Nebraska piled up 413 rushing yards on 70 attempts. Seventy attempts! Nevada defenders were gasping for air by the middle of the third quarter. Somewhere Tom Osborne and Barry Switzer were smiling.
Posted: Saturday, September 1, 2007 7:00 pm
An answer?
Yeah, Nebraska had one.
For a moment Saturday, Nevada had the lead. On the stadium’s big screens, they showed a few of those shirtless college kids with red paint on their faces, and those crazy kids weren’t smiling, not with NU trailing by three points.
Oh, Big Red fans would be smiling soon enough — smiling, dancing and reminiscing. Yes, the Huskers had an answer.
Nebraska piled up 413 rushing yards on 70 attempts (compared with 26 passes). Seventy rushing attempts! Nevada defenders were gasping for air by the middle of the third quarter. Somewhere Tom Osborne and Barry Switzer were smiling. Indeed, this felt like a bygone era at the old stadium, with a big and powerful Husker offensive line systematically bringing an overmatched foe to its knees.
Heck, Nebraska even ran the option twice.
Bill Callahan’s West Coast offense is basically a finesse-oriented system? Well, there’s your answer to that question, once and for all, in case anyone was still asking.
And while we’re asking questions … Sam who?
To be sure, Nebraska pulled off quite a stunner in its 52-10 victory. Sam Keller actually played second fiddle to the Huskers’ powerful rushing display. The Big Red machine averaged 5.9 yards per rush. NU rushed for six touchdowns. Marlon Lucky, Quentin Castille and company bolted through holes as expansive as the Nevada desert. The Wolf Pack eventually wilted and faded meekly into the late-afternoon shadows.
“Coach (Callahan) saw that they were getting tired (in the second half),” Lucky said. “We had the outsides, we had the insides. They just shut down, and we kept going.”
Lucky couldn’t stop smiling. Considering his rocky offseason, one had to feel awfully good for the kid. The 6-foot, 210-pound junior has never looked better at Nebraska than he did Saturday, when he rushed 30 times for 233 yards and three touchdowns. He looked somewhat hesitant early but picked up steam as the day progressed.
Meanwhile, Castille — the 6-1, 245-pound true freshman — rushed 18 times for 78 yards and two touchdowns. He runs with an attitude. He has that strong forward lean you look for. He inflicts pain. He moves piles. He’s strong like bull. And he appears solid as the Huskers’ No. 2 option at I-back.
Which begs another question: Is Castille ready for Wake Forest? For Southern California? Ready to face 21- and 22-year-old men sharpening their cleats for the NFL?
I may kick myself for this, but I’m going to say “Yes.”
Said Callahan: “That’s why we tried to get him in the mix (against Nevada) as soon as we could.”
Heck, you could ask similar questions about Lucky. Is he really ready to be the bell cow in Nebraska’s rushing attack? The Huskers strive for balance on offense. They averaged 170-plus yards rushing last season, but Lucky faded late last year after he was replaced as the starter midway through the season.
“I had never lost a starting job before, and it got to me,” he said Saturday. “Mentally, I wasn’t there.”
He was there Saturday — legs churning, knees pumping — especially after Nevada went up 10-7 early in the second quarter on cornerback Jonathon Amaya’s 80-yard interception return for a TD.
Nebraska’s answer? Try 14 straight rushing plays, with Lucky and Castille carrying the load. The sudden ground assault led to two touchdowns. And the TDs just kept coming. To be sure, there was your answer, in resounding fashion.
Credit the offensive line. “The profile’s changed up front,” Callahan said. But credit the backs, too. They made quick and decisive reads most of the time. They picked up yards after contact. Lucky made good cuts on the second level of the defense.
Make no mistake, Lucky likes being “the man,” the go-to guy. In that regard, yes, he’s a bit of a front-runner. But if he can shred defenses like he did Saturday, well, who can complain?
But running wild against Nevada is one thing. Doing it against Wake Forest and Southern California — and in the thick of a Big 12 title chase — is quite another. Lucky has some more proving to do.
Starting next week, the answers — not to mention the yards — won’t come as easily.
Nobody had to remind Callahan of that.
“There’s going to be a lot of good things on this film,” the coach said. However, “I kind of temper this, as you can understand.”
Good answer.
Reach Steven M. Sipple at 473-7440 or ssipple@journalstar.com.