Huskers take out Iowa State
It was no beautiful piece of art. There were turnovers, mental gaffes and, early on, a feeling that disaster was lurking around the corner.
But disaster never showed up. The Ruuuuuds did.
No booing this week. Just Ruuding.
In what Husker coach Bill Callahan deemed a strange game, “weird in a lot of ways,” Nebraska made the big plays Iowa State could not in a 35-17 win Saturday at Memorial Stadium.
Iowa State ran 102 plays to Nebraska’s 59 and held the ball for almost 19 more minutes. At one point, Husker quarterback Sam Keller stared at the scoreboard statistics with a mystified expression.
“(Time of possession) was like 13 to 32 as far as minutes and I was like, ‘Wow, I’ve never been through this before,’” Keller said.
Still, Nebraska led, and for that Keller was grateful, grateful enough to plant kisses on the foreheads of Bo Ruud and Cortney Grixby.
It was the two seniors who made Husker Nation feel good again. It happened with Iowa State driving late in the third quarter, facing a third-and-goal at the Husker 12.
The Cyclones had been moving the ball against the Huskers with the slant pass all day. Grixby had finally seen enough.
The cornerback jumped in front of receiver Todd Blythe, deflecting the ball into the air, into the hands of Ruud.
“You know,” Grixby said, “Bo’s always in the right spot.”
The linebacker, a running back in his days at Lincoln Southeast, showed off his Walter Payton moves and kept running and weaving and gasping until, finally, he had returned the ball 93 yards for a touchdown.
“I crossed midfield, and I started thinking, ‘Oh, I got this,’” Ruud said.
Tired? Darn right. Happy as heck, too.
The third-longest interception return in school history made it 28-10, and for the moment at least, the angst that surrounded Lincoln in the week leading up to this game was lost.
A week after giving up 40 points to Ball State and taking biting criticism, the Blackshirts responded with an opportunistic performance.
Though Iowa State put up 415 total yards, the Huskers caused four turnovers and Ruud used the word “resilient” in describing the defense.
Keller would go along with that.
“I was just so proud of our defense, the way they battled for how long they were on the field. Holding them to 17 points and (creating) turnovers and big plays — I’m just so proud of those guys,” Keller said.
“We’re finding out that we can thrive in different kinds of games. We’ve won close ones. We won this one and it was a battle.”
The first half was tough on the eyes. Sloppiness ruled. In their first eight offensive plays, the Huskers had three turnovers.
If it wasn’t the offensive missteps, it was the special teams. NU’s special-teams unit twice prolonged Cyclone drives with penalties.
“It was great to see our defense respond the way they had to respond in the first quarter,” Callahan said. “We put them a little behind the eight ball. ... Overall, we made enough plays to win this game. I’m really proud of that.”
Who would win was certainly in question when ISU’s Jason Scales scored from 3 yards to make it 10-0 halfway through the second quarter.
That was a one-win team with a 10-point lead, mind you.
To the rescue came Grixby, returning the ensuing kickoff to the ISU 47. That is when the Huskers took over.
Nebraska scored touchdowns on two consecutive drives and probably would have had a third score if not for a poor decision at the end of the first half.
With time running out and in field-goal range, Keller tucked the ball and ran instead of throwing it out of the end zone. The clock hit zeros before the Huskers could get another snap.
“We pride ourself on clock management, game management, and that one really hurt,” Callahan said. “It really stung hard. But that’s on me. We’ll get better from that.”
The Husker defense bent often in the second half, but broke only once.
Granted, it was a bad break. Down 28-10, ISU drove the ball 97 yards in 17 plays.
Ruud chalked that drive up to fatigue.
“You don’t get 100 plays very often in your lifetime,” he said.
With Missouri on the docket next week, Husker coaches and players said they know they have to get better.
Grixby — who had two interceptions, including a game-clincher in the fourth quarter — said the Huskers played “good, but we got some work to do.”
As for Ruud?
“We know what we’re capable of. You know, we’re a good defensive team. We just had a couple of down weeks.”
The critics could say what they wanted, but the Huskers were feeling all right about themselves Saturday.
On a day when those Big 12 bullies Oklahoma and Texas lost, the Huskers were at 4-1 overall and 1-0 in conference play.
“Today, you’re finding across the country there’s some strange win-loss things going on,” Keller said. “We’re happy to get wins here. And we’re doing it however we need to.”
Reach Brian Christopherson at 473-7439 or bchristopherson@journalstar.com.
But disaster never showed up. The Ruuuuuds did.
No booing this week. Just Ruuding.
In what Husker coach Bill Callahan deemed a strange game, “weird in a lot of ways,” Nebraska made the big plays Iowa State could not in a 35-17 win Saturday at Memorial Stadium.
Iowa State ran 102 plays to Nebraska’s 59 and held the ball for almost 19 more minutes. At one point, Husker quarterback Sam Keller stared at the scoreboard statistics with a mystified expression.
“(Time of possession) was like 13 to 32 as far as minutes and I was like, ‘Wow, I’ve never been through this before,’” Keller said.
Still, Nebraska led, and for that Keller was grateful, grateful enough to plant kisses on the foreheads of Bo Ruud and Cortney Grixby.
It was the two seniors who made Husker Nation feel good again. It happened with Iowa State driving late in the third quarter, facing a third-and-goal at the Husker 12.
The Cyclones had been moving the ball against the Huskers with the slant pass all day. Grixby had finally seen enough.
The cornerback jumped in front of receiver Todd Blythe, deflecting the ball into the air, into the hands of Ruud.
“You know,” Grixby said, “Bo’s always in the right spot.”
The linebacker, a running back in his days at Lincoln Southeast, showed off his Walter Payton moves and kept running and weaving and gasping until, finally, he had returned the ball 93 yards for a touchdown.
“I crossed midfield, and I started thinking, ‘Oh, I got this,’” Ruud said.
Tired? Darn right. Happy as heck, too.
The third-longest interception return in school history made it 28-10, and for the moment at least, the angst that surrounded Lincoln in the week leading up to this game was lost.
A week after giving up 40 points to Ball State and taking biting criticism, the Blackshirts responded with an opportunistic performance.
Though Iowa State put up 415 total yards, the Huskers caused four turnovers and Ruud used the word “resilient” in describing the defense.
Keller would go along with that.
“I was just so proud of our defense, the way they battled for how long they were on the field. Holding them to 17 points and (creating) turnovers and big plays — I’m just so proud of those guys,” Keller said.
“We’re finding out that we can thrive in different kinds of games. We’ve won close ones. We won this one and it was a battle.”
The first half was tough on the eyes. Sloppiness ruled. In their first eight offensive plays, the Huskers had three turnovers.
If it wasn’t the offensive missteps, it was the special teams. NU’s special-teams unit twice prolonged Cyclone drives with penalties.
“It was great to see our defense respond the way they had to respond in the first quarter,” Callahan said. “We put them a little behind the eight ball. ... Overall, we made enough plays to win this game. I’m really proud of that.”
Who would win was certainly in question when ISU’s Jason Scales scored from 3 yards to make it 10-0 halfway through the second quarter.
That was a one-win team with a 10-point lead, mind you.
To the rescue came Grixby, returning the ensuing kickoff to the ISU 47. That is when the Huskers took over.
Nebraska scored touchdowns on two consecutive drives and probably would have had a third score if not for a poor decision at the end of the first half.
With time running out and in field-goal range, Keller tucked the ball and ran instead of throwing it out of the end zone. The clock hit zeros before the Huskers could get another snap.
“We pride ourself on clock management, game management, and that one really hurt,” Callahan said. “It really stung hard. But that’s on me. We’ll get better from that.”
The Husker defense bent often in the second half, but broke only once.
Granted, it was a bad break. Down 28-10, ISU drove the ball 97 yards in 17 plays.
Ruud chalked that drive up to fatigue.
“You don’t get 100 plays very often in your lifetime,” he said.
With Missouri on the docket next week, Husker coaches and players said they know they have to get better.
Grixby — who had two interceptions, including a game-clincher in the fourth quarter — said the Huskers played “good, but we got some work to do.”
As for Ruud?
“We know what we’re capable of. You know, we’re a good defensive team. We just had a couple of down weeks.”
The critics could say what they wanted, but the Huskers were feeling all right about themselves Saturday.
On a day when those Big 12 bullies Oklahoma and Texas lost, the Huskers were at 4-1 overall and 1-0 in conference play.
“Today, you’re finding across the country there’s some strange win-loss things going on,” Keller said. “We’re happy to get wins here. And we’re doing it however we need to.”
Reach Brian Christopherson at 473-7439 or bchristopherson@journalstar.com.
Copyright © 2002-2008 Lincoln Journal Star. All rights reserved.