Nebraska sophomore wide receiver Niles Paul just wants to make big plays. It's practically all he talks about.
The Omaha North graduate grew up watching former Nebraska stars such as Bobby Newcombe and DeJuan Groce break games wide open for the Big Red, and he said he wanted to make those guys proud this season.
"I go out there every time I get a return - punt return, kick return - thinking I'm going to take it to the house," Paul said.
Paul followed in the footsteps of NU's great kick returners of the past - and in those of his lead blocker Alfonzo Dennard, a freshman who made his collegiate debut on Saturday - during an 85-yard kickoff return for a touchdown Saturday against San Jose St.
Paul's first big play as a Husker came at a pivotal point in the fourth quarter, as the Husker offense had sputtered throughout the game and San Jose State had just pulled within two points of NU.
"It gave us a boost of energy," head coach Bo Pelini said. "It was a big play for us."
Quarterback Joe Ganz also used Paul's favorite term, "big play," to describe the return and said NU's special teams finally revved up the Husker offense.
"It kind of put the wind in our sails and got us going," junior defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh said.
"The defense came out even more pumped up after that."
The first defensive series after Paul's return resulted in a three-and-out, highlighted by a crushing sack from Phillip Dillard and Zach Potter that knocked San Jose State's quarterback out of the game with a concussion.
Then, Joe Ganz and company moved the ball outside of their own 30-yard-line for the first time since the game's opening possession
After five plays and a shifty 14-yard touchdown run from sophomore running back Roy Helu Jr., Nebraska had righted the ship.
Senior guard Matt Slauson said Paul's return motivated the offense to go out and "put the nail in the coffin."
"That's one thing our coaches preach to us," Suh said. "When one unit is down, the other two units need to pick it up and make sure that we're carrying the load and give the offense a chance to get in their own rhythm, and they did."
It was a role reversal from last week, Suh said, when Nebraska's offense carried the team in a 47-24 win over Western Michigan.
Although Paul will grab most of the headlines, it was the defense that kept Nebraska in Saturday's game for so long, and set the table for Paul's big play.
After sophomore running back Quentin Castille fumbled away a perfect option pitch, NU's defense stuffed a third down quarterback draw from San Jose St.'s Kyle Reed in the red zone to force a field goal with just more than 12 minutes left in the final quarter.
Paul galloped untouched to pay dirt on the ensuing kickoff.
It was the first time since 2002 that Nebraska scored a defensive and special teams touchdown in the same game.
Nebraska's defensive score came in the first quarter when Potter tipped a Reed pass that landed in the hands of Suh, who charged 49 yards the other way for his first career touchdown at NU.
"(Suh's touchdown) was a big play for our defense, a big play for our team really," Ganz said.
"The defense just played great. You have to give all the credit to those guys. They really kept us in the game in the first half, and pretty much for the first three quarters."
Nebraska's defensive statistics weren't overwhelmingly good - two forced turnovers, 137 rushing and 216 passing yards allowed.
Yet, they only allowed 12 points.
The idling offense forced NU's defense to stay on the field longer than usual.
San Jose St. ran 67 plays compared to Nebraska's 57.
Six of the Spartan offensive drives started at or beyond the 30-yd line before Nebraska's offensive resurgence in the fourth quarter.
"We executed well," Pelini said of his defense. "We played well. I can really only think of one play in the second half where we gave up that long pass."
The play Pelini referred to was a 55-yard strike from SJSU quarterback Myles Eden to wide receiver Kevin Jurovich late in the fourth quarter with NU already up 28-12.
Pelini was also sure to point out that he was upset with some "sloppy tackling" in the first half, but said that his players responded well after halftime.
Nebraska gave up just 30 rushing yards in the second half, and no touchdowns after SDSU's first possession of the game.
"When you see your defense playing like that when your offense is doing so bad, it's really easy to get up after that and say 'They're doing it. We need to go out and do it,'" Slauson said.
Pelini said Nebraska never lost its sense of team, even though the defense shouldered most of the load in this one.
"There was no panic on the sideline," Pelini said.
"There was no finger pointing, there was nothing like that. I liked the demeanor, I liked how the team stuck together. We found a way to right the ship."
krisknowlton@dailynebraskan.com
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