Dominating Husker defense comes up short

A dejected Nebraska Cornhusker team slowly made its way to the bus. A dominating effort by the defensive line put the Huskers in position to upset No. 13-Virginia Tech, but late-game heroics by the Hokies prevented an NU victory.

The Cornhuskers were supposed to be vulnerable to the Hokie rushing attack, especially considering Virginia Tech just compiled 448 rushing yards last week.

But it was the strong rushing defense of Nebraska that allowed the Cornhuskers to control the line of scrimmage in the 16-15 loss to Virgina Tech.

Nebraska’s defensive line opened up plays for everyone else on the field. Senior linebacker Phillip Dillard said he took advantage of the defensive line’s ability to eliminate down-field blocking.

"The d-line was holding them down, so I could read the plays and get across the field," Dillard said. "Any tackle I made was because the defensive line held them down. "

The line’s pressure helped collapse the inside running game, forcing the Hokies to try to run east and west. The linebackers were there waiting for them, as Dillard and fellow starting linebackers Will Compton and Sean Fisher finished with 18 tackles.

Hokie running back Ryan Williams, save for one 46-yard run, was routinely held to three- and four-yard gains. The freshman finished the game with 107 rushing yards, but only tallied 13 of those after the first half.

Virginia Tech Coach Frank Beamer was impressed by the Husker defense.

"They are good up front and play extremely hard," Beamer said.

NU redshirt freshman Jared Crick said the defensive line did a better job of creating pressure on the inside, but it wasn’t because of any adjustments.

"We didn’t really change anything at halftime," Crick said. "Our first goal all game was to stop the run, and we started doing that."

Beamer said the Huskers made containing big plays a focus.

"Nebraska chased us good," Beamer said. "They went sideline to sideline. You wanted to get cracks in there, but they were running to the football."

Crick conceded that the containment had more to do with the Hokies mobile quarterback Tyrod Taylor.

"You don’t want a guy like Taylor to get outside," Crick said. "I think we did a fairly good job."

Last year in a 35-30 loss to Virginia Tech, the Huskers gave up 91 yards and a touchdown to the Virginia Tech quarterback.

This year, Nebraska held Taylor to five yards rushing. The junior wasn’t able to leave the pocket and find a lot of running room Saturday and was sacked four times.

Three of the sacks came from the front four, with all four starters getting in on the action. Seniors Ndamukong Suh and Barry Turner each recorded a half sack. Crick added a sack of his own, and Pierre Allen wasn’t fooled by a spin move and took Taylor down for a 13-yard loss in the second quarter.

When the defensive line wasn’t pressuring the quarterback, Suh was busy taking away his passing windows. The preseason All-American lineman batted down four passes at the line of scrimmage and, in the process, set a school record for pass deflections by a defensive lineman. Former Husker Jeremy Slechta set the record back in 2000, when he batted down three passes against Missouri.

Suh said the deflections were because Crick gave him the opportunities.

"We figured out how they were sliding our line," Suh said. "I was in the right place at the right time due to my man Crick getting great pressure."

Unfortunately for Nebraska, even when it found a way to contain Taylor’s ability to run, it couldn’t stop him from creating enough time to find open receivers late in the game.

Twice in the fourth quarter, Taylor was able to avoid being sacked. Both times it resulted in a big play. Down 15-10 with no time-outs, the quarterback was flushed out of the pocket but kept his eyes down-field long enough to spot a wide-open Danny Coale along the sidelines. Taylor hit Coale in stride, and the receiver took it to the Nebraska 3-yard line.

Two plays later, Taylor froze Suh, holding the lineman just long enough to deliver the game winning pass to wide receiver Dyrell Roberts.

Nebraska head coach Bo Pelini acknowledged the threat of Taylor was enough to help the Hokies win the game. He said the Huskers failure to aggressively pursue late in the fourth quarter did the team in.

"You have got to go make the sack," Pelini said. "We didn’t do it. The guy (Taylor) was scrambling, and he got them to stop and hesitate."

Before he got on the Husker bus, Crick said he didn’t want to talk about silver linings.

"We didn’t really play up to our potential," Crick said. "We could have played a lot better. Give them credit, but we didn’t come out and play our game today."

4 comments

Ned Beatty Deliverance

Tue Sep 22 2009 18:34

You do the hokie pokie and play a great game, then you make one mistake, and lose the game, thats what it is all about!

Rockin Eric

Tue Sep 22 2009 18:29

Football is such a crazy and unpredictible game, if we had gone for it on 4th and 1 and fumbled,(which happens alot in tight game situations), then husker30040 would be asking a different question. I am happy in knowing that we are a superior team and look improved over last year. Hopefully those 76 to 21 loss"s are gone forever(along with the ghost of cosgrove).

hokie2001

Tue Sep 22 2009 17:18

You guys played a great game -- just like last year.. VT has had its share of late game losses too, so we know how it feels, but your team is on the way back..

Husker30040

Mon Sep 21 2009 14:13

I hope boo boo knows now not to give the ball back to a team with known speed and versatility. 4th and 1 with a minute and change left you don’t kick it to VT especially when you have Roy Helu averaging 6.6 yard per carry? Come on it’s a no brainer.

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