Weak offense, not just mistakes, doom Huskers

BLACKSBURG, Va. - After the first 58 minutes of Nebraska's showdown with No. 13 Virginia Tech on Saturday, NU was on pace to be one significant step closer to that elusive status of "back."

This was going to be the big upset, the impressive win in front of a national audience, the game that vaulted the Cornhuskers up the national rankings. Sure, NU has played in plenty of these breakthrough games over the past seven years, but this one was different.

This one was supposed to be a done deal when a Virginia Tech turnover on downs gave NU the ball with 2:07 left in the game. Instead, well, you know the rest.

The problem with being "back," of course, is that the standard is not defined by one or two plays. Neither was this game.

It's easy to argue that NU wins the game if Danny Coale doesn't catch that 81-yard bomb. It's also easy to point out that sacking Tyrod Taylor on third and goal when Virginia Tech had no time-outs would have given NU a strong chance of escaping with a win.

The thing is, the outcome of the game never should have come down to those two plays.

You can't go without scoring an offensive touchdown and expect to win a game. The last time Nebraska was able to do that was in 1937 — a 3-0 win over Kansas State.

An effort like that might have flown 70 years ago against a team with a 4-4 record, but it won't today, and it certainly won't against the No. 13 team in the nation.

You also can't have four three-and-outs in a second half and assume things will work out fine. Failed execution on offense — not Taylor or Coale — killed Nebraska.

The Hokies played dead for nearly all of the third and fourth quarters, and NU never took advantage by putting the nail in Tech's coffin.

There was the first-and-goal from the 3-yard line in the second quarter, in which NU settled for three points following a 1-yard rush by Zac Lee and two incompletions.

Then there was the first-and-goal from Tech's 6-yard line in the third quarter that went from a Mike McNeill touchdown to fourth-and-goal from the 37-yard line due to two holding and two false start penalties.

And of course, there's the fourth-and-1 with 1:51 left in the game. Standard logic says play the field position, but if you trust Roy Helu Jr., your offensive line and your defense in that situation, NU could have slipped past the Hokies.

Bo Pelini has said all along that good execution wins games. In the end, incompletions, penalties and blown coverage did NU in against Virginia Tech.

"We didn't do what was necessary to win the football game," Pelini said. "We had a lot of opportunities, and we didn't capitalize on them. It's a shame."

There are silver linings to this dark cloud, though. NU's defense had one of its best games in a long time. Until that final Tech drive, they played like Blackshirts, limiting the Hokies' dangerous offense to 190 total yards.

"We obviously didn't play well enough to win, but we can take some good things away. But there's a lot of things we can improve," Ndamukong Suh said. "We have to move forward."

The climb back to the top of the heap isn't an easy one, and NU has seen more than its fair share of gut-wrenching losses in big games — games against Texas in 2006 and 2007 and last year's Texas Tech match quickly come to mind – but that's just part of the process.

In order for Nebraska to be a legitimate contender for Big 12 North title and top-tier bowl games, the Huskers must first learn how to win the big ones. It's how you deal with losing the big game, though, that will decide the fate of this year's team.

Last year, NU responded to its embarrassing 52-17 loss to Missouri with a near-upset of then-No. 7 Texas Tech. When Oklahoma dominated the Huskers 62-28 later in the season, NU returned home and defeated Kansas to start the six-game winning streak that ended Saturday.

There's no time to agonize over the loss. This game wasn't the USC game of 2007, a defeat that derailed the team and led to a 3-6 finish to the season, and Pelini knew that going in.

When asked earlier in the week what a win over Tech would mean to him and to the program, Pelini refused to give the game more weight than it merited.

"It wouldn't be any bigger than the first two as far as I'm concerned," he said. "It's the next step. That's how I approach it. That's how this football team approaches it."

For Nebraska, the next step now is up to Pelini and his players. Dwelling on the game won't bring NU a Big 12 North title, and it certainly won't bring Nebraska "back."

MAX OLSON IS A SOPHOMORE NEWS-EDITORIAL MAJOR. REACH HIM AT MAXOLSON@DAILYNEBRASKAN.COM.