Huskers fought to the end

[HuskerfaninOkieland]

 

Journal Star

 

Steven M. Sipple: At least Huskers fought to the end

Sunday, Sep 28, 2008 - 12:41:55 am CDT

 

Progress can be painful.

 

Nebraska didn’t play well for much of the game in losing 35-30 to Virginia Tech on Saturday night. Too many mental mistakes. Too few rushing yards (55). Too many open Tech receivers. Too much time for Tyrod Taylor in the pocket. Too many running lanes for Taylor and company. Just too many issues for the Huskers to overcome. That’s the painful reality for Big Red.

 

Before the late stages of the third quarter started, you would’ve had to look hard to find much tangible progress from Nebraska in its first loss of the season.

 

But late in the third period — that’s when momentum started shifting the Huskers’ way. The Big Red rally was on. Nate Swift brought down the house with an 88-yard punt return for a touchdown, pulling Nebraska within 28-23. Then things really got interesting. The Huskers had the gifted quarterback Taylor stopped for a 2-yard gain on third-and-4 in the final minutes, or so everybody in the Memorial Stadium record crowd of 85,831 thought. Problem was, defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh was called for a late hit on Taylor. Suh did hit the kid late.

 

“To get that call, that late in the game, it’s heartbreaking,” Nebraska linebacker Cody Glenn said.

 

To make matters worse, the Husker sideline erupted in anger. Bo Pelini erupted. Flags flew. Unsportsmanlike conduct was called. Tack on another 15 yards.

 

“I have to be smarter than that,” said Pelini, Nebraska’s first-year head coach.

 

Virginia Tech marched down and proceeded to score a touchdown with 2:28 left to make it 35-23. Game over, right?

 

Not quite.

 

Nebraska kept coming. Kept pushing. Kept scrambling. The Huskers scored a touchdown with 1:32 left to pull to 35-30. Then they forced a three-and-out and were making one last push downfield, but Todd Peterson fumbled as time ran out.

 

Yep, progress can be excruciatingly painful.

 

Think back to last season, when Nebraska would get punched in the mouth and wilt into a corner. Not this time. The Huskers fell behind 28-10 midway through the third quarter. But NU shoved back. It kept brawling to the end. Yes, that’s progress.

 

Think back to the offseason, when I so often heard Nebraska fans say they just wanted to see a Husker team that always kept fighting. Big Red faithful wanted to cheer for a team that always played hard and smart. Well, fans got half of their wishes Saturday.

 

Nebraska played hard, but not necessarily smart, or especially well.

 

“We lost the football game, and now it’s time to go to work,” Pelini said. “We made a ton of mistakes.”

 

This wasn’t exactly the type of performance Nebraska (3-1) had in mind as a primer for Missouri (4-0) next Saturday night. Of particular concern was Tech’s success in the passing game. Taylor had thrown for a total of 199 yards in three previous games this season. But Saturday, the sophomore was 9-for-15 for 171 yards while rushing 15 times for 87 yards and a touchdown.

 

Virginia Tech, which entered the night ranked 112th nationally with an average of 271.8 yards per game, racked up 377 against Nebraska. That doesn’t necessarily bode well as Nebraska prepares to face Mizzou, which entered the weekend leading the nation with its average of 595.5 yards per game. After Missouri, NU will take on a Texas Tech squad averaging 572.8 yards to rank third.

 

Yes, time for Nebraska to go back to work.

 

Give Virginia Tech credit. We saw the effectiveness of Beamer ball unfold before our eyes as Tech put on a special-teams clinic much of the night. A blocked punt for a safety. Four field goals. Key returns by Victor “Macho” Harris. The gamut.

 

Virginia Tech was the cleaner team — no turnovers compared to two for Nebraska.

 

Harris set the tone with a big punt return and interception in the first quarter. Tech eventually pushed to a 28-10 lead and seemed in control.

 

Alas, Nebraska fought back.

 

Yes, that’s progress, as painful as it felt for Nebraska.

 

Reach Steven M. Sipple at 473-7440 or ssipple@journalstar.com.

 

[jh_husker]

Progress can be painful.

 

[/i]

 

 

I think they played with heart they just made mistakes. Atleast they never gave up like we did the pass 4 years with bill.

[BigRedfxtoy]

Better? They better be. The effort and heart they play with is the hope we all have. Bo and staff bring fire and persevearance. (hell w the spelling) As long as they don't lay down and roll over like my dog when she thinks she is in trouble, I have hope and believe this can be turned around. I also have no problem having the patients it will take. I'm not sure this year has the success in store I would like to see, but, I'm ok with it as long as the effort is there. I just hope recruiting goes well enough to make a big difference soon and not too many people give up on this staff.

[huskergirl2]

They played hard until the end! That was GREAT to see! GO BIG RED

[hskrfan4life]

that's what i wanted to see this year if we're down we keep fighting. I could care less about the W-L records this year.

[BOBELIEVER]

absolutely.. should not be any complaining with where the team is at... yes the team made a lot of mistakes, especially blown coverage and penalties.. but they fought hard and played 60 minutes and came up 5 points short.... Missouri will be a great experience for this new staff

[hskrfan4life]

absolutely.. should not be any complaining with where the team is at... yes the team made a lot of mistakes, especially blown coverage and penalties.. but they fought hard and played 60 minutes and came up 5 points short.... Missouri will be a great experience for this new staff

I think the missouri game will really show which players will play and what we really need to work on to compete with the rising north

[Axl_sued_me]

Looks like somebody is scratching for a "moral" victory.

[BOBELIEVER]

Looks like somebody is scratching for a "moral" victory.

 

nope. just trying to take some positives from this game and build on them

[gthogan]

It's frustrating that they had two weeks to prepare and came out inconsistent and sloppy. That concerns me.

[HuskerfaninOkieland]

Looks like somebody is scratching for a "moral" victory.

Nope. Everyone knew, understood and accepted this team would struggle at times this year. Saturday night was one of those times. Now everyone wants to bitch and moan about this, that and the other: Pelini didn't wink at me, Marlon runs like a girl, Ganz is NOT the man, we didn't have a b!ackout, Watson should be burned at the stake, we're only going to win 2 more games cuz my kool-aid just spilled, blah, blah, blah....

 

No amount of bitching, pissing and moaning ANY fan does is going to change the outcome of ANY game this team plays. They lost. Deal with it peoples.

[BIGREDIOWAN]

Looks like somebody is scratching for a "moral" victory.

Nope. Everyone knew, understood and accepted this team would struggle at times this year. Saturday night was one of those times. Now everyone wants to bitch and moan about this, that and the other: Pelini didn't wink at me, Marlon runs like a girl, Ganz is NOT the man, we didn't have a b!ackout, Watson should be burned at the stake, we're only going to win 2 more games cuz my kool-aid just spilled, blah, blah, blah....

 

No amount of bitching, pissing and moaning ANY fan does is going to change the outcome of ANY game this team plays. They lost. Deal with it peoples.

I find it hard to believe that after last season people expected us to come out and just drill people!? The expectations, I thought, were a little lower this season with the understanding that if the guys come out and play with fire and passion that is all we can ask.

[Nate]

We did better than I thought we would.

 

So I am happy for that.

[Hunter94]

Looks like somebody is scratching for a "moral" victory.

 

 

 

....and that may be it for this year too!

[Hunter94]

It's frustrating that they had two weeks to prepare and came out inconsistent and sloppy. That concerns me.

 

 

exactly....the mental aspect should have been covered......period. mentally, they had 2 damn weeks to prepare and looked like they were at time clueless......being physically over matched was to be expected, but to not have their heads in the game was not...running game was an absolute embarrassment.