Sloppy NU defense struggles against OSU offense, gets job done

Nebraska coach Bo Pelini always says he doesn't put too much stock in statistics.

And by looking at the box score of Nebraska's 51-41 victory against Oklahoma State Saturday, that's probably a good thing.

Nebraska had its nation-leading 14-game streak of holding opponents under 21 points a game broken. The Cowboys killed that accomplishment with six minutes left in the second quarter.

OSU running back Kendall Hunter's 201-yard rushing day was the first time Nebraska allowed a 200-yard rusher since Texas's Jamaal Charles ran for 290 yards in 2007.

The Cornhuskers also allowed their first 100-yard receiver this season.

And the list of unflattering defensive numbers goes on and on.

"I've been coaching for a long time," Pelini said. "I've been around games like that before. You just have to weather the storm and eventually you settle down. You can't panic."

Nebraska started in top-notch defensive form, forcing OSU to a three-and-out on its first possession of the game. The Huskers then moved into a bend-don't-break style, holding the Cowboys to two field goals.

But it was only a matter of time before the nation's second-best offense would find the end zone. OSU scored touchdowns on three of its next four drives, helping boost the Cowboys to a 27-24 lead after an 80-yard flea flicker pass to Justin Blackmon.

"You can't give up the big plays," Pelini said. "You have a chance to make some plays. We made some mistakes. We missed some tackles. We were a little bit sloppy, especially in that first half."

The Husker defense produced a three-and-out on OSU's next possession to put a stop to the Cowboy scoring spree, but after giving up almost 350 first-half yards, NU had some adjustments to make.

"There wasn't a look of panic in the locker room," NU secondary coach Marvin Sanders said. "There was no yelling or screaming. Guys understood what was going on."

The Nebraska defense was considerably better in the second half, giving up just 14 points and 152 yards.

In nine first-half possessions, the Cowboys scored five times. Thanks in part to the Nebraska offense holding onto the ball, the potent OSU offense only got the ball five times in the second half and scored only twice. The Husker defense forced three-and-outs on the other three possessions.

"It was almost a pride factor — knowing that our offense was putting points on the board but we were allowing too many points," NU defensive back DeJon Gomes said. "Our offense was keeping us in the game. We knew we had to come back out in the second half and fight."

Nebraska also had increased success in slowing down Hunter, the Big 12 Conference's leading rusher. The 5-foot-8, 200-pound senior rushed for 146 yards and had five runs of 14 yards or more in the first half. Hunter totaled just 55 second-half rushing yards and most those came on one 28-yard scamper.

NU linebacker coach Mike Ekeler said players were in position, and it was up to them to make the plays. He said bringing in an extra linebacker isn't the answer to better tackling; it boils down to better technique.

"It's like basketball," Ekeler said. "If you have four point guards on the court, you're not going to put in three centers to guard them."

Nebraska didn't have the luxury of bringing in bigger personnel because the secondary needed all the help it could get in stopping an OSU passing attack averaging 361 yards a game.

"They threw a bunch of — I don't know whether it was by design — but there were a lot of underthrown balls, and we just didn't react well to them," Pelini said. "We lost sight of the ball. It's one of our strengths — we usually do that very well."

While the Husker defensive backs were in position to make the play, it was the Cowboy receivers who were coming down with the ball.

Blackmon's second touchdown reception came late in the fourth quarter on a ball that was underthrown. NU defensive back Eric Hagg didn't turn around in time, allowing Blackmon to make an uncontested play on the ball.

"As a cornerback, that's the hardest thing to do — to look back at the ball and try to adjust to it," NU defensive back Alfonzo Dennard said.