Nebraska downs the undefeated Oklahoma State Cowboys 51-41 in a good old fashioned shootout.
Make no mistake about it, Taylor Martinez won the game for his team. But this time he did it with his arm. Taylor Martinez thew the ball 35 times and completed 23 of them. He amassed 323 yards and 5 touchdowns through the air. To me, this is a signature win for the Redshirt Freshman. He consistently threw the ball well. He generally got the ball out on time and accurately. He kept it away from the defense and by my count only threw on ball that could've been picked off. He also found himself avoiding the rush and throwing the ball on a dead sprint for big first downs. He was magical today and doubled his highest passing total in a game. To be fair though, Okie State was ranked 114th in Pass Defense coming into the game.
But when Taylor wasn't complete the ball to his receivers, he was running the ball through the defense. He lead the Huskers in rushing with 112 yards on 19 carries. He became the first Husker Quarterback to ever throw for 300 yards and rush for 100 in the same game.
The Husker Running Backs did have the same luck. They mostly struggled as Oklahoma State's defense played the Running backs well. Which might be a big reason as to why Taylor had the day he did throwing. Helu finished with 42 yards on 12 carries(3.5avg) and Burkhead had 41 yards on 10 carries(4.1avg).
The receivers played pretty well. Mike McNeil had a drop and Niles Paul had two, I believe, but other than that they played well. Brandon Kinnie finished with three catches, all touchdowns. His longest was a 45 yarder in the first quarter where he slipped and tackle and raced for pay dirt. Niles was often targeted and ended up with 9 catches for 131 yards and no TDs.
Defensively, Nebraska was up and down. One thing that wasn't up and down was Nebraska's ability to stop or even slow down OSU's Running Back, Kendall Hunter. He rushed for 201 yards and two touchdowns. Nebraska simply couldn't stop him. Nebraska's tackling problems, which plagued them versus Texas, hampered them again. That will happen though against this running back.
Justin Blackmon had his way with Prince Amukamara, much to my surprise. Blackmon, who lead the country in receiving yards coming into the game, beat Prince for an 80 yard touchdown in the 2nd Quarter on a flea-flicker. It appeared the Husker coaches actually flipped the corners before halftime, putting Alfonzo Dennard on Blackmon. The Sophmore receiver finished with 157 yards and 2 touchdowns on 5 catches. The Nebraska secondary had a lot of problems defending the ball when it was in the air. The OSU receivers won a lot of underthrown, jump balls today. Whether it's by design or not, I don't know. But Nebraska can't afford to give up those passes.
When it counted though, the Blackshirts were able to get off the field. Okie State was 3-13 on third down. They had to routinely settle for field goals after marching the ball down the field. And they only allowed 14 points in the 2nd half.
Slowing down an offensive attack like Oklahoma State's is no small task. They're as good as anybody when it comes to moving the football.
Special Teams wise, Niles Paul had a 100 yard kick return in the first quarter. Niles had a 24 yard punt return in the 2nd. Nebraska had a few minor breakdowns. Credit them for not allowing those breakdowns to become something more. Alex Henery was 3-3 on field goals with a 52 yarder in 2nd Quarter. He made a 45 yard kick in the 4th that moved him past Kris Brown in all-time field goals made with 59. Henery also tied Kris Brown on most consecutive field goals made with 17 straight. Henery had a 27 yard run on a fake punt in the first quarter. That was the longest run from scrimmage for the Huskers.
This win puts the Huskers at 6-1 and drops OSU to 6-1. Nebraska hosts Missouri next week.
Here are the Highlights:
http://espn.go.com/video/clip?categoryId=2564308&id=5720154
Other stats and notes from the game via the Huskers on twitter:
- The Huskers 51-41 win marks their sixth straight road victory dating back to the Virginia Tech loss last season.
- Nebraska's win is the 1st win in Stillwater since '95 and Oklahoma State is the highest ranked opponent Nebraska has beat since #2 OU in '01.
- Niles Paul's 100-yard kickoff return in the 1st quarter tied the second-longest kickoff return in school history. (Longest was 105 in 1911.)
- Niles Paul has a career-high 9 receptions for 131 yards and moved into 8th place on the all-time NU receiving list with 1,374 career yards.
- Niles Paul has a career-high 274 all-purpose yards and pushed his career total to 3,732 which is 5th place on the alltime NU list.
- Taylor Martinez's 323 passing yards are the most ever for a Nebraska freshman QB. (No. 2 - Crouch with 193 in 1998)
- Brandon Kinnie had 3 TD's (including 1st of his career.) Kinnie is the first Huskers WR to have 3 TD's since Maurice Purify vs. CU in '07.
- Tight End Kyle Reed had a 41-yard TD reception - his third of the season. All three have been over 33 yards. (33 vs. SDSU, 79 vs. KSU)
- Oklahoma State's 41 points ended a Nebraska streak of 14 straight game of holding opponents to 21 points or fewer which led the nation.
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