“If Davison, a freshman from Tecumseh, Neb., never catches another ball for the Cornhuskers, it won't matter. Last Saturday his diving retrieval of a deflected pass in the end zone with no time remaining in regulation allowed the Huskers to tie Missouri 38-38. When Nebraska won in overtime, 45-38, Davison forever won a place in the hearts of Huskers fans.”
Those were the words used by former Sports Illustrated and now ESPN.com writer Ivan Maisel to describe freshman wide receiver Matt Davison’s miracle catch as time expired and undefeated Nebraska kept their national championship hopes alive after a 45-38 overtime win at Missouri.
We look back at that game today in our latest installment of 16 for '16 where HOL remembers 16 great play/games/moments in Husker history.
How it went down
Every national championship season seemingly has a moment like this. A moment where you get that one key break or somebody makes an unexpected play down the stretch. For the Huskers, it was a 6-foot-1, 170 pound freshman wide receiver that only had seven catches for 117 yards going into the Missouri game.
Trailing 38-31 with 1:02 left in the game, quarterback Scott Frost drove the Huskers 67 yards on 10 plays. Facing a third down from the 12 yards line with 7 seconds remaining Frost found Davison for the game winning touchdown.
The pass was originally intended for receiver Shevin Wiggins, but the ball deflected off his foot and a diving Davison made the catch as time expired.
“I saw the ball get deflected off Shevin (Wiggins),” Davison said. “It was floating like a punt, kind of end over end. It seemed like it took forever to get there. I dived, and I guess the Lord was watching over me. I was in the right spot at the right time.”
Little did Davison know at the time, but that catch would help him become a Husker legend. NU went on to win the national championship, and without Davison’s heroics Nebraska never would’ve had a chance to send head coach Tom Osborne out a winner in his final season.
"I'm hearing what everybody's saying," Davison said two days after the catch. "It doesn't seem as big to me as everybody else. If we go on to win the national championship, then it will be a bigger thing."
Davison would go on to become more than a one hit wonder at NU, as he caught 93 passes for 1,456 yards. His 167 yards receiving in the 1998 Texas A&M game still stands as a Nebraska school record – none of this though even comes close to overshadowing what he accomplished at Missouri that 1997 November afternoon.
Davison currently resides in Lincoln and serves as the color commentary voice for both football and men’s basketball on the Husker Sports Network. He also does TV work for the Big Ten Network and runs his own foundation called “Creating Captains,” which helps young student athletes build character both on and off the field.
To this day Davison is revered and beloved around the state for his place in Husker history. The “Miracle at Missouri” was given the 1997 ESPY Award by ESPN as both the college football and overall sports play of the year.
They said it
"I dove and had both my hands out firmly, but the ball was just a couple inches from the ground. It was a couple inches from no national championship."
--Matt Davison, Nebraska wide receiver
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"It was kind of one of those days where somebody was going to win at the end and we're very fortunate to have won it."
--Tom Osborne, Nebraska head coach
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"Missouri's a great team, but we couldn't let them ruin our chance at a national title this year. We got ourselves into this jam. Hopefully, we can get ourselves out of it."
--Jason Peter, Nebraska defensive tackle
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"Everybody on defense had their chance to do their ugly duty. We didn't play good. But I told the kids at half time to show their character and somehow we were going to win this game, and we ended up winning it."
--Charlie McBride, Nebraska defensive coordinator
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16 for '16 archive
2008: Suh's INT helps Huskers bull over Buffaloes
2000: Big Red invasion takes over Notre Dame Stadium
2005: Husker run past Michigan in Alamo Bowl thriller
1958: Nebraska's greatest upset victory in program history
2006: Purify, Huskers stun No. 24 Texas A&M
2001: 'Black 41 Flash Reverse' goes down in Husker history
1925: Nebraska takes down the Notre Dame Four Horsemen a second time
1992: Huskers take down Kansas State in Tokyo
2011: Huskers have biggest second half comeback in school history vs. Ohio State
1964: Nebraska earns first major bowl win vs. Auburn
1995: Huskers earn Osborne his first national title with win over Miami
