The Des Moines Register from Des Moines, Iowa • Page 24

Page6C Sunday, October 19, 2008 State Edition Des Moines Sunday Register Nebraska 35, Iowa State 7 What went right? Alexander Robinson briefly gave Iowa State momentum when he 1 1 Nebraska quarterback Joe Ganz reaches the ball over the goal line to score a touchdown as Iowa State's Kennard Banks (7) tries to hold him back Saturday at Jack Trice Stadium in Ames. Blowout underscores Iowa State's free fall Scoring Nebraska 7 14 0 1435 Iowa State 0 0 7 0 7 FIRST QUARTER NU: Swift 19 pass from Ganz (Henery kick), 5:27. Drive: 9 plays, 92 yards, 4:32. SECOND QUARTER NU: Lucky 15 run (Henery kick), 8:59. Drive: 11 plays, 85 yards, 5:25.

NU: Lucky 4 run (Henery kick), 2:23. Drive: 9 plays, 71 yards, 5:14. THIRD QUARTER ISU: Robinson 67 run (Mahoney kick), 14:23. Drive: 2 plays, 80 yards, 0:37. FOURTH QUARTER NU: Ganz 1 run (Henery kick), 6:35.

Drive: 9 plays, 39 yards, 3:36. NU: Castille 19 run (Henery kick), 1:55. Drive: 7 plays, 80 yards, 3:53. Attendance: 48,794 Missed field goals: ISU: Mahoney, 40 yards Team Statistics Category Neb ISU First downs 29 11 Rushing 9 5 Passing 18 5 Penalty 2 1 Rushing yards 220 105 Attempts 41 25 Passing yards 328 113 27-37 16-29 Had intercepted 0 0 Total yards 548 218 Average per play 7.0 4.0 Fumbles-lost 5-3 3-2 Penalties-yards 4-45 6-42 3rd-down conversions 7-13 2-13 Time of possession 37:11 22:49 Individual Stats Rushing Nebraska Att. Yds.

Avg. Long LucKy 15 74 4 9 15 Castille 11 70 6.4 19 Helu 6 66 11.0 50 Swift 1 7 7.0 7 Ganz 8 3 0.4 2 ISU Att. Yds. Avg. Long Robinson 11 87 7.9 67 Arnaud 7 10 1.4 9 Bass 5 9 1.8 10 Scales 1 2 2.0 2 Passing Nebraska Com.

Att. Yds. TD-lnt. Ganz" 27 37 328 1-0 ISU Com. Att.

Yds. TD-lnt. Arnaud 16 29 113 0-0 Receiving Nebr. No. Yds.

ISU No. Yds. Swift 8 112 Sumrall 6 44 Holt 5 45 Catlett 2 20 Peterson 4 52 Hamilton 2 15 McNeill 3 39 Jones 2 13 Paul 2 25 Se. Johnson 1 8 Lucky 2 16 Franklin 1 7 Helu Jr. 1 27 Darks 1 4 Mendoza 1 7 Robinson 1 2 Castille 1 5 Punting Nebraska No.

Yds. Avg. Long Wesch 3 106 35.3 50 Titchener 2 78 39.0 46 ISU No. Yds. Avg.

Long Brandtner 8 358 44.8 69 Tackle leaders Nebr Solo Ast. ISU Solo Ast. Murillo 4 1 Ja. Smith 8 4 Asante 3 2 Je. Smith 5 3 Glenn 3 2 L.Johnson 7 0 Potter 1 3 Hunley 6 0 West 3 0 C.Bell 5 1 O'Hanlon 3 0 Banks 4 1 Steinkuhler2 1 Benton 3 1 SACKS Nebraska: Potter 1-8; Sievers 1-1; Iowa Returns Nebraska Punts Kickoffs Ints.

swift o-o TqT Paul 0-0 1-12 0-0 ISU Punts Kickoffs Ints. McDowell 2-17 6-0 mT L.Johnson 0-0 3-39 0-0 Cyclones who played advancing the Cornhuskers to Iowa State's 4-yard line. Marlon Lucky followed with a touchdown run, extending Nebraska's lead to 21-0. "You know, we matched them punch for punch," Ganz said. "Iowa State came out all fired up and we just matched their intensity." The Cyclones showed signs of a possible rally when Alexander Robinson raced 67 yards for a touchdown in the third quarter.

Two ensuing possessions bogged down after dropped passes. A third series ended at the Cornhuskers' 26-yard line when tight end Derrick Catlett fumbled. Another scoring opportunity was squandered when Grant Mahoney missed wide left on a 40-yard field-goal try. "It's just a lot of missed opportunities for an offense," Iowa State quarterback Austen Arnaud said. "Give all the credit to Nebraska they kicked our butt." Comeback hopes were ISU, FROM PAGE 1C terback Joe Ganz finished 27-of-37 passing for 328 yards, including 283 in the first half.

After a few tense moments in the second half, the Cornhuskers rolled to their second conference victory since beating Iowa State 35-17 a year ago. "The players feel themselves getting better," first-year Nebraska coach Bo Pelini said. "If we just stay with it, we can finish this season well." The Cyclones were searching for reasons to be optimistic. "It's frustrating," defensive end Kurtis Taylor said. "We work hard and this definitely isn't what we work for." Baylor beat Iowa State 38-10 the previous week, and the Cornhuskers seemed to pick up where the Bears left off.

Ganz helped Nebraska succeed on six of its first eight third-down chances. His 14-yard pass to Nate Swift late in the second quarter wiped out a third-and-10 situation, raced 67 yards for a touchdown on the second play of the second half. It was the longest run of his career. Mike Brandtner continues to have a nice season, averaging 44.8 Robinson yards on eight punts Saturday, with two being downed inside the Cornhuskers'20-yard line. What went wrong? Problems started when Iowa State began two drives inside Nebraska territory, at the 49- and 43-yard lines, and failed to get any points.

In fact, the Cyclones picked up just one first down in the first 27 minutes. They didn't get their second first down until the Cornhuskers were ahead 21-0. Defensively, Iowa State put on a shoddy display of tackling. Lost in the shuffle Receiver R.J. Sumrall caught six passes, giving him 132 for his career and tying him with Ed Williams (1994-97) and Otto Stowe (1968-70) for fourth on Iowa State's all-time list.

Difference maker Jesse Smith, LB Cyclone linebacker Jesse Smith made two plays that kept the score fairly tight. He recovered a rKsr fnmhlo btn in tho firct 1 half when Nebraska was threatening to take a 28-0 lead. He also made a tackle for loss on third down, giving Iowa State the ball trailing 21-7. He finished with eight tackles. Key number 48,266 Average attendance through four home games this season.

That's the second highest since 1984. Iowa State drew an average of 49,462 last season. I '-l'jWlt-iM vs. Texas Stadium in Ames (Fox College Sports) if, ABOUT THE AGGIES: First-year coach Mike Sherman, pictured, is seeking his initial Big 12 Conference victory after Saturday's 43-25 loss to Texas Tech. The Aggies gave up a total of 100 points in losses to Oklahoma State and Kansas State, ranking them 111th nationally in rush defense, allowing 223.3 yards per game.

PLAYER TO WATCH: Von Miller, a sophomore pass rusher, began Saturday with three sacks and seven tackles for loss this season. The 6-foot-3, 214-pound native of DeSoto, Texas, had a total of 32 tackles and a forced fumble. In 2007, he was named to the Big 12's all-freshman team by the Sporting News after making 19 tackles and nine solo stops. mi -i OOUG WELLSTHE REGISTER squelched when Devin McDowell fumbled a fourth-quarter punt return, setting up Nebraska's fourth touchdown. "On special teams again, I thought we played really well, until we had the fumble by Devin McDowell," Chizik said.

"Bottom line is, we're not catching any type spark to get our team going." Robinson's bolt to the end zone was the Cyclones' only play of more than 16 yards. Iowa State's other 24 rushing attempts netted just 38 yards. "I think the coaches are doing the right thing," said Arnaud, who finished 16-of-29 passing for 1 13 yards. "It's just that we as the offense have got to be able to run the football a little bit better." Cornerback Kennard Banks expanded Iowa State's need for improvement. "We didn't come out with the right mindset and get this win like we are supposed to," Banks said.

"So I think we just need to work on everything." 'i and we just executed. That's one thing we hadn't been doing as of late and it worked really well." Too well. The Huskers under first-year coach Bo Pelini are still a mess defensively, surrendering 52 points to Missouri, 35 to Virginia Tech, and 24 to Western Michigan, and Iowa State made them look like the second coming of the Baltimore Ravens. The "35" on the scoreboard shouldn't cost you any sleep quarterback Joe Ganz is the real deal; the Huskers can pile up points on anybody but the "7" should drive you absolutely bonkers. "Right now," Arnaud said, "the only place we can go is up." It figures to be a long, painful climb.

DOUG WELLSTHE REGISTER Iowa State quarterback Austen Arnaud, left, and lineman Drew Davis watch on the sidelines as time runs down on a Cyclone loss. KEELER FROM PAGE 1C hunt against Missouri. The Big 12 conference is a brutal, unforgiving grind. If Chizik and his staff don't figure out a way to stop the bleeding, this 2-5 bender is going to become a 2-10 hangover. The Cyclones continue to show all the hallmarks of a young team with a young coach, forever teetering between maddeningly inconsistent and hopelessly fragile.

Mistakes linger. Frustration mounts. Two-game losing streaks become five or six, and in the blink of an eye, the wheels come flying off. "We don't have any breaks," Chizik noted, somewhat grimly, when asked about the rest of the conference slate. "We've got a lot of young people playing.

I think this experience, as far as playing time, is great. I think the experience of losing five straight is not great. There are things you can learn out of it. You can learn to hurt." You might want to learn to tackle first. Or block.

The Cyclones rushed for 105 yards against a Nebraska defense that came in allowing 129.5 per game on the ground. Take out Alexander Robinson's mad dash for the end zone on the second play of the third quarter, and the other 24 attempts netted you 38 yards. Good grief. And while we're on the subject, coach, you know that handoff play the one in which quarterback Austen Arnaud holds the ball out Offensive starters: Arnaud, Robinson, Mansfield, Catlett, Dedrick, Stephens, Osemele, Alvarez, Lamaak, Sumrall, Jones. Defensive starters: Parker, Tate, Na.

Frere, Taylor, C. Bell, Je. Smith, Garrin, L. Johnson, Benton, Hunley, Ja. Smith.

Others who played: Se. Johnson, Ekwelundu, Bass, Sandvig, Scales, Banks, Messiah, Singleton, A. Bell, Brandtner, Raven, McDowell, Mahoney, Harris, Schmidgall, Ni. Frere, St. Johnson, O'Connell, E.

Ferguson, Zimmerman, Se. Smith, Haughton, Lyle, Weir, Hicks, Slobidsky, Hulbert, Klerekoper, Darks, Hamilton, Tr. Ferguson, Franklin, Bykowski, Alburtis, Ruempolhamer. The season so far 2-5 overall, 0-3 Big 12 Date Opponent Info Aug. 28 South Dakota St.

44-17 Sept. 6 Kent State 48-28 Sept. 13 at Iowa 17-5 Sept. 20 atUNLV 34-31 (OT) Oct. 4 Kansas 35-33 Oct.

11 at Baylor 38-10 Oct. 18 Nebraska 35-7 Oct. 25 Texas 6 p.m. Nov. 1 at Oklahoma St.

TBA Nov. 8 at Colorado TBA Nov. 15 Missouri TBA Nov. 22 at Kansas State TBA for what feels like six weeks before it's finally retrieved by the tailback? Flush it. Now.

Insanity isn't about trying something that may not work. It's about trying something that clearly doesn't work, time and again, and expecting a different result. At the break, the Huskers had amassed 19 first downs. The Cyclones had two. There's your ballgame.

Whatever was clicking in the first half against the Jayhawks, it's painfully apparent that the rest of the league has already seen and dissected the film. If you had any secrets, they're out. "We just had a good game plan," offered Nebraska defensive end Zach Potter, "and knew the weaknesses of their tackle(s) and their guards,.