Lincoln Journal Star from Lincoln, Nebraska • 43

HUSKER EXTRA Lincoln Journal Star Sunday, September 7, 2(X)3 3F prm -f? "I 1 II 1 4 Subject: What can teams do to stop Demorrio Williams? It doesn't seem fair to put a nimble linebacker and line him up outside a behemoth offensive tackle who might have trouble seeing his feet, does it? My suggestion to Nebraska's remaining opponents is to avoid those third-and-long situations. That's when Williams' engine starts to purr. Subject: Why is offensive coordinator Barney Cotton so red-faced these days? Apparently, that straw hat he wears during practice isn't doing the job. Or maybe it's the Huskers' ineffectiveness in the red zone. Three times in the second half Saturday, NU committed penalties inside the Utah State 20, and twice they had to settle for field goals.

Beyond that, Cotton seems determined to let the offensive line try and dictate the action nearthe goal line, and that group isn't winning enough of the battles right Subject: Is freshman kicker David Dyches for real? Four field goals in a game would normally answer that question. But all of his three-pointers were pretty much bonus extra points, as the longest was 29 yards. Stay tuned, and keep your fingers crossed that Nebraska's porous kickoff coverage improves. One injured kicker is enough. Subject: How about that Joe Dailey? Nebraska's future at quar- terback certainly looks bnght.

The freshman (pic- tured at right) had TED KIRKLincoln Journal Star Demorrio Williams (7) and teammates Titus Adams (96) and Lornell McPherson (1) celebrates Williams' second-quarter fumble recovery. Williams forced two fumbles in the game, had three tackles for loss and eight total tackles. ie feel Williams' fury NU's weakside linebacker once again provides momentum-shifting plays for Husker defense 4 6 1 u. 1 enough swivel in his hips to make I Itah State's de- fense look like it was in cement. He also threw a nice pass rolling out to his right.

But before you get too worked up, those fourth-quarter drives generated three points, and he did fumble on the goal line, right? beat Utah State left tackle Donald Penn, a 6-5, 305-pound sophomore, for his first two sacks. Williams hit Cox, jarred the ball loose and recovered at the Aggie 1-yard line with 7 minutes, 38 seconds remaining before halftime. That led to a Judd Davies touchdown run. On Utah State's ensuing possession, Williams again ran around Penn, roughed up Cox and forced a fumble that Titus Adams recovered at the Aggie 35. The Huskers settled for a field goal by David Dyches.

Did Williams detect something in Perm's blocking technique and take advantage? 4 "No, I really didn't, because if you really watch the game, the first three or four times, he really held me out pretty good," Williams said. "I just never did get around him. He was just telling me, 'Hey, it's going to be all night, it's going to be all It was. For the Aggies. "I was just doing whatever I could to get around the corner," Williams said.

"I just thank my teammates for making the quarterback hold the ball a little longer for me to get there." BY BRIAN ROSENTHAL Lincoln Journal Star The secret's out on Demorrio Williams. He's thriving under Nebraska's new defensive coaching staff. He's roaming around the field, toying with offensive tackles and terrorizing quarterbacks. He's making plays, wreaking havoc, causing turnovers. He's a momentum-shifter for the Blackshirts.

Saturday's wreckage: Three sacks, two forced fumbles, one recovered fumble, a pass breakup and eight tackles. Can this possibly continue? "He was in the positions to make plays, and he made them," Nebraska defensive coordinator Bo Pelini said. "Now it will be interesting to see how teams adjust to him. Teams are going to have to account for him, and hopefully we can use that to our advantage." Utah State stabilized Williams in the second half, but not before the Huskers' weakside linebacker caused significant 1 Still no individual 100-yard performance, but this game plan was as simple as it gets. Against Penn State, we should see how far this line has progressed.

Adjustments key shut down BRASSING GAME BJammal Lord was an unspec- tacular 8-for-12, but had no costly throws. If he had led Ross Pilkington a bit less on the fade throw to the back of the end zone in the second quarter, this grade might've even been better. AGAINST THE RUN Don't just look at the fact Utah State was held to 60 yards on 23 carries. The Huskers had four Williams beat tackle Brenen Burn-ingham, as well as guard Greg Vander-made, for his third sack a nine-yard loss shortly before halftime. That tied the school record for sacks by a linebacker.

The last to accomplish the feat was LeRoy Etienne against Oklahoma in 1988. Williams was also the first Husker at any position to record three sacks in a game since Steve Warren against Texas in 1999. "I think what we're doing now is pretty smart with him," Ruud said. "Definitely in the running game, he plays that weakside spot, where people kind of occupy blockers and let him fly to that ball. He's a great open field tackier.

"And third downs, he's probably beK ter suited to rush the passer than drop into coverage. He was coming off the edge with some fury today." Williams doesn't care where he plays. "I just let the coaches step in and look at film on the people. I just let them make the call," he said. "My thing is, I just have to keep playing hard, just doing what I have to do to contribute to this team." Reach Brian Rosenthal at 473-7436 or brosenthaljournalstar.com.

of Aggies BETH ROONEYLincoln Journal Star State's Barry Tolli in the second quarter. After two games under a new staff, he has no doubts Nebraska will have a solid plan even if it takes a few series to develop. "They study film and they know how to put players in the right spots," he said of the coaches. Pelini admitted that Utah State's unorthodox style made him nervous. It's why he decided to keep his defensive plan simple.

"At the same time I wondered, 'Do I have he said. And maybe he didn't. But from where I sat, Plan looked a lot more complex than a crossing of the fingers and a hope that things would work out. Reach Curt McKeever at 473-7441 or cmckeeverjournalstar.com. LORD damage in Nebraska's 31-7 victory.

"He was the difference maker today," Utah State wide receiver Kenny Coleman said. "We felt we could move the ball today, but Williams was all over us after the second series of the game." Williams, lining up at defensive end in passing situations, sacked Utah State quarterback Travis Cox on consecutive plays in the second quarter, forcing fumbles both times. Nebraska recovered both, netted nine points and turned a 7-6 deficit into a 15-7 halftime "Plays like that win games," said Nebraska middle linebacker Barrett Ruud, who had a team-high 10 tackles. "He's just a defensive football player. It's not so much about where he lines up.

You know he's going to make a play no matter where he's at on the field. "As good as he played, it didn't surprise me, because I've seen him do it all the time in practice." The 6-foot-l, 215-pound Williams CURT McKEEVER Journal Star Staff Writer wrecking ball. "Give those coaches a lot of credit. They weren't going to sit back and let us pick them apart. They stopped playing that (zone) coverage." Utah State's plan of using misdirection plays to offset Nebraska's speed had been working to near perfection in the early going.

By the end of the first quarter, Cox, having completed 13 of 15 passes for 1 32 yards and a touchdown, was on pace for a 500-yard game. Thereafter, he was4-for-18 for 46 yards, got sacked four times and lost two fumbles. Tight end Chris Cooley, who had six catches for 92 yards and a spectacular 4 1 -yard TD play in the first half, never got off the line of scrimmage in the final 30 minutes. He was too busy blocking as the Aggie coaches tried to figure out a way to counter Pelini's changes. "For a quarter-and-a-halr, we played pretty good football against a really good defense," Cole said.

But after Nebraska adjusted, "We were going to throw screens a couple of times, and couldn't even get the ball off." Utah State's 178 yards in the air represented its fewest since last year's season opener. After the break, the Aggies had 86 yards total, 50 of which came on the final drive against reserves. It was eerily similar to Nebraska's opening-game per- If. QB sacks and forced Travis Cox to scramble on numerous other plays he wanted to pass. Running back David Pefia averaged 6.7 yards on his nine carries.

That's way too much. AGAINST THE PASS BA tough grade here, considering that Utah State finished with its lowest passing total (178 yards) since last year's season opener. But Cox still started off completing 13 of his 15 first-quarter throws. SPECIAL TEAMS Dyches' fielogoal kicking and Kyle Larson's punting were superb. But for the second week, the Huskers came too close to surrendering a kickoff return for a TD.

MANAGEMENT AND PENALTIES CThe sideline signaling in of plays'appeared to go smoother, but NU inexplicably let the play clock tick to three seconds before calling a timeout with 13 seconds left in the half, then downed the ball. Two of the three penalties inside the Utah State 20 cost the Huskers shots at TDs. It's two hours before Nebraska and Utah State are set to kick off and the childcare that's been lined up calls in sick. You adjust, right? Even if it means the plan now calls for crossed fingers, a plea for angelic behavior and a promise to check in often. (Thanks, kids, for behaving) Now, let's say you're Husker defensive coordinator Bo Pelini and you watch quarterback Travis Cox come out of the shoot to complete 1 1 of 12 passes against a soft zone to give the heavy-un-derdogAggies an early lead.

You adjust, right? In this case, you ask the secondary to lock up man-for-man, put your difference maker up against an unsuspecting tackle and let the chips fall where they may. In this case, Cox was the tater, and boy did he take some tumbles. "We knew we could get things done. But it didn't take them long to figure out what to do," Cox said of the Huskers. If you're Pelini, you say: Thanks, Demorrio Williams, for behaving.

For the second straight week, the Huskers' weakside linebacker proved too much for an offensive tackle to handle when Pelini moved him to the outside of me line. This time, he spewed a double dose of poison in the second quarter. On the first, Williams zoomed past Donald Penn and nailed Cox with a blind-side hit that forced the ball loose at the Utah State 2. Williams then scooped it up, and one play later Judd Davies bulled in for aTD that made it 12-7 Huskers. He repeated that mayhem on Utah State's next play from scrimmage, smacking Cox with a lick that gave NU another possession that it turned into a field goal.

"That's the thing that killed us," Utah State offensive coordinator Bob Cole said ofWUliams, who would add a third sack later in the quarter. "He was a PLAY CALLING BWe saw a nice reverse, but it still looked like Cotton believed the Huskers could line up and play it close to the vest with physical football. Pelini's defense also took a vanilla approach, but credit a heavier emphasis on man-toman coverage for turning things around. OVERALL' Nebraska's T.J. Hollowell chases down Utah formarice, when Oklahoma State was held to 57 yards in the second half.

"We just mixed it more," said Pelini. "We saw how they were adj usting and we were able to adjust accordingly. "Sometimes, though, we just made plays." Perhaps it's too simplistic to say that's a by-product of coaches knowing how to switch on the run. But often times last season, Nebraska's defense didn't look well-positioned enough to make routine stops, leaving the Huskers the mouse in a chase with a cat. Williams went so far Saturday as to say there were times when he thought Nebraska made moves last season even when he felt like what they were doing was working.

That's two come-from-behind COTTON wins for Big Red. It's probably not good, though, to have this one still be in doubt at halftime. Penn State might come in wounded from its loss to Boston College, but the Nittany Lion won't fear a slugfest against a team that has yet to show a knockout offensive punch. wtt. A.

2003 HUSKER FOOTBALL SCHEDULE AUG. 30 SEPT. 6 SEPT. 13 SEPT. 25 OCT.

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