NU Notes, 9/19: Receivers can't explain fumble fingers
digg it!
Facebook
del.icio.us
Seed Newsvine
Fark It
Reddit
Too bad it wasn't still raining.
In that case, Ross Pilkington would've at least had an excuse for dropping three balls Saturday afternoon on a soggy, yet sun-splashed Heinz Field.
Pilkington, widely regarded as the Huskers' most sure-handed receiver, had no explanations for consecutive passes he dropped in the Pittsburgh end zone in the first quarter.
"Lack of concentration on my part," Pilkington said. "It's my fault. I just tried to let it go, stay focused. There was nothing I could really do about it."
Nebraska had first-and-goal at the Pittsburgh 4-yard line following Fabian Washington's 19-yard interception return. Joe Dailey, after getting thrown for a 4-yard sack, threw near-perfect passes to Pilkington on second and third down.
While Pittsburgh's Darrelle Revis was credited for a break-up on the first throw, it's a ball Pilkington has been known to grab.
He proved that in the second quarter, when he hung on to a sharp slant pass from Dailey for a 6-yard touchdown reception.
"I tried to bounce back and make some catches later in the game, that we needed on third down," said Pilkington, who also caught a 41-yard pass for NU's longest play of the day.
"What can I say?" Pilkington said of the drops. "It's kind of a fluke deal, I guess."
Looking for more
Pilkington, while annoyed with the dropped balls, seemed more concerned with the greater picture Saturday.
The junior captain wasn't at all pleased with Nebraska's offensive performance, especially after the Huskers took a 24-10 lead. The Huskers didn't score after halftime.
"This is two games in a row that we've failed to put a team away," Pilkington said. "We need to work on that and really come together as an offense and do that. Our defense did an outstanding job of holding them. Offense really needs to step up this next game and really put a team away."
Nebraska, which had nearly 500 yards of offense last week against Southern Miss, but turned the ball over five times, had just one turnover against Pittsburgh, but managed a season-low 265 total yards.
"We have all the confidence in the world in our defense," Pilkington said. "We just need to put points on the board in the second half. That's what it comes down to."
Uh-oh ... not again
Two weeks after allowing two long kickoff returns, including one for a touchdown, Nebraska was burned again.
Pittsburgh's Marcus Furman returned a kickoff 96 yards for a score, finding holes and darting through the Huskers' return coverage unit.
"I made the first contact on him," Nebraska's Andrew Shanle said, "and then I don't know what happened after that.
"We've just got to get our gaps filled. Once we get blocked, we need to get back into our lanes. We worked on that during practice, and we got a lot better. It's just another kink to work out."
Weather watch
Nebraskans are sometimes used to getting 5 inches of rain overnight. In Pittsburgh, that results in a deluge of a different magnitude.
The 5.95 inches of rain Friday in the Pittsburgh area are the most the city has recorded in a 24-hour period. Ever. The old record was 3.6 inches — set last week.
Also, high-wind advisories were issued overnight, with winds expected to approach 40 miles per hour.
The weather was remnants of Hurricane Ivan and forced widespread evacuations, road closures and many injuries.
"Our thoughts and prayers are with the people who went through the flood," Nebraska coach Bill Callahan said.
Floodwaters covered a plaza area just south of Heinz Field and appeared to reach within about 50 yards of the stadium. Only the tops of light poles, which line a walkway past the stadium, could be seen through the water.
One Pittsburgh official said the floodwaters were probably partly to blame for the announced crowd of only 40,133.
Big hits
Pilkington thought he initially broke his ribs on a hit he took in the second half. He merely had the wind knocked out of him, but it was another reminder that Pittsburgh players were no slouches.
"From the beginning, they were hitting, and they hit all game long," Pilkington said. "From receivers to running backs, everybody was getting hit hard."
Among the hardest Husker hits: Brandon Rigoni nailing a Pittsburgh punt returner.
"Rigoni hit that wedge all game long," Pilkington said. "He's just fun to watch."
Not quite the Orange
The goal of every NCAA Division I-A team this season is to reach the Orange Bowl, site of the BCS championship game. With a loss already, Nebraska probably has no margin for error if it wants to end up in Miami.
But there are people from Florida taking a peek at the Huskers. On Saturday, a representative from the Tangerine Bowl was on hand to scout them. The Tangerine Bowl is held on Dec. 21 in Orlando.
Nebraska, which has been to a bowl game an NCAA-record 35 straight seasons, will have to go 4-4 from here on out in order to be eligible for No. 36.
Most Commented news