 "Photo: Andrew Lamberson")
It was supposed to be Colt McCoy’s night.
The Texas senior quarterback needed just one more big game to solidify his resume for the Heisman Trophy.
Ndamukong Suh wasn’t going to let that happen.
The Husker star defensive tackle stole the spotlight in Saturday’s Big 12 Championship game, chasing McCoy all night long and forcing incompletions, interceptions and more than a few sacks.
Suh set a Big 12 title game record with 4 1/2 sacks and recorded two more quarterback hurries. He led the Huskers’ defense with 12 total tackles, including seven tackles for loss.
Although he occasionally received double teams, Suh managed to shove Texas right guard Michael Huey around like a high school bully for much of the night and was a consistent presence in the Longhorn backfield.
The highlight of his 4 1/2 sacks came on his third-quarter takedown of the Longhorns’ star passer.
Suh shoved aside his blocker, burst through the line, grabbed McCoy across the chest and threw him onto the Cowboy Stadium turf for a 7-yard loss.
The play elicited a deafening roar of “Suuuh” from the crowd, but as usual, the star defensive tackle didn’t celebrate his play. Instead, he slowly walked back to the line as Jared Crick furiously patted him on the head.
“Sometimes they played me single, and obviously I wanted to make them pay for that,” Suh said. “At times I did.”
When he didn’t, his fellow defensive linemen stepped up and continued to fluster McCoy. The star quarterback threw for three interceptions and was sacked a career-high nine times.
The line’s ability to contain McCoy from making a strong impact on the ground proved to be vital Saturday. After burning Texas A&M for 175 yards on the ground last week, the Big 12 Offensive Player of the Year gained only 37 against Nebraska.
And including the 57 yards he lost on the day due to the nine sacks, McCoy’s net rushing total was minus-20.
“I’d like to say he was frustrated from the start, because we were in his face and we were going to continue to be in his face no matter what,” Suh said. “I’d like to say as a defense we got after him, but we didn’t do enough to get the win.”
McCoy had never been sacked more than four times in a game in his career, and he had plenty of praise for NU’s All-American lineman following the game.
“The guy’s a playmaker,” McCoy said. “All night long, Suh played tremendous.”
NU defensive coordinator Carl Pelini said his line knew it could wreak havoc and cause McCoy to make mistakes when they watched the Longhorn offensive linemen on tape.
“We thought they were very athletic on the front line, but we didn’t think they were very physical,” he said. “I challenged our guys to get right down the middle on people, get their helmet under their chin and get push.
“We wanted to make the pocket collapse, and we did that early,” Pelini said.
Pelini also knew his line’s physicality could catch Texas off guard Saturday, and it showed in the first quarter. NU’s disruptive line helped prevent the Longhorns from getting into a rhythm, as Texas’ first seven drives resulted in five punts and two interceptions.
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