It was as if Nebraska jumped into a time machine and went back to the Tom Osborne days of Cornhusker football.
Nebraska coach Bo Pelini rewarded the Cornhusker defense with the coveted “Blackshirts” this week in practice. They left its coach no reason to doubt the decision after the game Saturday afternoon at Bill Snyder Family Stadium.
The game was won, 56-28, by the Huskers in the trenches as Nebraska used its brute physicality to defeat K-State.
Nebraska punished K-State’s offensive and defensive lines – shoving them any which way it wanted as it ran for 340 yards on 53 carries, an average of 6.4 yards per carry.
The Cornhuskers’ offensive line opened holes for their running backs consistently, while scoring 56 points against the K-State defense. It was the first time in the history of K-State’s program it had allowed four games of 50 points or more in a season.
Nebraska controlled the football throughout the entirety of the game – holding onto it for nearly 37 minutes while running 78 plays, 20 more than K-State. The Cornhuskers had 29 first downs compared to 13 by the Wildcats.
“It was pretty clear we couldn’t tackle their quarterback,” Prince said. “It didn’t matter who it was – defensive ends, corners, safeties, linebackers – we couldn’t tackle. We had people in position to tackle, but we just bounced off of them.”
Meanwhile, the K-State offense was no better. It struggled to move the ball offensively all game.
The K-State offensive line struggled to keep the Cornhuskers out of the backfield as they sacked quarterback Josh Freeman a season-high four times before he was pulled mid-way through the third quarter.
The offensive line didn’t do any better with its run blocking, as K-State rushed for 59 yards on 32 carries, an average of 1.8 yards per carry.
But this wasn’t a juggernaut defense. The Cornhuskers came into the game with the nation’s No. 81 ranked defense, but the Wildcats could do nothing against it.
But K-State had its chances. The two teams exchanged punches to a 14-14 tie into the second quarter. K-State had seized momentum after forcing Nebraska into a three-and-out.
But K-State punt returner Deon Murphy fumbled the punt and the Cornhuskers recovered.
Nebraska went on to score 21 unanswered points after the fumble and outscored the Wildcats 42-14 from that point on.
“I thought the biggest play of the game from a negative standpoint early was the fumble on the punt return, Prince said. “We made a good quality stop, and we had the turnover there. I thought that was, unfortunately, a key play of the game.”
Nebaska dominated K-State in all facets of the game.