defense took over. Anthony Zettel got the Lions on the board with a pick six, and a second J.T. Barrett interception led to Christian Hackenberg’s lone touchdown pass of the evening. The defense continued to hold, allowing the Lions to tie the game with a field goal in the final minute of regulation. In overtime, it really looked like the impossible was happening when Bill Belton found paydirt to give Penn State its first lead of the game, but Barrett followed with back-to-back rushing touchdowns, allowing the Buckeyes to sack Hackenberg and end the game.

WSR: I don’t want to talk about the 2015 Halloween game against Michigan. Tracy Claeys’ first game as Head Coach without the interim tag wasn’t going to go well at all. The team was deflated following Jerry Kill’s retirement (as evidenced by the dismemberment at the hands of Nebraska the week before), and #15 Michigan had HARBAUGH and was therefore superior.

But then something weird happened. We didn’t get blown out of the stadium. In fact, we scored the first points, and then took an advantage into the half.

And to be honest, probably due to emotions running high (and alcohol running freely with it being a night game on Halloween) we were the better team. We outgained Michigan through the air (WITH MITCH LEIDNER!!!) and on the ground. And we were in position to win the game.

Drew Wolitarsky got us to the 1 yard line with mere seconds left (WHICH WAS CALLED A TOUCHDOWN ON THE FIELD BUT OVERTURNED UPON REVIEW), and we ran the clock down to the very last second before running an odd pass play with a ton of shits and motions, followed by a QB sneak that got stuffed as time expired.

(And just to give credit to the great man, Jim Harbaugh tried his best to stop us from shooting ourselves in the foot. He was racing down the field screaming at a ref to get a timeout as the last play was about to be snapped, but the refs magnanimously ignored him so his defense could stop Leidner and escape with the win.)

I can’t wait until tomorrow’s Potluck when Stew has us talk about the death of our favorite childhoot pet. You were such a good cat, Sigfried.

LGHF: Miranda, we hardly knew thee.

Zuzu: Oh this one hurts. The most painful loss while in conference was definitely vs Penn State in our first year, 2014. Here RU was ready to show the conference we belong, but PSU took advantage of a second half choke job from Gary Nova and rallied to defeat us 13-10. You don't understand, Rutgers fans genuinely felt we were gonna win that game until the last moment. I remember my heart sinking when it started to turn and I thought, "oh my god, we're gonna lose by three." Then sure enough... their game winning touchdown was with 1:13 left in the 4th. AHHHHH