Curt McKeever: Defense gives Blackshirt-worthy performance
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AMES, Iowa — Jesse Smith reversed field and bulled his way through a pile of Nebraska tacklers before finally being dragged down after an 8-yard gain late in the first half in Jack Trice Stadium on Saturday.
It was an impressive display of toughness and represented Iowa State’s third-longest play.
The problem with that, at least for the home team, was Smith is the Cyclones’ middle linebacker.
Alabama 24, Mississippi 20: The Crimson Tide’s response to falling behind for the first time this season? Score 24 straight points and then, after giving up 17 straight, make a late defensive stand to avoid the upset. Nick Saban’s club is now 2-0 since rising to No. 2 -- winning by a combined seven points.
Ohio State 45, Michigan State 7: Saban’s former team didn’t fare nearly as well under the national spotlight. The Spartans couldn’t contain Beanie Wells (31 carries, 140 yards, two TDs) or freshman quarterback Terrelle Pryor (7-for-11 passing with a TD and 72 yards rushing with another score). Meanwhile, the day after Michigan State launched a Web site to promote him as a Heisman Trophy candidate, Javon Ringer managed just 67 yards.
Virginia 16, North Carolina 13, ot: Playing without injured receiver and return man Brandon Tate, the Tar Heels, off to their best start since 1997, gave up an 82-yard TD drive in the final 2:18 of the fourth quarter, then lost when Cedric Peerman scored on a 2-yard run in overtime. The Cavaliers, who have won three straight since getting drilled by Connecticut 45-10 and Duke 31-3, now have beaten Carolina 14 straight times in Charlottesville.
And so now you know why one play after he denied the Huskers a fourth score by snaring a Menelik Holt fumble in midair, the Cyclones took a knee to end the first half rather than go for the Hail Mary.
By then, Nebraska’s defense had left them with little hope. By the finish, the Blackshirts had given up only 218 yards and notched their first takeaway in 15 quarters.
Wait a minute — these guys haven’t been awarded their prized Blackshirts, have they?
“I’m fine with it, although I would like one,” senior tackle Ndamukong Suh said after helping the Huskers produce their best defensive effort of the season. “But right now it’s all about winning.”
With help like it got from its defense here Saturday, Nebraska can expect close to a handful more wins in its last five regular-season games.
Granted, Iowa State came into the game with the Big 12’s 11th-ranked offense. But it would be an accomplishment for any defense, not just one ranked ninth in the league like Nebraska’s, to limit the Cyclones to two first downs and 45 yards through two quarters.
Ask Kansas, which surrendered 11 first downs and 181 yards while falling behind 20-0 at halftime here two weeks ago.
Anyway, had the Cyclones not gotten a 67-yard, third-quarter touchdown run from Alexander Robinson on what appeared to be a bust by linebacker Cody Glenn, this could have gone down as the most dominating performance any current Blackshirt, er, defensive player, had ever been a part of at Nebraska.
“I’m not happy until we hold them to about 150 (yards). That’s what I’m used to, and that’s the kind of standards we’re going to have around here,” NU coach Bo Pelini said. “We’re playing better. We are. We’re doing some things better, and more consistently. But we’ve still got a lot to fix, and a long way to go.”
Agreed, especially when one considers that the next obstacle is Baylor’s do-all, dual-threat QB Robert Griffin, hands down the Big 12 freshman of the year.
After that comes Oklahoma’s Sam Bradford and what might be the nation’s top offensive line, then Kansas’ pesky Todd Reesing, who last year toyed with the Huskers while the Jayhawks embarrassed them 76-39, followed by Kansas State’s Josh Freeman, considered by many to be a first-round NFL draft pick.
But, hey, before Saturday the fewest yards Nebraska had allowed this season were the 339 New Mexico State got.
And, as opposed to making a pivotal three-and-out stop like the one they forced from Graham Harrell in the fourth quarter at Texas Tech last week, the Huskers hounded Austen Arnaud from late morning to mid-afternoon.
Iowa State managed just 4.0 yards per play.
“I’ve always felt we’ve been a great defense. We’ve just failed to show it because of our mistakes,” Suh said. “Those penalties and little things here have held us back.”
The penalty issue has not been a little one. But Saturday, the only flag the NU defense drew was a pass-interference call on cornerback Armando Murillo on the first play of Iowa State’s second series after halftime.
That series ended after Arnaud threw an incompletion, was drilled by tackle Ty Steinkuhler for a yard loss and a harmless 4-yard pass that was thrown under duress.
“Armando’s little PI (pass interference), that could’ve gone either way. ... So I think that’s a great showing of what can happen when we’re penalty-free and we’re executing and everything’s on all cylinders,” Suh said.
Suh and company looked so in tune that you might think they’ve started to believe they don’t have to rely on Joe Ganz and the offense to control Nebraska’s fate.
“The thing is,” Suh noted, “we really don’t want to have to control it from a defensive side. We want to, definitely, when we have to go out there and do it, because we have to get our three-and-outs to give the offense the ball back. But after we do that we just want the offense to go and move the ball and take their time putting the ball in the end zone.”
Say what you want about time of possession being an overrated statistic, but for the second week in a row, the Huskers controlled the clock. And there isn’t a defense in the nation — especially one that’s fighting to earn Blackshirts — that would ever scoff at that.
“Honestly, we really haven’t been talking about it,” Suh said of the coveted jerseys. “We’ve just really been trying to get wins, and seeing that we’re getting better we just need to be mistake-free.”
Perfection and football hardly go hand in hand. But for Nebraska’s defense, this was close.
“They made a play, and good for them,” Pelini said of the Cyclones’ long scoring run. “But I had no question our guys would come back and play well. ... Once again, I see progress.”
Reach Curt McKeever at 473-7441 or cmckeever@journalstar.com.
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