NU notebook, 10/1: Taylor, Huskers happy broken play didn't cost them game
The crowd was roaring, making it difficult to hear in the huddle, Nebraska quarterback Zac Taylor said.
The confusion resulted in a broken play late in the fourth quarter as the Huskers were driving for what could have been a game-winning field goal Saturday at Memorial Stadium.
Nebraska I-back Cory Ross said he went the wrong way on the play, breaking to his left to accept a handoff that never occurred. Taylor ran to his right and was tackled by Iowa State cornerback DeAndre Jackson. Taylor fumbled, and Jackson scrambled to recover.
“Looking back, I should’ve tucked the ball,” Taylor said.
Asked about the play, Nebraska coach Bill Callahan apparently sought to deflect blame from his players.
“I did a poor job of getting the play in,” he said.
Pass-happy Huskers
Taylor, who was 36-for-55 passing, said he got an inkling Friday night that Nebraska might pass a lot against Iowa State when he noticed that among the Huskers’ first 15 plays, 11 were passes. Callahan scripts the first 15 plays before each game and adjusts from there.
Husker offensive coordinator Jay Norvell said Taylor has been throwing for a “high, high percentage” in practice. At halftime Saturday, Taylor was 19-for-32 for 198 yards.
“It was going well, so we stayed with it,” Norvell said.
O-line responds
Nebraska’s offensive line, particularly the tackles, had received harsh criticism from several angles during the first three games. Among the critics was offensive line coach Dennis Wagner.
But he had few complaints Saturday.
“Our guys are getting comfortable,” Wagner said. “We have a group that feels comfortable together.”
Nebraska’s tackles — Cornealius Fuamatu-Thomas on the left and Seppo Evwaraye on the right — went the distance, as redshirt freshman Lydon Murtha never entered the game after playing four series the previous game.
“I didn’t want to break Cornealius’ rhythm with (left guard) Greg (Austin), because Iowa State was running a lot of twist and stunts,” Wagner said.
What about Glenn?
For the past several days, there was speculation that I-back Cody Glenn would see increased action. Coaches have touted the 6-foot, 230-pound freshman as a viable weapon in short-yardage situations. On Saturday, though, the Huskers mostly stuck with Ross in those occurrences.
“The thing I’m proud of is, everyone understands their roles,” Callahan said. “The roles are based on certain situations. We’re really proud of the efforts of Cory Ross.”
Osborne catches action
As he waited for a halftime tribute to the Teammates mentoring program, Tom Osborne looked like he wanted to jump into the Iowa State huddle to see what was going on.
The Cyclones decided to go for a field goal with fourth-and-1 at the Husker 9-yard line. The 26-yard kick with 33 seconds left was wide- right.
Would the congressman have gone for the first down?
“I’m sure right now they wish they had,” Osborne said at halftime.
The Teammates program has come a long way since its start in 1991. Osborne can take pride in the efforts of several former Huskers who serve as mentors.
“(Will Shields) started his own mentoring program,” Osborne said. “I think Abdul Muhammad works with kids up in Omaha. A lot of them work with kids. Some of it I think is a spinoff of what they saw here.”
Osborne is still a regular at Husker home games, and he likes to catch the action on TV when his schedule permits.
“Tonight I’ll probably try to watch a couple,” he said.
Still going for two after all these years.
Double the pleasure
The double-overtime game marked the first overtime game at Memorial Stadium, as well as the first double-overtime game in school history. The Huskers improved their all-time overtime record to 4-0. They’ve scored a touchdown on all five of their overtime possessions.
Level of pain
Asked it the double-overtime loss was worse than the 28-0 drubbing Nebraska handed Iowa State the last time the Cyclones were in Lincoln, ISU’s Adam Carper said the overtime was worse.
“This is more painful because we had shots to win and didn’t capitalize on them,” he said. “When we watch the tape, we’ll see we did some good things. Of course, we also did some bad things. Right now, it’s pretty heartbreaking.”
Extra special
For the four Nebraska high school graduates on the Cyclone team, the lost opportunity was particularly difficult to take.
“All of us Nebraska natives wanted to win a lot and had a little bit more emphasis on it,” said Jon Davis of Papillion-La Vista. Other Nebraskans on the ISU roster are Nick Leaders of Millard West, Stevie Hicks of Creighton Prep and Caleb Berg of Heartland.
The confusion resulted in a broken play late in the fourth quarter as the Huskers were driving for what could have been a game-winning field goal Saturday at Memorial Stadium.
Nebraska I-back Cory Ross said he went the wrong way on the play, breaking to his left to accept a handoff that never occurred. Taylor ran to his right and was tackled by Iowa State cornerback DeAndre Jackson. Taylor fumbled, and Jackson scrambled to recover.
“Looking back, I should’ve tucked the ball,” Taylor said.
Asked about the play, Nebraska coach Bill Callahan apparently sought to deflect blame from his players.
“I did a poor job of getting the play in,” he said.
Pass-happy Huskers
Taylor, who was 36-for-55 passing, said he got an inkling Friday night that Nebraska might pass a lot against Iowa State when he noticed that among the Huskers’ first 15 plays, 11 were passes. Callahan scripts the first 15 plays before each game and adjusts from there.
Husker offensive coordinator Jay Norvell said Taylor has been throwing for a “high, high percentage” in practice. At halftime Saturday, Taylor was 19-for-32 for 198 yards.
“It was going well, so we stayed with it,” Norvell said.
O-line responds
Nebraska’s offensive line, particularly the tackles, had received harsh criticism from several angles during the first three games. Among the critics was offensive line coach Dennis Wagner.
But he had few complaints Saturday.
“Our guys are getting comfortable,” Wagner said. “We have a group that feels comfortable together.”
Nebraska’s tackles — Cornealius Fuamatu-Thomas on the left and Seppo Evwaraye on the right — went the distance, as redshirt freshman Lydon Murtha never entered the game after playing four series the previous game.
“I didn’t want to break Cornealius’ rhythm with (left guard) Greg (Austin), because Iowa State was running a lot of twist and stunts,” Wagner said.
What about Glenn?
For the past several days, there was speculation that I-back Cody Glenn would see increased action. Coaches have touted the 6-foot, 230-pound freshman as a viable weapon in short-yardage situations. On Saturday, though, the Huskers mostly stuck with Ross in those occurrences.
“The thing I’m proud of is, everyone understands their roles,” Callahan said. “The roles are based on certain situations. We’re really proud of the efforts of Cory Ross.”
Osborne catches action
As he waited for a halftime tribute to the Teammates mentoring program, Tom Osborne looked like he wanted to jump into the Iowa State huddle to see what was going on.
The Cyclones decided to go for a field goal with fourth-and-1 at the Husker 9-yard line. The 26-yard kick with 33 seconds left was wide- right.
Would the congressman have gone for the first down?
“I’m sure right now they wish they had,” Osborne said at halftime.
The Teammates program has come a long way since its start in 1991. Osborne can take pride in the efforts of several former Huskers who serve as mentors.
“(Will Shields) started his own mentoring program,” Osborne said. “I think Abdul Muhammad works with kids up in Omaha. A lot of them work with kids. Some of it I think is a spinoff of what they saw here.”
Osborne is still a regular at Husker home games, and he likes to catch the action on TV when his schedule permits.
“Tonight I’ll probably try to watch a couple,” he said.
Still going for two after all these years.
Double the pleasure
The double-overtime game marked the first overtime game at Memorial Stadium, as well as the first double-overtime game in school history. The Huskers improved their all-time overtime record to 4-0. They’ve scored a touchdown on all five of their overtime possessions.
Level of pain
Asked it the double-overtime loss was worse than the 28-0 drubbing Nebraska handed Iowa State the last time the Cyclones were in Lincoln, ISU’s Adam Carper said the overtime was worse.
“This is more painful because we had shots to win and didn’t capitalize on them,” he said. “When we watch the tape, we’ll see we did some good things. Of course, we also did some bad things. Right now, it’s pretty heartbreaking.”
Extra special
For the four Nebraska high school graduates on the Cyclone team, the lost opportunity was particularly difficult to take.
“All of us Nebraska natives wanted to win a lot and had a little bit more emphasis on it,” said Jon Davis of Papillion-La Vista. Other Nebraskans on the ISU roster are Nick Leaders of Millard West, Stevie Hicks of Creighton Prep and Caleb Berg of Heartland.
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