Nebraska hadn't had a kickoff return for a touchdown since Joe Walker took one back 99 yards in the 1998 season opener.
BRIAN CHRISTOPHERSON / Lincoln Journal Star | Posted: Friday, November 9, 2007 6:00 pm
He was about 50 yards from home, or maybe it was 40, when Cortney Grixby looked up to watch some TV.
That’s when the Husker senior thought it was worth a glance at Memorial Stadium’s big screen.
“I wanted to see if anyone could catch me,” Grixby said.
No one could. Grixby high-stepped the final couple yards, his 94-yard kickoff return complete.
It was a spark Nebraska needed Saturday, tying the game at 7 in the first quarter. The Huskers rolled from there to a 73-31 win against Kansas State.
“I lost my breath going off the field. The celebrating and jumping on me about killed me,” Grixby said, smiling. “I told them, ‘I’m only about 170 pounds. Leave me alone.’
“(In the huddle), we always say, ‘Take it to the house.’ We wanted to get one. We’ve been close. It was due for the whole team.”
Nebraska hadn’t had a kickoff return for a touchdown since Joe Walker took one back 99 yards in the 1998 season opener against Louisiana Tech.
“We’ve been waiting a few years for one of those,” Husker senior linebacker Bo Ruud said. “That just gets a team so fired up. You just use that momentum. We got it after that play and we never looked back after that.”
A Hardy day
Senior receiver Frantz Hardy was another Husker who celebrated Senior Day in style.
Hardy caught three passes — 39, 36 and 8 yards — and all were for touchdowns.
Four of his 14 catches this year have covered 24 yards or more and two of them have been for more than 50.
Hardy passed all the credit to junior quarterback Joe Ganz, even using the word “amazing” to describe him.
“I didn’t really have to do anything,” Hardy said. “Joe just threw the ball and it was right on the money.”
Ganz shines
Ganz walked away from the game with several school records.
Probably most impressive were his 528 yards of total offense, which shattered the previous record of 433 quarterback Zac Taylor had against Iowa State in 2005.
Ganz’s seven touchdown passes also set a school record.
“I’m more proud of not turning the ball over really than (breaking) those records,” Ganz said.
Only four times has a Husker quarterback thrown for more than 400 yards. Ganz has two of those performances, accomplished in his first two starts.
He had 12 pass plays of more than 20 yards Saturday. At one point in the third quarter, 14 of his 15 completions had gone for 10 yards or more.
Feeling Blue: Husker freshman Anthony Blue got his first start at cornerback, even breaking up a pass on K-State’s first offensive series.
The Huskers also started senior Ben Eisenhart at safety. It was Eisenhart’s first career start.
The last home game for the Culbertson native couldn’t have gone much better.
“It was the most amazing thing, I don’t know if I can even explain it,” Eisenhart said. The last five weeks haven’t been very good to us, so to get this done, especially on the last home game, is a great feeling and is definitely something I’ll remember for the rest of my life for sure.”
Quick hits: Nebraska’s 73 points are the most it’s scored against Kansas State, bettering the 62 put up in 1984. … Marlon Lucky now has 976 receiving yards in his career, just 24 from becoming the first player in school history to get more than 1,000 yards both rushing and receiving in a career. … Andre Jones’ 47-yard punt return in the second quarter was the longest punt return for Nebraska this season. … Todd Peterson’s 85 receiving yards are a career high. … Maurice Purify caught six passes for 108 yards. He now has 678 receiving yards, putting him fourth in school history for most receiving yards in a season. … Nate Swift had two catches to give him 101 for his career. He and Lucky are the third and fourth Huskers to have more than 100 career receptions.
Reach Brian Christopherson at 473-7439 or bchristopherson@journalstar.com.