Nebraska Defeats Western Michigan, 47-24
Quarterback Joe Ganz led the way for Nebraska with 345 yards passing and four touchdowns, as they beat Western Michigan 47-24. The win was the 23rd straight season opening win for the Cornhuskers, extending the nation's longest such streak. Perhaps more importantly, the win was the first of the Bo Pelini era of Nebraska football.
The Huskers went to the air early and often behind the efficient Ganz. After a punt on their first series, Nebraska went 62 and 61 yards for touchdowns on their next two possessions. The first touchdown came courtesy of Marlon Lucky's fourteen yard run, the second on a three yard pass from Ganz to tight end Mike McNeil. The Huskers would tack on the first of Alex Henery's four 44-yard field goals for a 17-0 lead before the Broncos finally got on the board.
Western Michigan went 80 yards in 10 plays, aided by three 15-yard penalties by NU, to cash in their first score - a pass from Tim Hiller to Brandon Ledbetter. The two would be a thorn in the Huskers' side all night as Ledbetter netted 123 yards on nine catches on the night.
The Huskers controlled much of the second quarter. Nate Swift teamed up with Ganz to do much of the scoring damage. Swift caught a 61-yard touchdown from Ganz on a quick strike for NU. Henery booted his second field goal, which was answered by WMU's John Potter. Then, in a well executed two-minute drill, Ganz hooked up with Swift again. This time it was a 3-yard fade route for a touchdown. The Huskers took a 34-10 lead in to the half.
The second half was a very even contest. NU opened the scoring with Henery's third 44-yard field goal. The Broncos answered with a 80 yard drive ending in a Brandon West 1-yard touchdown run. Again, the Huskers struck back quickly. They covered 74 yards in two plays - Dreu Young's 55 yard reception and Marlon Lucky's 19 yard reception for a touchdown. Western Michigan scored early in the fourth quarter, and moved the ball enough to keep the 24-44 contest interesting until NU converted Henery's fourth field goal for the 47-24 final score.
Statistical Leaders
Hiller and Ledbetter keyed the Bronco attack. Hiller finished with 345 passing yards on 30 of 45 passing for two touchdowns and an interception. Ledbetter had nine catches for 123 yards and a touchdown. Brandon West led the Bronco's rather anemic rushing game with 29 yards on 12 carries.
For NU, Ganz threw for 345 yards and four touchdowns but was intercepted twice in the second half. Swift led the seven Huskers who caught balls with five receptions 121 yards and two touchdowns.
The Huskers garnered 138 yards on 38 rushing attempts. Roy Helu managed 52 of those yards on just seven carries. Marlon Lucky rushed for 43 yards and a touchdown on 12 carries, and Ganz scooted for 38 yards on six carries. On defense for NU, it was a coming out part of sorts for linebacker Cody Glenn. Starting in just his first game as a college defender, the outside linebacker totaled 12 stops.
The Broncos fall to 0-1 on the year and move on to face Northern Illinois at home next week. For 1-0 Nebraska, the next opponent is San Jose State in Lincoln next Saturday at 12:30.
8/30/2008
It will be interesting to see if the Pass Defense gets stabilized, being in the pass happy Big 12. Wha was the deal with SIRIUS Satelite Radio not covering the game? I’m sure that I went all through the dial.
8/31/2008
The game went as expected for me. Offensively, I loved Watson’s play calling! I think Holt had a strong performance, and Swift and Peterson were reliable as always. Good to see the use of the tight ends. Are offense can play with anybody.
I also thought we had a strong defensive performance, but with lots of mental errors. I think we can clean up a lot of mistakes by the time we play Mizzou. Glenn was awesome, but Dillard played well too…they are both superfast linebackers. The d line looked good, but I think they might have benefited from more subsituting…I think they got a little tired. I was surprised to see Glenn and Dillard play every play of the game with no substitutions. I guess the younger guys are not ready yet? The secondary was definately a weaker area, but those guys need to gain some experience. I hope they improve quickly. They have a lot of speed…the tools are there. It seemed to me that a lot of the passes were short passes over the middle. We often seem to have vacated the middle sending are LB’s on a blitz, and then would get burned. I think the Defensive play calling was a little vanilla, besides the occasional blitz. I don’t think he wants to show too much or he wants to keep it simple for now for the younger players.
I think this team has a lot of potential. I guess we will see how quickly they develop.
Chicago, IL
8/31/2008
OU7Times, I just read that the Sirius contract was renewed on Friday. They didn’t carry the WMU game, but the rest of the games will be on.
8/31/2008
Thanks for that info Jason, I hadn’t caught that one.