Big 12 officiating: Intentionally screwing the Huskers or just plain horrendous????

I want to preface this by noting that I am the definition of a "homer" when it comes to Husker athletics. I love Husker football more than just about anything (Husker basketball, the Cubs, and Kiera Knightly come to mind right off the bat as distinct rivals of Mark's "most loved things").

Now, all that being said, something is going on with Big 12 officials and it is now crossing the line into the realm of being more than just unbelieveably bad officiating. Through eight games, the Huskers have recorded 39 sacks, which leads the country----by six. With that kind of defensive pressure being applied on a consistent basis, you would think that offenses would be forced into quite a few holding penalties. Well, you thought wrong. Husker opponets, through the entire season, have been called for holding ONE TIME. Yes, that's right, ONE TIME (last weekend at Missouri). This is simply unbelieveable, and is becoming downright suspicious in light of the fact that there have been quite a few obvious holds directly in view of officials, and which have greatly impacted plays to the Huskers' detriment (i.e. the obvious hold that sprung K. Jones for a 17-yard TD in the forth quarter yesterday).

I hate to question the integrity of officials as I realize that it is a difficult and oftentimes thankless job. However, the quality of the officiating in the Big 12 this year has been so bad, you have to wonder what is going on. Maybe it's just me, but I have never seen it this bad.

Mark