Troy stretches its offense all the way across the field, but Nebraska stretched the Trojans in ways they hadn’t been stretched this year.

Never mind that Troy led Florida State in the fourth quarter before losing 24-17 or that the Trojans were tied with Georgia Tech going into the final period before losing 35-20.

“That’s the best football team we’ve played in a long time,” Troy coach Larry Blakeney said after the Huskers posted a 56-0 win Saturday at Memorial Stadium. “They’ll move up in my poll after seeing what I’ve seen them do on film and seeing them play and not quite be able to get it done against USC and then seeing what they did tonight.”

The Husker offense had the Trojans befuddled much of the night, running for 316 yards and passing for another 281. The Nebraska defense allowed season lows of 48 yards rushing and 140 yards of total offense.

“It was great coaching on their side of the field. Their players were prepared and ready and big and fast,” Blakeney said. “I don’t know what they call that offense — West Coast or East Coast or South Coast or Canadian or whatever — but it was very well-designed and gave us more than we could handle.”

The Troy defenders often were still moving into position as Zac Taylor put the Husker offense into motion.

“They switch around and we weren’t able to get the calls in from the sidelines before plays,” defensive tackle Franklin Lloyd said. “We were confused at some points of the game and that hurt us. We were lining up late because they were doing so much.”

Blakeney said the Trojan plan was to match personnel with Nebraska, sending in more linemen when the Huskers had extra tight ends and using extra defensive backs for stacked receivers.

“They just don’t give you much time. Their approach of leaving the huddle and getting to the line of scrimmage and executing their shift didn’t give us much time to match,” he said.

Troy hasn’t scored in its last two trips to Lincoln and the Trojans are now 0-4 in the series. After a season-opening win against Alabama State, Troy slipped to 1-3.

“I don’t know when I’ve been around getting thrashed quite like that,” Blakeney said. “This is the third guarantee game in a row. We played pretty well against Florida State and we played pretty well against Georgia Tech. We were a little run-down and tired.

“But this bunch of guys here are a different deal. Their style of play and their physical approach and their ability with Taylor to throw the football down the field really gave us more than we could handle and we were overmatched in some areas.”

While Blakeney was glad to credit Nebraska’s play, he was far from satisfied with his team’s performance.

“We probably didn’t play well. I know we didn’t tackle worth a dog,” he said. “When you play against a team like them, you dang sure got to tackle on your first opportunity.

“After we were down about 35 (points), I got the sense we were tired. I kept hoping and praying we would find something somewhere and be able to cope with it.”

Troy quarterback Omar Haugabook had little time to maneuver behind the line, getting sacked three times and scrambling often, to the tune of minus 17 yards rushing. But he still managed to connect with seven different receivers for 88 yards. Gary Banks had the longest catch of the day with a 25-yarder.

“Nebraska is a very good football team. They’re the best team we’ve faced all year so far,” Banks said. “We probably snuck up on Florida State and Georgia Tech, but Nebraska was ready for us.

“They came out with a good game plan and executed it to a ‘T,’ so we can’t say anything bad about those guys.”

Banks said the Trojans would like to have passed down the field more but the Husker defense wouldn’t allow that.

“Omar didn’t really have much time so we tried to throw the quick passes,” he said. “That defensive line of Nebraska’s was phenomenal. Florida State was probably the fastest but Nebraska definitely is the biggest and strongest, all the way across the board.”

Reach Ryly Jane Hambleton at 473-7314 or rhambleton@journalstar.com