[Husker] Penalties Summary

[Andrew Smith]

I went through the penalties to get some idea of their effect (a painful 
exercise, I know, but I couldn't help myself).

= Nebraska's 1st drive =
Penalty -  15 yard personal foul turns a 4th and 2 into 4th and 17.  
Subsequent 5 yard false start penalty pushes NU back to A&M's 31.
Legit? - Personal foul wouldn't always have been called but was not 
unreasonable.  False start was the correct call.  The only possible 
complaint is A&M not be flagged for a similar play later in the game.
Effect - None, since Henery nailed the (48 yrd) field goal.

= Nebraska 3rd drive (when Green replaced Martinez) =
Penalty - 15 yard personal foul plus a 15 yard unsportsmanlike contact 
on Cotton change 3rd and 14 at A&M 49 to 3rd and 44 at NU 21.
Legit? - Having seen the replay, I'm not surprised by the penalties 
since the ref only saw Cotton's kicking.  I'm not sure why two 15 yard 
penalties were given, but it could have been even worse - Cotton could 
have been ejected.  This is situation where the conference should 
consider some action against the A&M player after reviewing the film.
Effect - NU's drive was likely to have stalled without the penalties, 
but substantial field position was lost with which might have cost NU a 
field goal attempt in subsequent drives.

= Nebraska 5th drive =
Penalty - 5 yard false start turns 3rd and 12 to 3rd and 17 at NU's 31.
Legit? - I don't know but I assume so since such penalties are usually 
clear.
Effect - Probably none, since the 3rd down play didn't gain 12 yards.

= Texas A&M kickoff following a FG and following NU drive (6th) =
Penalty - 15 yard personal foul on kickoff and a 10 yard holding call 
later in the drive.
Legit? - No idea.  I haven't see the replay.
Effect - Hard to say.  NU still got 1st downs after the penalties and 
the drive stalled for other reasons, but with another 10-25 yards, NU 
could have attempted a FG instead of punting

= Nebraska's 7th drive =
Penalty - 10 holding penalty changed 2nd and 9 at A&M 48 to 2nd and 19 
from NU 42.
Legit? - No idea.  I haven't see the replay.
Effect - Likely, none.  Green throws an int on the next play.  The play 
choice may have been influenced by being 2nd and 19, but Green was 
passing a fair amount regardless of down and yardage.

= Nebraska's first drive of 2nd half =
Penalty - 5 yard false start turns 2nd and 6 to 2nd and 11
Legit? - No idea.  I haven't see the replay. Do you detect a theme here? :-)
Effect - Hard to say (another theme).  Drive dies 4th and 3 at A&M 46.  
5 yards would have given a 1st down.

= Nebraska's second drive of 2nd half =
Penalty - 5 yard illegal formation penalty turns 3rd and 2 to 3rd and 7
Legit? - No idea.
Effect - None; NU still gets the 1st down but a Martinez int kills drive.

= Subsequent Texas A&M drive =
Penalty - 2 yard pass interference turns 3 and 10 to 1st down; later on, 
15 pass interference penalty turns 4th and 8 into 1st down at midfield.
Legit? - I don't recall the 2 yard penalty, but I think the 15 yarder 
was the call where the announcer said offensive interference could have 
been called.  IMHO it could have been a no call (offensive interference 
seems unlikely), but the call was consistent with the bias that has 
always been shown in favor of offensive players in such situations.
Effect - BIG; A&M eventually kicks a FG to go up 3-6

= Nebraska's 3rd drive of 2nd half =
Penalty - 10 yard personal foul by unsportsmanlike conduct penalty 
against Pelini NU on their 5.
Legit? - I don't know about the first, but the 2nd seems legit (though 
you could argue it was caused by the first).
Effect - None since NU still drives for a game tying field goal.

= Subsequent Texas A&M drive =
Penalty - 15 yard roughing the passer changes 4th and 11 at NU 49 to 
first down.
Legit? - NO WAY!  I have no idea what the official was thinking (though 
I'm sure many of you have opinions).
Effect - HUGE; A&M burns several minutes off the clock and kicks the 
eventually the winning FG.

= Misc. and Summary =
The play where the ref waved off a flag was the correct call.  Waving 
off a penalty isn't as unusual as NU fans would like to think and the 
replay showed (IMHO) no pass int.
I really wish ABC had shown replays of the fouls.
The only clearly bad call I see is the 15 yard roughing the passer.  But 
it WAS a huge call since it gave A&M the game (though without the 
penalty, the game is still a tie and NU still could have lost in OT).  
Most of the other fouls could be attributed to noise of a hostile crowd 
or borderline calls that went against NU, but those borderline calls 
helped A&M get a FG to go up 3-6 and probably cost NU one to two FG 
opportunities.   Also, only two 5 yard penalties against A&M shows not a 
single borderline call went against A&M.

Go Big Red!
Andy