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NU stumbles against Texas Tech
COLLEGE FOOTBALL
By Terry Douglass
sports.desk@theindependent.com
LINCOLN — The same lack of offensive execution that nearly derailed Nebraska during its come-from-behind win at Missouri finally caught up to the Cornhuskers Saturday against Texas Tech.
The unranked Red Raiders bolted to a 21-0 lead and used a sturdy defensive performance during a 31-10 victory over No. 15 Nebraska before a crowd of 86,107 at Memorial Stadium. The Huskers were blanked for the first three quarters of their Big 12 Conference opener at Missouri on Oct. 8 before rallying for a 27-12 win. Saturday against Tech, they never managed to get their offense rolling.
And while Nebraska managed just 285 yards of total offense and didn’t score its first touchdown until 8:40 remained, coach Bo Pelini said there was plenty of blame to spread around.
“We didn’t execute from the beginning to the end,” Pelini said. “On offense, we didn’t come off the ball. We didn’t catch the ball. We didn’t make the right reads at quarterback.
“We didn’t run the ball effectively and on defense, we didn’t make plays.”
The Huskers (4-2, 1-1 Big 12) got behind the eight-ball early. Making his first collegiate start on the road, Texas Tech quarterback Steven Sheffield guided the Red Raiders (5-2, 2-1) on a nine-play, 80-yard TD drive, completing a 16-yard scoring pass to Baron Batch for a 7-0 lead just 4:39 into the game.
Texas Tech was twice able to convert on third-and-long plays to keep its opening march alive. Sheffield first connected with Lyle Leong, who caught a tipped ball for a 34-yard gain to convert a third-and-13 play, and later got a first down on a third-and-17, finding Detron Lewis for a 22-yard strike to the Nebraska 23-yard line.
“That’s the most disappointing thing I’ve seen in a long time,” Pelini said. “You have two times where it’s third and (long) and, again, we were in position and we didn’t execute.
“We didn’t make plays and we gave them the momentum in the football game because of that.”
Nebraska defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh said Texas Tech’s opening drive definitely included “some luck.”
“We obviously were around the ball, ended up tipping it up and he got the ball,” Suh said of Leong’s 34-yard reception off a deflection. “It was just mistakes — things that we could’ve made plays on and we didn’t.”
Sheffield said the first-drive score sparked the Red Raiders.
“The touchdown on the first drive, that was good,” said Sheffield, who completed 23-of-32 pass attempts for 234 yards and a TD and rushed for two short scores. “We needed that.”
The Huskers appeared to have a good chance to tie the score on their second drive when disaster struck for Nebraska. A Zac Lee pass to wide receiver Niles Paul was ruled a lateral and Paul, disgusted he didn’t make the catch and thinking the pass was incomplete, stood and watched as Texas Tech’s Daniel Howard scooped up the ball and returned it 82 yards for a TD, putting the Red Raiders ahead 14-0 with 4:52 left in the first quarter.
“We stopped,” Pelini said of the play. “You can’t stop. You can’t stop on the play. I give them credit for doing that.”
Paul, who was running a “bubble” route, said he had no idea that the pass was a lateral.
“I didn’t get the depth I was supposed to take for a pass,” Paul said. “The ball was low and inside. It hit my finger tips. It should have been caught. I thought it was down — we all thought it was down.
“We thought it was an incomplete pass, so we were walking over to the huddle and they pick up the ball and take off. We didn’t know what was going on.”
While saying it shouldn’t have been a factor, Lee said the impact of Howard’s 82-yard fumble return was difficult to deny.
“We felt like we were going to score there,” Lee said. “It’s just one of those things where we’ve got to hop on the ball. We’ve got to be aware of what’s going on and make sure we hop on it before they do.”
Texas Tech made it 21-0 with 6:56 left in the first half on a 1-yard TD sneak by Sheffield. Nebraska could only muster a 21-yard Alex Henery field goal and trailed 24-3 at halftime, managing just 103 total yards and three first downs.
Although Nebraska’s defense limited Texas Tech to 47 total yards and seven points in the second half, it wasn’t enough. The Huskers continued to struggle, flip-flopping between Lee and backup quarterback Cody Green in the second half.
Nebraska’s only TD drive came with Green at the controls. The true freshman took his unit 40 yards on seven plays, cutting Texas Tech’s lead to 24-10 when he hit Khiry Cooper for a 13-yard TD pass with 8:40 remaining.
Green finished 7-of-16 passing for 87 yards with one interception, adding fuel to the fire of the quarterback competition for the Huskers. Lee was 16-of-22 for 128 yards with no interceptions, but was sacked four times and has failed to lead Nebraska to TDs in seven of eight quarters against Big 12 competition.
Trailing by 14, Nebraska’s faint comeback hopes were all but dashed when Eric Stephens’ 40-yard kickoff return took the ball to the Texas Tech 46, setting up a 54-yard TD drive. Another 1-yard scoring sneak by Sheffield gave his team a 31-10 lead with 3:30 remaining.
“We finally get a touchdown there and get within 14 points and we give a 40-yard (kickoff) return,” Pelini said. “We played soft.”
Suh said it was a tough loss for the Huskers.
“We obviously didn’t play well enough to win and obviously the score reflects that,” Suh said. “We’ve just to learn from this, go watch the film and move on from it.”
The unranked Red Raiders bolted to a 21-0 lead and used a sturdy defensive performance during a 31-10 victory over No. 15 Nebraska before a crowd of 86,107 at Memorial Stadium. The Huskers were blanked for the first three quarters of their Big 12 Conference opener at Missouri on Oct. 8 before rallying for a 27-12 win. Saturday against Tech, they never managed to get their offense rolling.
And while Nebraska managed just 285 yards of total offense and didn’t score its first touchdown until 8:40 remained, coach Bo Pelini said there was plenty of blame to spread around.
“We didn’t execute from the beginning to the end,” Pelini said. “On offense, we didn’t come off the ball. We didn’t catch the ball. We didn’t make the right reads at quarterback.
“We didn’t run the ball effectively and on defense, we didn’t make plays.”
The Huskers (4-2, 1-1 Big 12) got behind the eight-ball early. Making his first collegiate start on the road, Texas Tech quarterback Steven Sheffield guided the Red Raiders (5-2, 2-1) on a nine-play, 80-yard TD drive, completing a 16-yard scoring pass to Baron Batch for a 7-0 lead just 4:39 into the game.
Texas Tech was twice able to convert on third-and-long plays to keep its opening march alive. Sheffield first connected with Lyle Leong, who caught a tipped ball for a 34-yard gain to convert a third-and-13 play, and later got a first down on a third-and-17, finding Detron Lewis for a 22-yard strike to the Nebraska 23-yard line.
“That’s the most disappointing thing I’ve seen in a long time,” Pelini said. “You have two times where it’s third and (long) and, again, we were in position and we didn’t execute.
“We didn’t make plays and we gave them the momentum in the football game because of that.”
Nebraska defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh said Texas Tech’s opening drive definitely included “some luck.”
“We obviously were around the ball, ended up tipping it up and he got the ball,” Suh said of Leong’s 34-yard reception off a deflection. “It was just mistakes — things that we could’ve made plays on and we didn’t.”
Sheffield said the first-drive score sparked the Red Raiders.
“The touchdown on the first drive, that was good,” said Sheffield, who completed 23-of-32 pass attempts for 234 yards and a TD and rushed for two short scores. “We needed that.”
The Huskers appeared to have a good chance to tie the score on their second drive when disaster struck for Nebraska. A Zac Lee pass to wide receiver Niles Paul was ruled a lateral and Paul, disgusted he didn’t make the catch and thinking the pass was incomplete, stood and watched as Texas Tech’s Daniel Howard scooped up the ball and returned it 82 yards for a TD, putting the Red Raiders ahead 14-0 with 4:52 left in the first quarter.
“We stopped,” Pelini said of the play. “You can’t stop. You can’t stop on the play. I give them credit for doing that.”
Paul, who was running a “bubble” route, said he had no idea that the pass was a lateral.
“I didn’t get the depth I was supposed to take for a pass,” Paul said. “The ball was low and inside. It hit my finger tips. It should have been caught. I thought it was down — we all thought it was down.
“We thought it was an incomplete pass, so we were walking over to the huddle and they pick up the ball and take off. We didn’t know what was going on.”
While saying it shouldn’t have been a factor, Lee said the impact of Howard’s 82-yard fumble return was difficult to deny.
“We felt like we were going to score there,” Lee said. “It’s just one of those things where we’ve got to hop on the ball. We’ve got to be aware of what’s going on and make sure we hop on it before they do.”
Texas Tech made it 21-0 with 6:56 left in the first half on a 1-yard TD sneak by Sheffield. Nebraska could only muster a 21-yard Alex Henery field goal and trailed 24-3 at halftime, managing just 103 total yards and three first downs.
Although Nebraska’s defense limited Texas Tech to 47 total yards and seven points in the second half, it wasn’t enough. The Huskers continued to struggle, flip-flopping between Lee and backup quarterback Cody Green in the second half.
Nebraska’s only TD drive came with Green at the controls. The true freshman took his unit 40 yards on seven plays, cutting Texas Tech’s lead to 24-10 when he hit Khiry Cooper for a 13-yard TD pass with 8:40 remaining.
Green finished 7-of-16 passing for 87 yards with one interception, adding fuel to the fire of the quarterback competition for the Huskers. Lee was 16-of-22 for 128 yards with no interceptions, but was sacked four times and has failed to lead Nebraska to TDs in seven of eight quarters against Big 12 competition.
Trailing by 14, Nebraska’s faint comeback hopes were all but dashed when Eric Stephens’ 40-yard kickoff return took the ball to the Texas Tech 46, setting up a 54-yard TD drive. Another 1-yard scoring sneak by Sheffield gave his team a 31-10 lead with 3:30 remaining.
“We finally get a touchdown there and get within 14 points and we give a 40-yard (kickoff) return,” Pelini said. “We played soft.”
Suh said it was a tough loss for the Huskers.
“We obviously didn’t play well enough to win and obviously the score reflects that,” Suh said. “We’ve just to learn from this, go watch the film and move on from it.”
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