Husker Report Card: Kansas State

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By the Lincoln Journal Star

RUNNING GAME (B): At times, the going seemed to be a little tougher on the ground than it was against Iowa State. That was to be expected against a solid K-State defense. Still, Brandon Jackson and Co. got the job done. Hard to complain with 158 yards in the first half. Great run by Marlon Lucky on the 40-yard touchdown. He looked fast and fresh. The Wildcats contained Cody Glenn, though.

PASSING GAME (C): Nothing spectacular. Pressure on Zac Taylor was frequent, with four sacks for 35 yards lost. Nice grab and concentration by Maurice Purify on the 32-yard gain. He had four catches for 73 yards.

AGAINST THE RUN (A): Really, no contest. As expected, the Nebraska defensive line had its way pushing around the young Kansas State linemen. When the Huskers blitzed and still snuffed out a draw play for a loss, you knew who had the upper hand. K-State freshman running back Leon Patton had 151 yards last week but got nothing going this time. The fact Nebraska shut down the run early was key.

AGAINST THE PASS (B): Say this about Josh Freeman: The kid can really fling it. As expected, he made some great throws, and missed some throws. The pressure picked up as the game progressed. Outstanding play by Ndamukong Suh on the interception in the fourth quarter. Suh, by the way, has a team-leading eight tackles for loss this season.

SPECIAL TEAMS (A): Great pooch punt by Dan Titchener to pin Kansas State inside its 2-yard line in the first quarter (one of four punts that Titchener landed inside the Wildcat 20). It would’ve worked better had the Huskers not let the Wildcats off the hook on the fake punt, but hard to predict such a gutsy call inside the K-State 10-yard line. Besides, Nebraska had the upper hand in trickery with Jake Wesch’s touchdown pass to Hunter Teafatiller off the fake field goal.

GAME MANAGEMENT AND PENALTIES (A): Only one major penalty, and the personal foul on Purify was somewhat costly. The Huskers would’ve had a manageable third-down play near midfield; instead, it turned into third-and-21. But Nebraska had only one other penalty, so good job overall. Think those timeouts at the end of the first half iced Jeff Snodgrass? His 54-yarder fell short.

PLAY CALLING (A): Can’t blame Bill Callahan for sitting on a lead and running out the clock in a road game. The play calling seemed more aggressive than last week. Ahead 14-0 in the second quarter, Callahan rightly tried to go for the kill, throwing deep to Purify on first down. Didn’t work, but a good call. So was the Taylor run on the naked bootleg to set up the second touchdown.

OVERALL (A): Good day for the Huskers. Sole possession of first place in the Big 12 North. Bowl eligibility achieved. Program victory No. 800. First victory in Manhattan since 1996. Purple people getting a dose of reality. Overall, this game went pretty much as expected. Nebraska had to work for its points but had no problem stopping a young offense. Now, can the Huskers beat a team they’re not supposed to next week?