96-yard flea flicker helps spur Colorado's comeback over No. 25 Nebraska

Nick Bromberg
·College football and motorsports writer
Updated
BOULDER, CO - SEPTEMBER 07: Colorado Buffaloes wide receiver K.D. Nixon (3) runs the ball during the first half of a game between the Colorado Buffaloes and the visiting Nebraska Huskers on September 7, 2019 at Folsom Field in Boulder, CO. (Photo by Russell Lansford/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
K.D. Nixon scored a TD on a 96-yard flea flicker. (Photo by Russell Lansford/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

A flea flicker when you’re backed up near your own goal line? Why not.

With the ball at its own 4 early in the fourth quarter against Nebraska on Saturday, Colorado tried a flea flicker. And crazily enough, it worked for a touchdown as Steven Montez found K.D. Nixon in single coverage.

You can bet Nebraska wasn’t expecting a flea flicker from there. Nor was it expecting Colorado to storm back like it did. The Cornhuskers led the game at halftime 17-0. And somehow ended up losing 34-31 in overtime to the Buffaloes.

The comeback looked like it was over after it began following the flea flicker, which cut Nebraska’s lead to 17-14. Not long after Nixon scored, Nebraska’s Adrian Martinez found Maurice Washington — still facing a felony child pornography charge — for a 75-yard touchdown to push Nebraska’s lead back to 24-14.

But Colorado wasn’t done. The Buffs tied the game at 24-24 after Martinez fumbled. Nebraska took a 31-24 lead on a Martinez TD with fewer than six minutes left, but Colorado tied the game again.

Martinez’s third turnover of the game then led to overtime. He threw an interception on a long heave downfield with 19 seconds left as Nebraska was trying to get in position for a game-winning field goal.

Colorado opened overtime with a 34-yard field goal by James Stefanou. After Martinez took a sack on third down when Nebraska had the ball, a 48-yard attempt by Isaac Armstrong sailed way right and Colorado had a second-straight win over Nebraska.

The game was Nebraska’s first trip to Boulder since 2009 when the two teams were in the Big 12. In the ten years since, Colorado has left for the Pac-12 and the Huskers for the Big Ten as the Big 12 has only added West Virginia and TCU to replace the Buffs, Huskers, Texas A&M and Missouri.

– – – – – – –

Nick Bromberg is a writer for Yahoo Sports.

More from Yahoo Sports: