Game 1 Recap - At #22 Nebraska

I enter this season inheriting a 3-2 record, my team having already lost to Tech and the effing Sooners *gag*. This is as must win game. Tough team to face on the road. First thing I notice is Garrett Gilbert, sophomore starter and future of the program, is rattled....rattled as hell.

Nebraska gets the ball first and scores promptly. 28 yard pass from Taylor Martinez. I get the ball, stall, then stop them and get the ball back. After finding no room to run at first, starting tailback Whittacker busts a 78 yard to tie it up 7-7.

Nebraska answers back with another trademark smashmouth drive, riding Burkhead all the way into the endzone, capped off with his 10 yard scamper to make it 14-7.

I drive the ball but stall in the redzone. Almost get picked off on third and long from the 25. Settle for a field goal. 14-10, Braska.

The huskers strike FAST, scoring on a 90 yard pass from Taylor Martinez to his tight end, just a mismatch on my outside linebacker who was in man coverage with no safety help. Just like that the game is 21-10. I have to settle for another field goal after that, but fortune strikes because Braska muffs a kickoff return and I recover the fumble on the 3 yard line with 1 minute left in the first half. I punch it in with Whittacker and go for 2. I call a pass play, slants with the FB running into the flats, but everything is covered, I scramble out and barely make it for the two point conversion. Tie game. Wait. No its not. My tackle gets called for holding and I have to try it again. Instead of taking the PAT and making it a one point game, I get greedy and try the 2pt again. I fail to convert and go into halftime down 19-21.

The third quarter is all Nebraska. My offense stalls again and again. They score another TD to make it 28-19 (wish I had kicked that PAT now), they then get the ball back and kick a field goal to make it 31-19. The score remains with about 5 minutes left in the fourth. My run game, which was strong in the first half, completely disappears in the second half. Gilbert is struggling with the crowd noise. I am finally able to throw a stop and using the spread no huddle, five wide all the way down, mount a scoring drive capped off with a TD pass from Gilbert, his only of the game. This makes it 26-31 with less than three minutes left.

Nebraska gets the ball and on their first play of the drive run a brilliant play action pass for a 22 yard gain. This brings the clock to two minutes. I stuff their next two runs, using timeouts afterward, and on third down I stop a completed slant pass short of the first. Use final timeout and get the ball back with 1:45 left. Gilbert again is asked to lead the team down the field in the hostile environment, crowd is buzzing. Complete some out patterns and a hitch to get a couple first downs. Find my slot receiver for a nice gain to me put me at first and goal. I run with Whitt for a small gain, no huddle and call a fade route to my impact receiver, they eat that up and with nobody open I take off with gilbert and score from 4 yards out. with the score 32-31 I go for two and almost throw a pick that would have been returned all the way had he caught it.

Braska gets the ball with 2 timeouts left but fails to move the chains as Martinez gets sacked on third and long to make it forth and almost impossible, with the game on the line Martinez throws an incomplete pass under pressure and the game is ours!

I love the sliders you guys, here are the stats from the game.


Tex - Neb

(my stats first, then neb)
Total offense: - 431 - 490
Rushes/Yards/TD - 31-163-3 - 33-218-2
Comp/ATT/TD - 20-41-1 - 14-23-2
Pass Yards - 271 - 271

My two backs combined for 152 yards on 23 carries, mostly on the strength of that 78 yard run.

Braska runners:

Burkhead 27-185-2
Martinez 4-24

Can't wait for the next game!

Got a little pass happy at the end of this one but it was hard to run the ball down by two scores in the second half.