"Win is a WIn"

[Eric the Red]

Win is a win

 

Tom Shatel: Win is a win, but it's still disturbing

 

BY TOM SHATEL

 

LINCOLN - Feelin' Lucky?

 

And I don't mean Marlon, although, at this point, it might not be a bad call to get the young colt loose in the bullpen.

 

Nebraska beat Wake Forest 31-3 on Saturday night. And that has to be the bottom line. The Huskers are 2-0, which is one game ahead of last year at this pace. More bottom line.

 

They also beat a Demon Deacon team that won't be confused with Texas or Iowa State. Then again, there were some experts picking the Deacs to come into Lincoln and steal a win. So across College Football America, it will be seen as a good win, even impressive.

 

Even more impressive when you look at how Nebraska did it.

 

Defense, defense, defense. One for every touchdown the Blackshirts scored against the visitors from the new, improved Atlantic Coast Conference.

 

For those keeping score at home, the final tally was Blackshirts 21, Offense 10, Wake Forest 3.

 

Semantics? Perhaps. But, unlike the Maine opener, this was the real Main Event for Nebraska. This game, against a smash-mouth, old-school bunch from Winston-Salem, N.C., was going to tell you a lot about what to expect in red in 2005.

 

This was a team that was going to run right at Nebraska. And a team with a defense accommodating enough to let you try to return the favor.

 

What did we learn, class? That the Huskers have developed a somewhat disturbing pattern for victory.

 

In two games, there is a much-improved defense, a more aggressive defense, one with ball hawks and six turnovers and four touchdown pelts to its name.

 

In two games, there is also an offense that is downright offensive, with two - count 'em, two - touchdowns and, heavens, a mere 241 yards rushing.

 

Feelin' lucky?

 

Some folks are never satisfied. Everyone's a critic. But there were clouds of negativity, and anxiety, hanging over Husker Nation this week. You think Saturday night's game pumped in some sunshine and chased those clouds away?

 

Doubtful.

 

Better question: Can the defense put up three scores a game? It might have to.

 

The road got easier this weekend, but it also got harder. Pitt's offense might be more sluggish than NU's (And now that Frank Solich has beaten Pitt, can Nebraska?). But now Iowa State looks very much for real. Texas Tech had its expected layup drill on Saturday night.

 

Then come Baylor, Missouri, Oklahoma, etc. It could go a lot of ways. What you have to like is that Nebraska has a defense that can keep the Big Red in every game. But at some point, in the Big 12, you have to score a touchdown. You have to make a yard or two on the ground.

 

Can the Huskers do that?

 

(Pause as the author shrugs his shoulders.)

 

Wake Forest allowed 146 yards on the ground in an opening-game loss to Vanderbilt. Vandy. The Deacs might have the smallest defensive front the Huskers will see all season. So what happened? Dunno.

 

Nebraska tried 30 rushes for 120 yards, though it was 124 before it knelt on the ball the final two plays. Then again, if you want to get technical, NU had 63 yards rushing against Wake if you take away Cory Ross' 57-yard run.

 

Of course, you can't take it off the board. It counts. But can you count on Ross coming up with a big run every game?

 

No. The line struggles to hold blocks and open holes. And Ross, God love him, is a good back, but not a special one. He is special in his heart, courage and guts. But, save for his terrific run down the sideline, Ross most of the time is a step slow to the outside and gets smothered inside.

 

This is no knock on Ross, and not to say that Lucky would transform the offense, but it might be worth getting Lucky some more time. If Lucky is the big-time back they say, it can't hurt. NU needs some explosive runs. It needs someone to make somebody miss. It needs someone to find a hole when it's not there.

 

Zac Taylor needs it. Taylor is an improvement at quarterback, but he's a journeyman and can't be asked to carry the team with his arm. Taylor isn't going to make it through the Big 12 season if opposing pass rushers keep putting him on a tee and blasting away with titanium.

 

Taylor shouldn't be in that position, anyway. He should be allowed to grow into the job, to supplement the run game, not the other way around.

 

But two games into it, it is what it is, and that is something Bill Callahan doesn't trust. NU had 10 third- or fourth-and-one situations against Wake and passed on six of them. NU had six plays inside the Wake 10-yard line and passed on four, including a touchdown pass from Taylor to Frantz Hardy.

 

But the next time, on second- and third-and-goal from the Wake 3-yard line, NU passed both times, incomplete. Heck, on one of the plays, the Huskers showed an empty backfield.

 

Why even try to fool them into thinking you might run?

 

Thank goodness for the defense, which is the swagger of this young season. The energy is contagious, and the pass rush is snowballing. When Daniel Bullocks steals a fumble and scores, you know the hangover from 2004 is over.

 

The Blackshirts scored three touchdowns, the first time on record that has happened at NU.

 

With any luck, it won't be the last.