 "Photo: Chris Vankat")
Nebraska ran it, passed it and pretty much did whatever else it wanted to do with the football Saturday.
Led by an offense that rolled up 584 total yards, the Cornhuskers opened the 2006 season on a high note by powering their way to a 49-10 win against an overmatched Louisiana Tech squad at Memorial Stadium.
Even a Blackshirt, junior linebacker Bo Ruud, had no illusions about who stole the show in the season opener.
"The offense did such an unbelievable job of running the ball and running the clock that I don't feel like I even played a game today because I'm that fresh right now," said Ruud, who recorded NU's only interception of the day. "I grade the offense higher than the defense today."
Senior quarterback Zac Taylor completed 22 of 33 passes for 287 yards, establishing a new school record for passing yards in a season-opener.
To get an idea of how dominant the offense was against the Bulldogs, four NU tight ends caught touchdown passes. By comparison, no NU tight end had a touchdown reception last season.
On the ground, the Huskers gained 252 rushing yards - the fourth-highest total in Coach Bill Callahan's three seasons - on 48 carries while utilizing four I-backs.
Taylor, in his second season as the starter, said he felt more comfortable than in his first game last season, when he was worried more about making mistakes than making plays.
And that comfort level showed as Taylor connected on passes to nine different receivers and tied a career high with three touchdown passes.
"We just were kind of doing whatever we wanted," Taylor said. "Those are the types of games that are really fun."
Despite the lopsided final score, things could have been worse for Louisiana Tech if the Huskers had gotten on track earlier.
Nebraska's offense sputtered on its first few drives but found pay dirt with 1 minute, 54 seconds left in the first quarter when senior tight end Matt Herian caught a 13-yard touchdown pass from Taylor to put the Huskers up 7-0.
In the second quarter, the Bulldogs answered with a field goal before NU sophomore I-back Marlon Lucky scored his first touchdown as a Husker on a 13-yard run to increase the lead to 14-3 with 5:54 remaining in the first half.
However, the Bulldogs answered with a touchdown of their own on their next drive to cut NU's lead to 14-10 with 2:36 left before halftime. Tech quarterback Zac Champion found Jonathan Holland on a 39-yard strike, which Holland caught with one hand before tumbling into the seats beyond the south end zone.
"I thought we had an opportunity to separate ourselves early," Callahan said, "and we didn't do that."
Sophomore Cody Glenn's 1-yard touchdown run with 7 seconds to go in the first half capped an 11-play, 78-yard scoring drive in which Taylor completed 8 of 9 passes to give the Huskers a 21-10 lead at the break.
In its first series of the second half, NU needed only six plays to go 72 yards and score a touchdown.
And from there, the rout was on.
"All in all, our guys did a very good job," Callahan said. "Good execution by Zac and our running backs. It was just a good game to get going, but we still have a long ways to go yet."
Even though he's a defensive player, Ruud said the most satisfying part of the game, besides winning, was watching how the offense controlled the game.
"When an offense plays like that, the defense feeds off it," Ruud said. "I think the last few years the defense has had to be the ones making all the plays. Just to see the offense play like that, that really gives us a great outlook for the future."
