Lincoln Journal Star from Lincoln, Nebraska • 34

4E Lincoln Journal Star Sunday, October 19, 2008 HUSKER EXTRA IF i icy Who's saying what about the game Behind enemy lines Scanning the wires Fan rant II)) mmmi 1 TTTZ.TT 3 nr- "We talk about giving ourselves some hope. Everybody felt our fans were into It In the fourth quarter and cheering us on and we had opportunities to make it 21-14. It really gives our guys a shot In the arm. We were headed in that direction and we couldn't capitalize on any of the good fi eld positions." coach Gene Chlzik "It's frustrating we work hard and this defi nitely isn't what we work for. It's not what we expect." defensive end Kurtls Taylor "Nebraska Is a good football team, but we've got to swing more than seven points." Chlzik "Two weeks in a row now we've had opportunities and we just have to capitalize on the opportunities given to us." quarterback Austen Amaud "Seems like that punishment last week for penalties is having a positive effect doesn't it?" "This team is playing like they are becoming believers, great credit to Bo and the coaches." "Man, ISU gave up on that drive HUGE holes with USC players all over the "Turnovers on the road and you still win by 28.

1 cant complain much about this win, especially after last week's tough loss." "Good 4th quarter. A win on the road is always sweet in the Big 12." "If (Austen) Amaud could throw with any kind of accuracy, it might have been much closer." "Lots of reasons for optimism." Cyclones couldn't get anything right Saturday When someone asks you what a "complete football debacle" looks like, pull out a DVD of Nebraska 35, Iowa State 7 and pop it in the ma- chine. Then kindly excuse yourself from the room to throw up. Say this for the Cyclones: They were consistent in all phases Saturday. The coverage? Cottony soft.

The tackling? Nonexistent. The offense couldnt stay on the field. The defense couldnt get off of it. Field goals sailed wide-left. Punt returns turned into low comedy.

Slants on third-down-and-forever went nowhere. If Iowa State's players actually practiced for the Huskers last week, they sure had a funny way of showing it. Hit-ancknlss might get you past South Dakota State, but that dog won't hunt against Missouri. The Big 12 Conference Is a brutal, unforgiving grind. If Gene 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.

Sean Heeler, Des Moines Register Sipple i i i 1 txv rl. i. I i mM zmia m. mr -''s WILLIAM LAUERLmcoln Journal Star Nebraska sophomore Roy Helu (10) breaks into the open field on a 50-yard run in the fourth quarter Saturday. The Huskers finished with 220 rushing yards.

Huskers l- Continued from Page IE Actually, maybe not. A late-De-. cember tussle with a mid-level Big Ten team in San Antonio doesn't seem like such a stretch in the wake of the Huskers' last two performances, a close shave Oct. 1 1 at seventh-ranked Texas Tech followed by Saturday's impressive 35-7 triumph against an Iowa State outfit that two weeks ago pushed 16th-ranked Kansas to the limit. The Jayhawks escaped Ames with a 35-33 victory.

They picked up 19 first downs, gained 436 yards and allowed 365. Nebraska picked up 29 first downs against ISU, rolled up 548 yards and allowed 218. No wonder the Big Red boss no longer was a weekend grump. "I'm a pretty miserable human to be around after one loss, let alone three (straight)," Nebraska coach Bo Pelini said. The Huskers' first-half dominance try 349 yards to Iowa State's 45 probably made Big Red fans harken to the glory days when their beloved team so often would steamroll through Ames.

"We're a long way from being that good," Nebraska offensive line coach Barney Cotton said. "But it'd be nice if we're moving in that Nebraska, which improved to '4-3 overall and 1-2 in the Big 12, is' moving in the direction of a bowl game. Which bowl game doesn't much matter. The Huskers just need to get back into the bowl scene, any bowl scene. They need it for the 1 5 additional practices that would further develop the 26 freshmen and sophomores on their two-deep roster.

The veterans on the roster need a nice bowl experience after enduring last year's bowl-less nightmare. A bowl would represent tangible progress for Big Red. Nebraska's win Saturday was a critical step forward. The thing is, the 37-3 1 overtime loss at Texas Tech was also a step forward of sorts in that NU clearly gained confidence. The Huskers found rhythm offensively in Lubbock and brought it to Ames.

Saturday, Big Red needed to a find a way to close the deal. There was urgency because with a loss, it would've felt like another season slipping away. Nebraska's no longer slipping and sliding. Suddenly, it seems like the Huskers are ready to start surging. Take away Alexander Robinson's 67-yard touchdown run in the third quarter, and Nebraska held Iowa State to 38 rushing yards on 24 carries.

The Huskers never allowed sophomore quarterback Austen Amaud to find much comfort. NU even forced a couple turnovers. Sometimes you find hope in unexpected places. Nebraska found it in the otherwise forgettable late stages of an embarrassing 52-17 home loss to Missouri on Oct 4. NU offensive coordinator Shawn Watson said that's when the Huskers decided to junk their "heavy" sets two tight ends and sometimes two running backs in favor of spreading the field more often and using one running back and one tight end.

It forced defenders to stray from the line of scrimmage, clearing clogged running lanes. 13 on third down. This performance was no surprise to Bo Pelini, who had seen his team probably have its best week of practice leading up to Saturday's game. The three losses hurt, he said, but hadn't affected this team's focus. "I'm a pretty miserable human being to be around after a loss, let alone three, Pelini said.

"I'm happy for these kids, because let's face it, you lose three in a row there are some people and some kids that would have said, 'I'm And there was never any sense of that" Once a program that thrived on these road trips, Nebraska had lost five straight road games dating to last year's win at Wake Forest. But Saturday, the Huskers looked completely comfortable away from home still a team with obvious flaws, but also one that seems to have done well in distancing itself from last year's inconsistency "I don't think there's any question they've bought in," Bo Pelini said. "There buying in. I think the great thing is right now they're seeing their hard work, they're seeing their rewards. They're seeing themselves getting better and they're becoming more confident.

And it's going to make us better down the line." Reach Brian Christopherson at 473-7439 or bchristophersonjournalstar.com. tory, where one bad thing led to another, this Nebraska team shrugged off its mistakes and went back to work. "Over this year, we've had problems but we've always bounced back," Husker junior center Jacob Hickman said. "Coming out at half, we were all smiles and then when we had that one play, everyone looks around like, 'OK, time to It's a business team and it's a business atmosphere that I haven't seen before this year. It's a pretty good deal and every week it's getting better." And why fret when you're moving the ball like NU did Saturday? Aside from a bad case of the fumbles, Nebraska's offense mostly did as it pleased whether on the ground or through the air.

Quarterback Joe Ganz passed for 328 yards and the offense rushed for 220 yards on 41 carries. When it was all said and done, NU had 548 yards to Iowa State's 218. You needn't look past the stats of the Husker running backs to know the story: Roy Helu had 93 total yards, Marlon Lucky 90, Quentin Castille 75. Lucky scored two touchdowns and even played a little quarterback taking two direct snaps. Nine Huskers caught passes.

Nebraska was 5-for-5 in the red zone. And the defense finally caused a couple turnovers and caused ISU to go 2-for- Continued from Page ID touchdown or a first down," said sophomore wide receiver Niles Paul. The Huskers piled up 349 yards in the first half. Iowa State had 45. Nebraska had 19 first downs, ISU two.

Oh, sure, there were warts. We're talking about a 4-3 team, after all. The Huskers sometimes handled the football like it was greased fumbling five times, losing three of them and Nebraska fizzled more than it sparkled in the third quarter. The statistics show that this game should have been decided by the start of the fourth quarter, yet it wasn't Iowa State trailed just 21-7 at that point, still in the game thanks to a 67-yard touchdown run by Alexander Robinson on the second play of the second half. Up 2 1 -0 at the half, Nebraska got a bit sloppy.

But not rattled. Not this time. "It's funny, because they knew right away what the mistake was and why it happened," Husker defensive coordina- tor Carl Pelini said of how players reacted to the ISU touchdown. "It was just the attitude of, 'Hey, it ain't going to happen And it didn't. Unlike recent Husker his i A 1 TED KIRKLincoln Journal Star Nebraska's Zach Potter (98) reaches high in an attempt to block a pass by Iowa State quarterback Austen Amaud on Saturday.

Defenders making bid to regain Blackshirts 7 f''77J'T-'Jnl Ilk I id TED KIRKLincoln Journal Star Nebraska's Cody Glenn (34), Phillip Dillard (52) and Zach Potter (98) stop Iowa State's Alexander on Saturday. NU held Iowa State to 218 total yards about 1 1 5 below the Cyclones' season average. Quarterback Joe oanz is operating Nebraska's revised look at high level. He's rolling out of the pocket and slinging darts. Iowa State's secondary was badly overmatched.

He'll also make even a sane Nebraska fan think wild thoughts, like the Huskers going 4-1 the rest of the way. Indeed, let's not get carried away here. After all, Baylor AMES, Iowa Jesse Smith reversed field and bulled his way through a pile of Nebraska tack-lers before finally being dragged down after an 8-yard gain late in the first half in Jack Trice Stadi-xurn on Saturday. It was an impressive display of toughness and represented Iowa State's third-longest play. The problem with that, at least for the home team, was Smith is the Cyclones' middle linebacker.

And so now you know why one play after he denied the Huskers a fourth score by snaring a Menelik Holt fumble in midair, the Cyclones took a knee to end the first half rather than go for the Hail Mary. By then, Nebraska's defense had left them with little hope. By the finish, the Blackshirts had given up only 218 yards and notched their first takeaway in 15 quarters. Wait a minute these guys haven't been awarded their prized Blackshirts, have they? "I'm fine with it, although I would like one," senior tackle Ndamukong Suh said after helping the Huskers produce their best defensive effort of the season. "But right now it's all about winning." With help like it got from its defense here Saturday, Nebraska can expect close to a handful more wins in its last five regular-season games.

Granted, Iowa State came into the game with the Big 12's 1 lth-ranked offense. But it would be an accomplishment for any defense, not just one ranked ninth in the league like Nebraska's, to limit the Cyclones to two first downs and 45 yards through two quarters. Ask Kansas, which surrendered 1 1 first downs and 1 8 1 yards while falling behind 20-0 at haJftime here two weeks ago. Anyway, had the Cyclones not gotten a 67-yard, That series ended after Ar-naud threw an incompletion, was drilled by tackle Ty Steinkuh-ler for a yard loss and a harmless 4-yard pass that was thrown under duress. "Armando's little PI (pass interference), that could've gone either way.

So I think that's a great showing of what can happen when we re penalty-free and we're executing and everything's on all cylinders," Suh said. Suh and company looked so in tune that you might think they've started to believe they don't have to rely on Joe Ganz and the offense to control Nebraska's fate. "The thing is," Suh noted, "we really don't want to have to control it from a defensive side. We want to, definitely, when we have to go out there and do it, because we have to get our three-and-outs to give the offense the ball back. But after we do that we just want the offense to go and move the ball and take their time putting the ball in the end zone." Say what you want about time of possession being an overrated statistic, but for the second week in a row, the Huskers controlled the clock.

And there isn't a defense in the nation especially one that's fighting to earn Blackshirts that would ever scoff at that. "Honestly, we really haven't been talking about Suh said of the coveted jerseys. "We've just really been trying to get wins, and seeing that we're getting better we just need to be mistake-free." Perfection and football hardly go hand in hand. But for Nebraska's defense, this was close. "They made a play, and good for them," Pelini said of the Cyclones' long scoring run.

"But I had no question our guys would come back and play well. Once again, I see progress." Reach Curt McKeever at 473-7441 or cmckeeverjoumalstar.com. CURT McKEEVER Journal Star Staff Writer IWcKeever's points Alabama 24, Mississippi 20: The Crimson Tide's response to falling behind for the first time this season? Score 24 straight points and then, after giving up 17 straight, make a late defensive stand to avoid the upset. Nick Saban's club Is now 2-0 since rising to No. 2 winning by a combined seven points.

Ohio State 45, Michigan State 7: Saban's former team didn't fare nearly as well under the national spotlight. The Spar-i tans couldn't contain Beanie Wells (31 carries, 140 yards, two TDs) or freshman quarterback Terrelle Pryor (7-for-ll passing with a TD and 72 yards rushing with another score). Meanwhile, the day after Michigan State launched a Web site to promote him as a Heisman Trophy candidate, Javon Ringer managed just 67 yards. Virginia 16, North Carolina 13, ot: Playing without Injured receiver and return man Brandon Tate, the Tar Heels, off to their best start since 1997, gave up an 82 yard TD drive in the final 2:18 of the fourth quarter, then lost when Cedric Peer-man scored on a 2-yard run In overtime. The Cavaliers, who have won three straight since getting drilled by Connecticut 4510 and Duke 31-3, now have beaten Carolina 14 straight times in Charlottesville.

quarter touchdown run from Alexander Robinson on what appeared to be a bust by linebacker Cody Glenn, this could have gone down as the most dominating performance any current Blackshirt, er, defensive player, had ever been a part of at Nebraska. "I'm not happy until we hold them to about 150 (yards). That's what I'm used to, and that's the kind of standards we're going to have around here," NU coach Bo Pelini said. "We're playing better. We are.

We're doing some things better, and more consistently. But we've still got a lot to fix, and a long way to go." Agreed, especially when one considers that the next obstacle is Baylor's do-all, dual-threat QB Robert Griffin, hands down the Big 12 freshman of the year. After that comes Oklahoma's Sam Bradford and what might be the nation's top offensive line, then Kansas' pesky Todd Reesing, who last year toyed with the Huskers while the Jayhawks embarrassed them 76-39, fol- 'r lowed by Kansas State's Josh Freeman, considered by many to be a first-round NFL draft pick. But, hey, before Saturday the fewest yards Nebraska had allowed this season were the 339 New Mexico State got. And, as opposed to making a pivotal three-and-out stop like the one they forced from Graham Harrell in the fourth quarter at Texas Tech last week, the Huskers hounded Austen Ar-naud from late morning to mid-afternoon.

Iowa State managed just 4.0 yards per play. "I've always felt we've been a great defense. We've just failed to show it because of our mistakes," Suh said. "Those penalties and little things here have hrd us back." The penalty issue has not been a little one. But Saturday, the only flag the NU defense drew was a pass-interference call on cornerback Armando Muriilo on the first play of Iowa State's second series after half-time.

wnacicea me uyuunus ua. 1 1 to the tune of 38-10, holding them to 257 total yards. ISU looks lost offensively, the way NU once looked. On the other hand, NU fans maybe deserve a few wild thoughts after a large amount of suffering over the past six or so seasons. Following NU's loss here in 2004, angry Big Red fans standing near the field shouted to reporters, "Ask (Bill) Callahan the tough questions! Don't let him off the nook!" After the Huskers' triumph Saturday, Pelini high-fived a couple of the hundreds of Big Red fans lined along the teams walkway to the locker room.

In a few minutes, Pelini would tell reporters, "If we just stay with it, we should finish the season well." Nothing crazy about that talk. Reach Steven M. Sipple at 473-7440 or ssipplejournalstar.com..