Nebraska defense hunts down Thomas, shoots down Wildcats’ offensive hopes

MANHATTAN, Kan. - In preparation for Thursday's game against Kansas State, Nebraska coach Bo Pelini talked to his squad about being the hunters, not the hunted. To emphasize his point, he showed his team a video.

The clip showed a group of hunters tracking a lion, but when they lost sight of the beast, the roles reversed. The lion ended up attacking one of the hunters, who managed to kill it when it was just inches from his face.

"It was pretty intense," Rex Burkhead said. "It got us ready to go."

The defense certainly seemed to get the video's message.

All of the 51,015 packed into Bill Snyder Family Stadium on Thursday night knew the game's outcome was going to depend on how good Wildcat running back Daniel Thomas' Superman imitation was.

It was also an opportunity for the Blackshirts to prove themselves against the run. The Huskers have already given up two 100-yard rushing games this year, as many as all last year.

But the Nebraska defense kept the future NFL draft pick bottled up, one of the deciding factors in the Huskers' 48-13 win.

"We definitely wanted to prove something," defensive end Cameron Meredith said. "We knew they were going to come out and run the ball. I thought our coaches did a great job of game planning for him and the whole offense."

The Wildcats tried to get Thomas going early, either handing off or passing to him on 14 of the their first 22 plays. Overall, Thomas was involved in 63.6 percent of Kansas State's first-half plays.

But the Wildcats' do-it-all back continually found a wall of white jerseys blocking his path to daylight. He rushed for just 63 yards on 22 carries. His longest carry went for 13 yards.

Part of that success is due to a pregame change by the NU coaching staff. Linebacker coach Mike Ekeler coached from the press box instead of on the field to give the Huskers an extra set of eyes to scheme against the Wildcat offense.

"They had to put me in the cage today," Ekeler said. "They knew that (Kansas State coach Bill) Snyder was going to be a total game-adjuster, and he came out with so many things we'd never seen, and we just had to adjust to it. You talk about a chess match, that's what it was."

After tacking on two quick touchdowns early in the second half, however, the Huskers essentially forced Kansas State to abandon its ground game, leaving Thomas with his worst rushing performance of the year.

From there, the secondary was free to feast on the errant passes of Carson Coffman and Collin Klein.

"We kind of got out ahead, which takes them out of the game a little bit," Pelini said. "Overall, our guys played well against (Thomas)."

Lavonte David again proved to be a tackling force, accumulating 16 stops, including a sack. The junior led the team with 44 tackles coming in, and doesn't look like he'll be giving up that lead anytime soon.

"Lavonte David is a stud," Ekeler said. "The guy plays his heart out. I couldn't be more honored to coach a kid like that."

DeJon Gomes provided solid support from the secondary and added a career-high 12 tackles.

"The toughest thing he does is, we always give him a run-pass conflict," secondary coach Marvin Sanders said. "He's done a really good job with reading his keys and being able to fit on the run. There were a couple of counters that he hit right off the bat. He did a great job."

The demolition of Thomas ended whatever slim hopes the senior had at hoisting the Heisman Trophy, marking the second straight road game in which the Huskers had ended such a campaign. NU held Washington quarterback Jake Locker to just 71 yards passing three weeks ago.

"Our defense is just playing the way we're taught, with high intensity and physicality," cornerback Prince Amukamara said. "I feel bad for the Heisman hopefuls, but we're just playing Nebraska ball."

danhoppen@dailynebraskan.com