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Husker defense comes of age
BY BRIAN ROSENTHAL / Lincoln Journal Star
Saturday, Sep 13, 2008 - 11:41:09 pm CDT
The shirts themselves aren’t back. Yet. They’re still in storage, presumably.
But the Blackshirt spirit was shining through — at long last — in a late third-quarter series Saturday night at Memorial Stadium.
Fans could sense it. The crowd of 84,821 grew louder with each sack, each run stop, each fluttering, incomplete pass.
Coaches could sense it. Bo Pelini was blitzing from everywhere with his team up 35-0 and New Mexico State in the Nebraska red zone.
And, most importantly, the players could sense it.
“I definitely sensed it,” nose tackle Ndamukong Suh said. “We definitely wanted to hold them to a shutout.”
At that moment, mission accomplished.
Matt O’Hanlon’s interception at the 4-yard line on a third-and-9 play turned back New Mexico State on a series that lasted, in real time, nearly a half-hour.
Two booth replays. Two pass-interference calls. A fumble recovery that wasn’t.
Nebraska withstood it all.
“I think it shows our true character as a team,” Suh said. “Even though we had all that adversity, we still came together.”
Of course, it all went for naught when New Mexico State busted the shutout in the fourth quarter, scoring on a 3-yard run one play after a 48-yard fumble return.
“It was tough. It was tough,” Suh said. “We really thought we had it. Especially (Zach) Potter really wanted it bad. That’s the way it is.”
Nebraska’s 38-7 victory, though, was sound enough to elicit praise from defensive coordinator Carl Pelini.
“They really came of age today,” Pelini said, referring specifically to the play of his secondary and linebackers. “They took coaching well, and they really executed the game plan. They did a great job.”
Pelini was proud of how his troops responded against a complicated spread passing attack. New Mexico State threw for 225 yards — 55 coming on a play in the final 2 minutes of the game.
Nebraska, frequently using redshirt freshman walk-on Lance Thorell as a dime back, responded by collecting two interceptions and holding the Aggies to 19-of-39 passing.
New Mexico State, playing its first game, caught Nebraska off-guard with some different formations on its initial series. The Aggies drove from their 20 to the Nebraska 3 — a series that produced nothing aside from a little Husker panic.
“All we did was we settled them down and we said, ‘Go back to your rules,’ and everything was good from that point,” Pelini said of the changes coaches made after the first series, which ended when Potter blocked a field-goal attempt.
“New Mexico State really challenges your coverages. They’ve got a good scheme, and our guys had to adapt our coverages to fit what they do, and I really thought they played very mature for a group of young guys.”
In particular, Pelini said sophomore defensive back Eric Hagg adjusted nicely. Hagg had a career-high 10 tackles.
“We had a lot on Eric this week, and he had to really recognize certain things and make our coverages work,” Pelini. “Again, he saw something a little bit different and didn’t quite adjust just perfectly (in the first series), so we got that corrected.”
Armando Murillo recorded his first career interception in the first half, and O’Hanlon also got his first career interception on the play that ended a wild series in the fourth quarter.
“Coach Pelini planned that out perfect,” Thorell said of O’Hanlon’s interception. “He told the safeties to show blitz and pop back, and that quarterback would throw it right to them, and that’s what happened.”
If the coveted Blackshirts are finally awarded before Nebraska’s next game, Sept. 27 against Virginia Tech — and Pelini indicated that’s very possible — then Saturday’s third quarter just might be a reason why.
New Mexico State had driven from its 15 to the Nebraska 13, when it appeared Potter had recovered an errant pitch by receiver Wes Neiman, who’d taken a direct snap and was running an option play. Replays showed that Neiman, behind the line of scrimmage, had pitched the ball forward, however, making it a harmless incomplete pass.
Nebraska thought it had stopped the Aggies again on an incomplete fourth-and-5 pass, but pass interference gave NMSU a first down at the 2. A false-start penalty and back-to-back sacks by Suh and Potter pushed the Aggies back to the 22 and ignited the sellout crowd.
Then another pass-interference penalty on third down. Sigh. Pelini responded by blitzing on a first-down pass that Neiman nearly caught in the corner of the end zone. Replays confirmed Neiman was out of bounds when he caught the pass.
Two plays later, O’Hanlon, at long last, ended the series with his interception of Chase Holbrook to start the fourth quarter.
“I thought we came of age a little bit there,” Pelini said. “We had a great pass rush, we had them covered down and just kept moving them backward. And they kept getting chance after chance, and we kept coming.”
Reach Brian Rosenthal at 473-7436 or brosenthal@journalstar.com.
Husker defense comes of age
BY BRIAN ROSENTHAL / Lincoln Journal Star
Saturday, Sep 13, 2008 - 11:41:09 pm CDT
The shirts themselves aren’t back. Yet. They’re still in storage, presumably.
But the Blackshirt spirit was shining through — at long last — in a late third-quarter series Saturday night at Memorial Stadium.
Fans could sense it. The crowd of 84,821 grew louder with each sack, each run stop, each fluttering, incomplete pass.
Coaches could sense it. Bo Pelini was blitzing from everywhere with his team up 35-0 and New Mexico State in the Nebraska red zone.
And, most importantly, the players could sense it.
“I definitely sensed it,” nose tackle Ndamukong Suh said. “We definitely wanted to hold them to a shutout.”
At that moment, mission accomplished.
Matt O’Hanlon’s interception at the 4-yard line on a third-and-9 play turned back New Mexico State on a series that lasted, in real time, nearly a half-hour.
Two booth replays. Two pass-interference calls. A fumble recovery that wasn’t.
Nebraska withstood it all.
“I think it shows our true character as a team,” Suh said. “Even though we had all that adversity, we still came together.”
Of course, it all went for naught when New Mexico State busted the shutout in the fourth quarter, scoring on a 3-yard run one play after a 48-yard fumble return.
“It was tough. It was tough,” Suh said. “We really thought we had it. Especially (Zach) Potter really wanted it bad. That’s the way it is.”
Nebraska’s 38-7 victory, though, was sound enough to elicit praise from defensive coordinator Carl Pelini.
“They really came of age today,” Pelini said, referring specifically to the play of his secondary and linebackers. “They took coaching well, and they really executed the game plan. They did a great job.”
Pelini was proud of how his troops responded against a complicated spread passing attack. New Mexico State threw for 225 yards — 55 coming on a play in the final 2 minutes of the game.
Nebraska, frequently using redshirt freshman walk-on Lance Thorell as a dime back, responded by collecting two interceptions and holding the Aggies to 19-of-39 passing.
New Mexico State, playing its first game, caught Nebraska off-guard with some different formations on its initial series. The Aggies drove from their 20 to the Nebraska 3 — a series that produced nothing aside from a little Husker panic.
“All we did was we settled them down and we said, ‘Go back to your rules,’ and everything was good from that point,” Pelini said of the changes coaches made after the first series, which ended when Potter blocked a field-goal attempt.
“New Mexico State really challenges your coverages. They’ve got a good scheme, and our guys had to adapt our coverages to fit what they do, and I really thought they played very mature for a group of young guys.”
In particular, Pelini said sophomore defensive back Eric Hagg adjusted nicely. Hagg had a career-high 10 tackles.
“We had a lot on Eric this week, and he had to really recognize certain things and make our coverages work,” Pelini. “Again, he saw something a little bit different and didn’t quite adjust just perfectly (in the first series), so we got that corrected.”
Armando Murillo recorded his first career interception in the first half, and O’Hanlon also got his first career interception on the play that ended a wild series in the fourth quarter.
“Coach Pelini planned that out perfect,” Thorell said of O’Hanlon’s interception. “He told the safeties to show blitz and pop back, and that quarterback would throw it right to them, and that’s what happened.”
If the coveted Blackshirts are finally awarded before Nebraska’s next game, Sept. 27 against Virginia Tech — and Pelini indicated that’s very possible — then Saturday’s third quarter just might be a reason why.
New Mexico State had driven from its 15 to the Nebraska 13, when it appeared Potter had recovered an errant pitch by receiver Wes Neiman, who’d taken a direct snap and was running an option play. Replays showed that Neiman, behind the line of scrimmage, had pitched the ball forward, however, making it a harmless incomplete pass.
Nebraska thought it had stopped the Aggies again on an incomplete fourth-and-5 pass, but pass interference gave NMSU a first down at the 2. A false-start penalty and back-to-back sacks by Suh and Potter pushed the Aggies back to the 22 and ignited the sellout crowd.
Then another pass-interference penalty on third down. Sigh. Pelini responded by blitzing on a first-down pass that Neiman nearly caught in the corner of the end zone. Replays confirmed Neiman was out of bounds when he caught the pass.
Two plays later, O’Hanlon, at long last, ended the series with his interception of Chase Holbrook to start the fourth quarter.
“I thought we came of age a little bit there,” Pelini said. “We had a great pass rush, we had them covered down and just kept moving them backward. And they kept getting chance after chance, and we kept coming.”
Reach Brian Rosenthal at 473-7436 or brosenthal@journalstar.com.
