BRIAN ROSENTHAL / Lincoln Journal Star | Posted: Friday, October 28, 2005 7:00 pm
Nebraska quarterback Zac Taylor is building on his reputation of being a stand-up guy. He’s already won over many fans with his gutsy play, his humble attitude, or his ability to pop up after getting his face mask planted in the turf. Now, after a game in which he was sacked a school-record nine times, Taylor shoulders the blame.
Never mind those guys who blitzed up the middle untouched. Forget that collapsing pocket. Taylor says it’s his bad.
“A lot of those (sacks) were my fault, to be honest with you,” Taylor said. “They brought those safeties late, and that’s something I’ve got to pick up, get rid of the ball, get us out of the play. I put my line in tough situations when I don’t recognize that right off the bat.
“My offensive line did a great job. We all made mistakes, and there were a lot of things I could have helped them out on.”
It’s probably safe to say Taylor wasn’t entirely to blame in Nebraska’s 31-24 loss Saturday to Oklahoma at Memorial Stadium.
But Nebraska offensive coordinator Jay Norvell agreed that Taylor could’ve made some better decisions.
“Sacks are everybody’s responsibility,” Norvell said. “Sacks are receivers. Sacks are quarterbacks. It’s a misnomer that it’s always the offensive line’s problem. (Taylor) understands that he’s got to get the ball out quickly.”
Oklahoma’s nine sacks for 57 yards are a Nebraska school record for sacks allowed in a game. The previous record was seven in 1985, against Oklahoma.
Nebraska had seven seasons since 1981 in which it allowed nine or fewer sacks.
But Saturday, Oklahoma and its aggressive, talented front seven made life miserable for Taylor and the Huskers.
“They really didn’t do anything differently that we hadn’t prepared for,” Norvell said. “We did not play well early offensively. It was poor.”
The game began inauspiciously for Nebraska. On the first play, Taylor was sacked for an eight-yard loss – a play in which defensive end Calvin Thibodeaux spun around left tackle Lydon Murtha. A redshirted freshman, Murtha was making his first career start in place of Cornealius Fuamatu-Thomas.
On its first five possessions, Nebraska combined for 18 yards of offense and zero first downs.
“We didn’t block well enough,” Norvell said. “We didn’t execute in the passing game. Zac wasn’t as sharp as he needed to be. We just have to do a better job of starting fast.
“We just didn’t execute. That was our biggest thing. I take the blame for that offensively. We’ve just got to do a better job, in a big game like this, of executing better.”
Taylor completed 25 of 45 passes for 249 yards and two touchdowns. He threw two interceptions, including one OU cornerback Chijioke Onyenegecha returned 63 yards for a touchdown with 1 minute remaining before halftime.
“He sat on that and read it from the get-go,” Taylor said. “We ran two little quick outs right there, and I just picked the wrong guy and just gave it to them. Terrible read on my part.”
Taylor also couldn’t locate open receivers downfield on consecutive plays in the second quarter. The Memorial Stadium crowd moaned when unloaded throws fell incomplete well after Grant Mulkey and Terrence Nunn, respectively, had been open.
“I could hear the crowd noise, and you know when the crowd’s going like that, you know somebody’s open,” Taylor said. “But in my progression, there was nothing there. The last time, I saw Terrence real late, and didn’t see that corner that made the play on it.”
Still, Taylor kept his composure and got the offense back on track in the second half. He hit Nunn on a slant pass for a 13-yard touchdown, capping a 16-play drive. He also connected with Nate Swift for a 25-yard touchdown pass on the first play of the fourth quarter.
Taylor nearly hit Swift again on what could’ve been a game-tying touchdown pass in the final 2 minutes. On second-and-27 from the NU 27 – one play after a seven-yard sack – Taylor, with a stiff wind behind him, overthrew Swift deep in OU territory. Swift had beaten his defender and was open.
“That play will probably haunt me for the rest of my life,” Taylor said. “It’s tough. He beat his man and was open. I just had too much adrenaline, I guess.”
Swift caught nine passes for 116 yards and two touchdowns, including one from Cory Ross on a halfback pass.
“We had a lot of close calls and close misses for the passes,” Swift said. “Zac was getting rushed all game, and he had to get out of the pocket and scramble. That, in turn, made us scramble and get off our routes. It was kind of a running around, trying to get open, trying to find the hole.”
Reach Brian Rosenthal at 473-7436 or brosenthal@journalstar.com.