Pelini hopeful Dillard will be OK after injuring ankle
Print
digg it!
Facebook
del.icio.us
Seed Newsvine
Fark It
Reddit
BY BRENT C. WAGNER / Lincoln Journal Star
Husker junior linebacker Phillip Dillard was carted to the locker room with an ankle injury during Saturday’s 32-20 win against Baylor, but coach Bo Pelini was optimistic after X-rays came back negative.
“I think Phil's X-rays were negative, which is a positive,” Pelini said. “He was very sore to the touch. He took a pretty good shot on that ankle, but I think he’ll be OK.”
Junior wide receiver Menelik Holt injured his right knee in the second quarter. Holt watched the second half from the sideline with a wrap on his knee.
“I don’t think it’s season-ending, but the degree of it I’m not sure,” Pelini said after the game.
With Dillard out, linebackers Tyler Wortman and Colton Koehler saw more action.
Koehler led the charge on Nebraska’s safety with seven minutes remaining in the fourth quarter.
Koehler making such a play came as no surprise to defensive coordinator Carl Pelini.
“He just went out and took advantage of his opportunity,” Pelini said. “He prepares. He gets half the reps in practice and we didn’t hesitate: Just get out there and do what you do best.”
Allen's big sack
One of the biggest hits of the day came when NU defensive end Pierre Allen sacked Baylor's Robert Griffin for a 7-yard loss on third-and-12 in the second quarter.
Fans saw the sack develop, but Allen says the play felt like it took forever, knowing that Griffin could easily escape.
“It's been awhile since I laid a dude out like that, probably since high school, or practice here,” Allen said.
Seniors take charge
After trailing 20-17 at halftime, Nebraska outscored the Bears 15-0 in the second half. Some of the talk at halftime came from the players, I-back Marlon Lucky said.
“Coach left it up to the senior leadership,” Lucky said. “Some of us got up there and told everybody what we can do; it’s on our backs, it’s a team thing. We picked each other up.”
Hill gets first TD catch
Redshirt freshman tight end Ryan Hill got his first career touchdown with a 6-yard reception from Joe Ganz that gave NU a 7-0 lead midway through the first quarter
It was the only catch of the day for the Arvada, Colo., native who had two catches for 3 yards coming into the game.
To say Hill was wide-open would be an understatement. The Bear defense all went one way, and Hill went the other.
“It’s kind of hard to tell when you're down on the goal line with all those people around,” he said. “I felt like I was all alone, which was really nice to have.”
Face time
Bo Pelini worked the officials hard much of the game, and had a long chat with them near the end of the first half.
Asked about the exchange, Pelini laughed and said: “There were a lot of things covered in that amount of time.”
Pelini’s frustration was especially apparent after a second-quarter Husker punt that appeared to hit the left foot of Baylor’s Antareis Bryan at the Bears’ 24-yard line and then was recovered at the 6 by Dillard.
But officials ruled the ball first hit NU’s Prince Amukamara. After a review, the call stood.
Third-downs wins
Baylor was 0-for-10 on third-down conversions, while Nebraska was 11-of-17.
“We've created ourselves different on third down,” offensive coordinator Shawn Watson said. “We try to give some odd-ball things, some things that are unusual to third down so they can't lock in on us.”
Briefly
* The battle for the top punter spot for at least one week went to senior Dan Titchener. He averaged 43.3 yards on three kicks, with two being downed inside the 20.
* Sophomore place-kicker Alex Henery missed an extra point in the fourth quarter, ending a streak of 77 straight made to begin his career.
* Redshirt freshman offensive tackle Marcel Jones was presented the Jake Young Memorial Scholarship before the game. The scholarship honors the former Husker center who was killed in the 2002 terrorist bombing in Bali.
Reach Brent C. Wagner at 473-7435 or bwagner@journalstar.com.
Most Commented Football