 "Photo: Vanessa Skocz")
Nebraska coach Bo Pelini hinted at the type of game that was about to unfold when he jumped up and down in front of his Cornhuskers before they ran onto the field Saturday.
Nebraska's 35-30 loss to Virginia Tech certainly had its ups and downs, and the passion Pelini displayed in the tunnel carried over onto the field.
Perhaps a bit too much, in Pelini's case.
The first-year NU coach was flagged for an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty after he relayed some frank thoughts to the official who flagged Ndamukong Suh for a late hit in the fourth quarter.
"I was surprised (the official) threw the flag," Pelini said. "I have to be smarter than that. And with Suh, I don't know what happened with Suh. I didn't see what happened. They didn't really give me an explanation."
The somewhat questionable call on Suh negated an NU stop of VT quarterback Tyrod Taylor on a third-down scramble. The Hokies likely would have been forced to punt or attempt a long field goal with a slim five-point lead and more than three minutes left on the clock.
Instead, Virginia Tech took the free yards and turned them into a two-yard Taylor sneak for a touchdown that appeared to put the game away.
"It was heartbreaking," senior linebacker Cody Glenn said of the penalties. "We played hard and we thought we had them stopped. But we have to come back from it. They didn't score, they just got a first down. We still could have got a turnover or held them to three points."
Glenn led the team with 14 tackles, and Pelini said he admired the character Glenn and his teammates showed in coming back from a 28-10 deficit in the third quarter.
"You have to go through these growing pains with a team, you really do," offensive coordinator Shawn Watson said.
"The best thing that happened today was that that was a hard-fought ball game, and the kids never quit. They kept competing, they kept playing and as a result there were some good things that happened that we can build on."
Virginia Tech coach Frank Beamer and the Hokies' execution of their trademarked "Beamer Ball" forced NU to try and make a valiant stab at a comeback.
VT dominated the field position battle early and often by blocking a punt attempt for a safety and by starting its drives on the VT 44-yard line or better four times in the first half and seven times in the game.
A sluggish start by NU's offense and poor tackling in NU's punt and kickoff coverage game contributed to VT's lopsided field position.
Quarterback Joe Ganz and company didn't move the ball past the first-down line until the team's third possession, and NU's special teams unit allowed a 28-yard punt return and a 41-yard kickoff return in the first quarter.
NU found itself backed up within it's own 20-yard line twice in the quarter.
"That's tough sledding coming out of there with the way (Virginia Tech) plays defense," Watson said. "You have to be smart in what you do because that's a feeding frenzy area."
Standout VT cornerback Macho Harris got his fill at the end of the first quarter in that area when he feasted on a Joe Ganz pass and returned it to the 3-yard line to set up VT's first touchdown. Ganz said his error turned out to be the "turning point in the game," and that he felt he "let the guys down."
"It's not like we're playing against New Mexico State," Ganz said when asked about the early offensive struggles. "This is the big boys, this is Virginia Tech. They have a great defense, always have - probably always will. It's hard to move the ball against a great defense like that."
Hopes for a Husker victory dimmed when the Hokies extended their nine-point halftime lead with 10 unanswered points to open the third quarter - capped off by a 33-yard VT touchdown drive.
The NU offense found its rhythm on the next possession with a 75-yard drive that lasted 6:44 and ended with a nifty Roy Helu Jr., touchdown run. Helu popped outside on the play and performed a stutter-step juke back to the inside while stiff-arming a defender and then stretched for the goal line.
The Cornhuskers forced a 21-yard Virginia Tech punt, thanks to NU special teamer Will Henry's effort to spin off a defender and get a piece of the ball.
However, a critical holding penalty stopped the NU offense from capitalizing on its first drive of the game that started in VT territory.
Glenn shut down a Taylor scramble on a key third and three play on VT's next drive and NU's Nate Swift took an opportunity to break the game wide open on the next play.
Swift caught a VT punt on NU's 12-yard line, broke an immediate tackle attempt and then sidestepped his way 88 yards to pay dirt.
"So many times during that ball game, I thought we were in good shape," VT's Beamer said. "Then all of a sudden, they come back down the field and we're not in good shape. A lot of credit goes to them and their never-give-up attitude and their tough-mindedness."
Swift's play ignited the crowd into a frenzy and sparked hope for an NU victory. That was until Suh and Pelini allegedly let their intensity get the best of them.
Nebraska continued to battle, however, despite the 12-point deficit and dwindling clock. Ganz led the Huskers 80 yards on four plays on their next drive that took just 56 seconds off the clock. A 17-yard Ganz-to-Todd Peterson connection cut the VT lead to five with 1:32 remaining.
Nebraska failed to corral the ensuing onside kick, but the Huskers forced a three-and-out and a VT punt on the subsequent drive.
Ganz orchestrated another quick NU drive and found Peterson again on VT's 44-yard line. A miraculous comeback victory appeared to be unfolding for NU, but Peterson fumbled after jumping for the catch and VT was able to drain the final seconds off the clock.
"With this game, you have to let it go," Pelini said. "It will help us if we learn from our mistakes, and we can get it fixed, and if it doesn't then we'll be standing here in a similar situation in the future."
The Huskers plan to avoid similar situations in the future but believe the passion they showed in fighting back on Saturday will help the team's confidence during the close games they will inevitably find themselves in down the road.
Tight end Mike McNeill and guard Matt Slauson said the constant intensity and effort their teammates showed against Virginia Tech will reassure them that each of their teammates is in it for the long haul - no matter the deficit. As Glenn put it after the game, "We never quit."
"We're definitely going to build off this," defensive end Pierre Allen said.
"Now we know that we can stick together. We always talked about it in the past and today was a test.
"We hung in there tough together, and we fought as a team. That's a couple steps up from last year, so we're going to build off that."
KRISKNOWLTON@DAILYNEBRASKAN.COM
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