The head referee at the Big 12 championship game has drawn intense dislike from Nebraska fans after he apparently allowed Oklahoma to do what Texas did in 2009 – snatch the championship victory straight out of Nebraska’s hands. In this year’s game, however, Oklahoma clinched a win in three quarters that were added back on after Nebraska attempted to give the game away.

“It was a really painful flashback for me,” Nebraska fan Jacob Rawley told this reporter through his tears. “I was at the game last year when Texas screwed us over, and now this. I hate the Big 12. This conference doesn’t coddle us nearly enough. All we wanted was to give them a final ‘screw you’ before we left, and they took it from us.”

Husker fans nearly rushed the field at the end of the first quarter, necessitating a mass herding effort to get everyone back in the stands. When calm was restored, it was announced that Nebraska would have to play the final three quarters, as well, which came as a shock to many fans. Oklahoma promptly scored 17 points to tie the game. The Sooners went on to score a further two field goals in the course of the game, while Nebraska scored one. The Huskers failed to score a single point in the second half.

Taylor Martinez, who played through ankle and foot injuries but still managed to take a heroic seven sacks on the evening, was careful not to blame the referees’ controversial call to make Nebraska play the entire game.

“It was surprising, to say the least. We thought we had it in the bag at the end of the first quarter, when we had that 17-0 lead. I really did. But our sloppy playing and inability to catch or hold on to the football while on offense probably did the most damage. You can’t blame our defeat entirely on the refs this year, which sucks. Having a scapegoat was really nice.”

Reporters did not bother to ask Tom Osborne, found sitting forlornly in the Lost Children booth, to comment on the last-three-quarters defeat. But Bob Stoops, head football coach for the Oklahoma Sooners, was happy to share his reaction to the game.

“It was nice meeting Nebraska one more time before they abandoned us to deal with Texas on our own. This rivalry has a good history, and it’s produced a lot of great games over the years. I think this controversy over the ‘extra three quarters’ is way over-blown, not that I would ever accuse Husker Nation of being a bunch of ungrateful whiners with too much spare time on their hands. So here’s hoping the Big Ten treats you well, and I pray that Ohio State totally curb stomps you next year.”