Defense, special teams carry way for Huskers

It wasn't pretty, but Nebraska football coach Bo Pelini will still take it.

Nebraska handed San Jose State their first loss of the season on Saturday with a 35-12 victory that Husker fans and coaches may want to forget about quickly.

It was a game that saw NU lead by only two points with less than a quarter of play left.

In a weekend that saw a No. 8 West Virginia team lose to unranked East Carolina and No. 3 Ohio State get a scare from Frank Solich-led Ohio, Nebraska didn't want to be another headline.

With the score 14-12 with 12:07 left in the game, sophomore Niles Paul gave NU the boost it would need to close the deal when he returned a kickoff 85 yards for Nebraska's second non-offensive touchdown of the game.

"It was my first college touchdown," Paul said. "Every time I get a return, I'm thinking I'm going to take it to the house. All players should have that mentality."

The pivotal play put Nebraska up 21-12 before the Nebraska offense finally found its footing and tacked on 14 more points before the final whistle.

Senior quarterback Joe Ganz said the NU offense needed a play like that to help out their situation.

The Huskers have relied heavily on Ganz and the offense since Ganz took over late last year, but Saturday was the first time many were able to see the offense looking to lean on special teams and defense.

Luckily for the Huskers, they were able to get both.

The defense stood tall when it had to, allowing 353 yards, but only 12 points. The last time the Huskers held an opponent to 12 points or less was last year's season-opener against Nevada where NU won 52-10.

A lot has changed since then, and many Husker fans seem to be happy with the defensive changes thus far.

Saturday's flat offense might have some fans saying different. Nebraska scored 14 points in the first quarter alone, but was then shut down for more than two quarters.

Ganz only finished with 216 yards passing, the lowest of his starting career. The Husker rushing attack still couldn't get off the ground and the team ran for 99 yards.

The Spartans outgained NU by 38 yards on the day, but Pelini said the only stat he'll care about at the end of the game is the one on the scoreboard.

"We came here to win the game," Pelini said. "I'm going to enjoy the win. I've been coaching long enough that you learn to appreciate coming out with a 'W' and being 2-0. Reality hits me when I put that tape on in the morning and I understand where we are and where we want to get to."

The Huskers are going to have to play catch up quickly. While NU has shown signs of a rebuilding squad, they have two more games before conference play starts.

This Saturday, Nebraska takes on New Mexico State as they come to Lincoln for their first game of the year.

After NMSU, the Huskers have a bye week before pre-season ranked Virginia Tech comes to Lincoln, followed by No. 6-ranked Missouri.

When the dust settles from the clash with the Tigers on homecoming day, the team takes off for its first road game of the year when they go to Lubbock, Texas, to take on Texas Tech.

It's a stretch of games few would wish upon their team, but Pelini said this team is going to have to learn to react positively to adversity, and Saturday was the start of that process.

"I thought they reacted well," Pelini said. "I thought that there was no panic on the sideline. There's no finger pointing, there's nothing like that. I liked the demeanor, how the team stuck together."

Ganz might have been one of the most frustrated Huskers on the field Saturday. After having 300-plus yard performances against every team he's faced as a starter, it was a little hard for the senior to realize the team was just out of sync on Saturday.

"We just couldn't find a rhythm," Ganz said. "We were just third and long too many times. We realized we're not as good as we thought we were. It's all internal. I don't know how many penalties we had, but you can't win a game doing that kind of stuff."

The Huskers had 12 penalties in the game, to be exact, and those penalties cost NU 103 in the process. During one point of the game, the Nebraska offensive line was called for three-consecutive false start penalties that moved the Huskers 15 yards back from where their 2nd and 3 was supposed to take place.

Pelini said there won't be any questions, though, about the intensity the Huskers will bring out of the locker room to every game, including this last week's effort.

"We weren't flat at all," Pelini said. "There's a difference between being flat and losing concentration and making mistakes. These kids were excited, and there was no sense of these kids being flat."