College Football Old School Game of the Week: Nebraska Overcomes 3 TD Deficit To Beat Ohio State

Rex Burkhead accounted for 172 yards of total offense and scored two touchdowns in Nebraska's comeback win.

In 2011, the Nebraska Cornhuskers joined the Big 10 Conference after spending over a century in the Big 8 Conference which expanded into the Big 12 Conference.
Even though they were entering unfamiliar territory, Cornhusker fans were excited by the move, primarily because they would get to see their football team take on the likes of Michigan, Penn State, and Ohio State.
On October 8th, 2011, the Cornhuskers played host to the Ohio State Buckeyes in one of the most dramatic games in Nebraska football history.
The Cornhuskers entered the game ranked #14 but were still licking the wounds of a 48-17 beatdown at the hands of the Wisconsin Badgers the week before.
Nebraska was lead by head coach Bo Peliniwho had directed the Cornhuskers to back-to-back appearances in the Big 12 Championship Game in 2009 + 2010 and had a offense which featured dual threat quarterback Taylor Martinez and running back Rex Burkhead.
Meanwhile, Ohio State were a team under a cloud of controversy after it had been revealed in the offseason that five players, including star quarterback Terrelle Pyror, had sold memorabilia to a tattoo parlor resulting in a five-game suspension for Pryor and four other players.
But that wasn't the worst of it as it was revealed that head coach Jim Tressel knew about the incident but had not reported it to the NCAA.
Tressel was initially given a two-game suspension by the university, which was upped to five games after public outcry.
Then on May 30th, Tressel announced his resignation as Ohio State head coach after 10 seasons which included a national championship in 2002.
For the 2011 season, the Buckeyes named defensive coordinatior Luke Fickell as interim head coach A week after Tressel's resignation, Pryor announced he was leaving Ohio State to enter the NFL.
Pryor would be replaced true freshman Braxton Miller who had helped the Buckeyes to a 3-2 record as they traveled to Lincoln for the first time in school history to play the Cornhuskers for the first time since 1956.
Ohio State got the ball to start the game and were able to drive from their 20-yard-line to the Nebraska 24-yard-line with Miller accounting for 48 yards of offense on the drive(32 passing, 16 rushing)to set up a 41-yard field goal by Drew Basil to put the Buckeyes on the scoreboard with 7:16 left in the first quarter.
Nebraska's Ameer Abdullah would return the ensuing kickoff 36 yards to the Cornhuskers' 46-yard-line which would lead to a 50-yard field goal by Brett Maher that tied the game 3-3 with 5:15 left in the first quarter.
The Buckeyes would get the ball back at their 20-yard-line where Miller would lead Ohio State on a seven-play, 80-yard touchdown drive which saw Miller used his legs to convert on two critical 3rd down situations.
The first one come on a 3rd & 1 at the Ohio State 29-yard-line as Miller ran for 12 yards which was followed by a 3rd & 7 at the Buckeyes' 44-yard-line where Miller picked up 24 yards to give Ohio State a 1st down at the Nebraska 32-yard-line.
On the very next play, Miller found Jake Stoneburner for the 32-yard touchdown to give the Buckeyes a 10-3 lead with 1:51 left in the first quarter.

Ohio State quarterback Braxton Miller only threw for 95 yards on five-of-eight passing, but ran for 91 yards on 10 carries.

Following the Ohio State touchdown, the Cornhuskers drove from their 12-yard-line to the Ohio State 41-yard-line where they had a 3rd & 1 only to have Burkhead to be stopped for no gain, setting up 4th down.
Pelini decided to go for the 1st down, but Burkhead was dropped for a one-yard-loss to give the Buckeyes the ball at their 42-yard-line.
After a false start pushed the Buckeyes back five yards, Miller handed the ball off to Carlos Hyde who exploded for a 63-yard touchdown run to extend the Ohio State to 17-3 with 12:46 to go in the second quarter.
After both teams punted on their ensuing possessions, the Cornhuskers got the ball at their 43-yard-line and were able to drive to the Ohio State 17-yard-line as Martinez accounted for 38 of the 40 yards on the drive which ended with a 34-yard field goal by Maher to cut the Buckeyes' lead to 17-6 with just 2:44 left before halftime.
It seemed that Nebraska was going to get out of the first half down 17-6 as they did not allow the Buckeyes to pick up a 1st down on their next possession, forcing Ohio State to punt the ball back to the Cornhuskers who took over at their 16-yard-line with 52 minutes left in the half.
But on 2nd & 4 at his 22-yard-line, Martinez was picked off by Ohio State strong safety Orhian Johnson, whose seven-yard return gave the Buckeyes the ball at the Nebraska 47-yard-line with 15 seconds left and two timeouts left.
That was enough time for Miller to run for 29 yards, call timeout with four seconds left, and have Basil come on to kick a 35-yard field goal as time expired in the first half with the Buckeyes on top 20-6.
Nebraska got the ball to start the second half but went three-and-out, punting the ball back to the Buckeyes who took over at the Cornhuskers 47-yard-line where it took them seven plays to get back into the end zone as Hyde punched it in from one yard out to give Ohio State a three-touchdown lead at 27-6 with 10:53 left in the third quarter.
Things appeared bleak for the Cornhuskers, especially after they went three-and-out on their next possession, to give Ohio State the ball back at their 12-yard-line with a chance to extend their lead and turn this game into a blowout.
Hyde carried the ball twice for five yards setting up 3rd & 5 when the biggest play of the game happened.
Miller kept the ball and ran the ball for seven yards for an apparent 1st down, only to be stripped of the ball by Nebraska linebacker Lavonte David, who recovered the fumble himself to give the Cornhuskers the ball at the Ohio State 24-yard-line.
Burkhead ran the ball for six yards to start the drive, then Martinez ran it in for the 18-yard touchdown to cut the Ohio State lead to 27-13 with 7:23 left in third quarter.

Nebraska linebacker Lavonte David's strip and recovery of a Ohio State fumble was the turning point of the game.

The Buckeyes got the ball back at their 23-yard-line and were able to pick up a 1st down, but on 2nd & 7 from their 37-yard-line, Ohio State lost two yards and Miller for the rest of the game as he sprained his right ankle.
Miller was replaced by Joe Bauserman, who threw an incomplete pass on 3rd & 9, forcing the Buckeyes to punt the ball back to the Cornhuskers, who took over at their 20-yard-line when disaster nearly struck on the next play from scrimmage.
Martinez handed the ball off to Jamal Turner, who not only lost seven yards, but lost the football, only to have Turner recover the ball at the 13-yard-line.
From there, Martinez took over as he ran for eight yards on 2nd & 17, then hit Kyler Reed for 12 yards and a 1st down at the Nebraska 33-yard-line, which was followed up by a 14-yard pass to Kenny Bell.
Aaron Green would then run the ball for 13 yards to the Ohio State 40-yard-line, which was followed by a four-yard run by Martinez, setting up 2nd & 6.
That is when Martinez found Quincy Enunwa for a 36-yard touchdown to bring the Cornhuskers back within a score at 27-20 with 1:44 to go in the third quarter.
It seemed the Buckeyes got back on track on their next drive as they drove from their 31-yard-line to the Nebraska 29-yard-line until a three-yard-loss by Hyde and two incomplete passes forced Fickell to make a decision on 4th & 13 at the 32-yard-line to either go for it or try to kick a field goal.
Instead, Fickell played it conservatively by taking a delay of game and sending in his punting unit in hopes of pinning the Cornhuskers deep in their own territory.
The strategy worked as Ben Buchanan's punt was downed at the Nebraska nine-yard-line.
After both teams punted on their next possessions, the Cornhuskers got the ball at their 28-yard-line where they drove 72 yards in seven plays, culminating with a 30-yard touchdown pass from Martinez to Burkhead that went with Basil's extra point tied the game at 27 with 7:35 left in regulation.
The Buckeyes got the ball at their 21-yard-line and seemed to have a drive going as Hyde ran for 16 yards on back-to-back plays, only to have Bauserman get picked off on a deep pass by Nebraska cornerback Stanley Jean-Bapiste giving the Cornhuskers the ball at their 22-yard-line with 6:22 left and a chance to take the lead.
It didn't take long for the Cornhuskers to get into Ohio State territory as the Buckeyes drew a five-yard offsides penalty to begin the drive which was followed by a 18-yard run by Martinez that became a 33-yard-play as Buckeyes defensive back C.J. Barnett was called for a face mask penalty, giving Nebraska a 1st down at the Buckeyes 40-yard-line.
That is when Burkhead took over as he ran for 22 yards on the very next play from scrimmage to the 18-yard-line then after a one-yard run, got the ball again and bursted through the left side for a 17-yard touchdown to give Nebraska its first lead of the game at 34-27 with 5:10 remaining in regulation.
The Buckeyes would go three-and-out on their ensuing possession, punting the ball back to the Cornhuskers who took over at their 33-yard-line with a chance to pick up some 1st downs and run out the clock with 4:02 left in regulation.
Burkhead ran for five yards to start the drive, but then lost four yards on 2nd down, setting up a critical 3rd & 9 with 3:13 left.
That is when Martinez took the snap and was able to not only for the nine yards needed for the 1st down, but draw a 15-yard penalty as Ohio State linebacker Tyler Moeller, giving the Cornhuskers a 1st & 10 at the Buckeyes' 42-yard-line.
Burkhead would ran for 11 yards on the next two plays to give Nebraska another 1st down at the Ohio State 31-yard-line, then was dropped for a four-yard-loss as Ohio State called its last timeout with 1:52 left and facing a 2nd & 14 at the Buckeyes' 35-yard-line.
Burkhead would get the ball again on 2nd down and ran for 18 yards for another Nebraska 1st down at the Ohio State 17-yard-line.

Nebraska quarterback Taylor Martinez would complete 16 of 22 passes for 191 yards and throw two touchdowns, plus ran for 102 yards and a touchdown on 17 carries.

With Ohio State out of timeouts, Martinez took three knees to run out the clock, completing the greatest comeback in Nebraska history as the Cornhuskers had come away with a 34-27 win.
The game against Nebraska would be a microcosm of the second half of the Buckeyes' season as they won their next three games, including a dramatic 33-29 win over Wisconsin, but lost their final four games including a loss to Florida in the Gator Bowl as Ohio State finished with a 6-7 record, their first losing season since 1999.
The Buckeyes would hire Urban Meyer to become its head coach in the offseason, who kept Fickell as defensive coordinator, and lead the Buckeyes back to prominence as they would go undefeated the following season but not play in a bowl game as they were serve a one-year postseason ban because of all the transgressions by Tressel and Pryor.
However, two years later, the Buckeyes would become the first team to win the national championship in the new four-team playoff system.
As for Nebraska, the comeback win over Ohio State would be the highlight of their season as the Cornhuskers would drop three of their last five games to finish with a 9-4 record.
The Cornhuskers would win at least nine games for the next three seasons and play in the Big 10 Championship Game in 2012, but it was still wasn't good enough for Pelini to keep his job as he was fired after the 2014 regular season record despite leading Nebraska to a 67-27 record and three division titles(two Big 12, one Big 10) in his seven seasons in Lincoln.