Sooners do plenty of damage on kick returns
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BY BRIAN CHRISTOPHERSON / Lincoln Journal Star
NORMAN, Okla. — There was plenty of horror to choose from, but among the various problem areas for Nebraska was its kick coverage on Saturday night.
Oklahoma’s DeMarco Murray started the Sooners on their way to the easy victory with a 62-yard kick return to begin the game. OU scored seven plays later.
On their next kick return, Juaquin Iglesias brought the ball back 40 yards, and then a facemask penalty added 15 yards to that. OU scored nine plays later.
Next return, more damage. This time Murray bounced to the outside, taking it 57 yards. OU scored four plays later.
Oklahoma burned the Huskers so bad on returns in the first half that Nebraska kicked short after its first score of the second half. The result was much better. NU knocked Iglesias down at the OU 34-yard line after a 14-yard return.
A blocker named Suh
The Refrigerator would be proud.
A la William “Refrigerator” Perry and the 1985 Chicago Bears, Nebraska lined up 300-pound nose tackle Ndamukong Suh at fullback when it neared the goal line on its first scoring drive.
Suh blocking the path, Quentin Castille plunged into the end zone from 2 yards to get Nebraska on the board.
Unfortunately for the Huskers, Oklahoma already had 35 points by then.
Punter’s luck
The first quarter featured some good fortune for both team’s punters, especially Oklahoma’s Mike Knall.
After the NU defense got a rare stop, Knall had the punt snap go right through his hands. He struggled to pick up the ball but still got the kick away. Nebraska’s Thomas Grove just missed getting there in time for a block or a tackle.
The punt took a great Oklahoma bounce and ended being a 51-yarder.
Later in the quarter, Nebraska’s Dan Titchener benefited from a good bounce, his 58-yard kick bounding to the OU 3.
Linebacker shuffle
With linebacker Phillip Dillard out because of an ankle injury, the Huskers relied mostly on Tyler Wortman, Colton Koehler and Blake Lawrence to fill the void alongside Cody Glenn.
Koehler, the walk-on from Harvard, saw action on the game’s first series and had a tackle by the goal line.
Husker challenge
With the score already 14-0 OU, Nebraska challenged the officials’ call of a Dreu Young fumble in the first quarter. Husker coaches hoped the replay would show Young didn’t yet have possession of the ball before he lost control.
Officials didn’t need much time to confirm the call on the field: an obvious fumble. The challenge cost NU a timeout. Nebraska was out of its first-half timeouts before the game was 13 minutes old.
Thenarse story airs
ESPN’s “College GameDay” aired a feature Saturday morning on Husker safety Rickey Thenarse. The focus was on how sports has taken him away from the gang life that pervades the Los Angeles Watts neighborhood where he grew up.
Two of Thenarses’s brothers died earlier this year because of gang violence. Thenarse spoke about how football has helped him escape that world of violence. Former Husker assistant Bill Busch was among those interviewed.
In March, Thenarse told the Journal Star his brothers were a big factor in getting him involved in sports and away from gangs.
“They’re just resting in peace now,” Thenarse said then. “I just want to carry on the dream, hope to make the NFL and finish out my career. That’s what they wanted me to do.”
This and that
The loss drops NU out of a first-place tie in the Big 12 North division. Missouri and Kansas, both winners Saturday, now lead the division. … Captains for Nebraska on Saturday were Ty Steinkuhler, Todd Peterson, Matt Slauson and Chris Brooks.
Reach Brian Christopherson at 473-7439 or bchristopherson@journalstar.com.
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