Murphy’s law – anything that can go wrong will go wrong – is in full effect in Minneapolis this fall.
Prior to the Nebraska game, head coach Jerry Kill already had two seizures and started the season 1-5, including a loss to FCS North Dakota State that featured this play.
But on Saturday, Minnesota’s nightmarish season took an even more surreal turn. Along with the cheerleaders dropping “Goldy” the mascot and a Gopher tackling his own player (see GIF below), Minnesota also found itself on the wrong end of one of the most bizarre plays in recent memory.
With the Cornhuskers facing 4th and 1 inside Minnesota’ red zone, QB Taylor Martinez pitched the ball to RB Aaron Green, who bobbled the ball out of bounds. But instead of the Cornhuskers turning the ball over on downs, Nebraska actually was awarded a first down because the ball rolled out of bounds ahead of the first down marker.
“The play had a backward pass that ended up going forward,” said the official. “By rule, first down Nebraska at the out of bounds spot.”
Nebraska scored a touchdown two plays later en route to a 41-14 blowout.
While we’re still waiting on word on whether While this was the correct call, it certainly seems unfair that a player could pick up a first down by accidentally batting the ball forward.
But if you’re a Golden Gophers fan, you’re probably just expecting plays like this to go against you at this point.
