Michigan State denies it did anything wrong. Nebraska head coach Bo Pelini, on the other hand, isn't so sure.
During the Big Ten's weekly press conference, Pelini was asked why there was confusion between his nephew and center Mark Pelini and quarterback Tommy Armstrong.
"There were a couple times when the opposing team clapped," Pelini said, per Joe Rexrode of the Detroit Free Press. "And our center heard a clap and so he snapped the football."
The conversation that has been sparked since has been fondly termed "Clapgate." Is Pelini justified in his frustration? The answer is yes.
According to Sam McKewon of The Grand Island Independent, when reviewing film, it appears that MSU linebacker Ed Davis was clapping. Positioned to Armstrong and Pelini's right, the claps prompted Mark Pelini to snap the ball.
Michigan State head coach Mark Dantonio dismissed the claim, per Rexrode:
We have different ways we have to move that front. Some of that is in clapping, some of it is in all kinds of hand signals for us. ... In an environment like we had here, (the center) he needs to look at the quarterback, I guess. I don't know. ... From my perspective, we have the opportunity to move our people any way we want to move them.
However, the question does come up of whether the claps used by the defense violates an NCAA rule. Rexrode found the specific rule, which addresses pre-snap defensive regulations. According to Rule 7, Section 1, Article 5, Subpart A, "No player shall use words or signals that disconcert opponents when they are preparing to put the ball in play. No player may call defensive signals that simulate the sound or cadence of (or otherwise interfere with) offensive starting signals. An official shall sound his whistle immediately."
Since the officials did not make any calls against MSU's defensive clapping, Pelini requested clarification from the Big Ten office. Big Ten spokesman Scott Chipman addressed the concerns, confirming that clapping is not a part of the rule.
"In general, if a player is using words or signals to disconcert an opponent, there would be a warning and then a penalty if it continued," Chipman said, per a recent Rexrode article for the Lansing State Journal.
That doesn't mean Pelini didn't have a right to be frustrated. The poor communication resulted in a fumble on fourth down and a failed two-point conversion. That wouldn't make any head coach happy.
Plus, Pelini wasn't upset when addressing the snap-count question on the Big Ten conference call. He was simply saying he wanted clarification. Since the Big Ten's response, Pelini hasn't commented further, which would imply he's moved on.
Going forward, Pelini knows he and his team will need to be prepared, as reported by Brian Christopherson of the Lincoln Journal Star:
It isn't the first time it’s ever happened. ... You would hope that they would catch it. But, you know, it went past them, and we need to make adjustments to make sure that doesn't happen again. We need to make sure we're on the same page.
If anything, Clapgate has been a good learning lesson for the Huskers. In the fourth quarter, Nebraska did implement a silent snap count.
Snap counts might be something the team needs to practice more over the bye week. As the Huskers prepare for more tough environments in the future, the issue could come up again. Knowing how to adjust to the situation will be key.
So, it's fine to be frustrated now. It's how the Huskers respond going forward that matters most.
Read more Big Ten Football news on BleacherReport.com