Report card: Nebraska vs. Kansas State
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BY BRIAN ROSENTHAL / Lincoln Journal Star
RUNNING GAME (A)
Granted, the season-high 340 rushing yards came against a porous rush defense — K-State ranked 109th nationally against the run before Saturday — but that was some tough running from Joe Ganz, Marlon Lucky, Roy Helu, Quentin Castille and, late, Marcus Mendoza. Castille left three Wildcats lying on the turf after a bullish fourth-quarter run.
PASSING GAME (B)
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Joe Ganz, NU quarterback
Congrats to Joe for setting the school season record for total offense, passing a good friend, Zac Taylor. Ganz made plays with his right arm and legs on two second-half scoring drives that kept Big Red in control, ending both marches with TD runs off zone-read plays.
-- Steven M. Sipple
Zach Potter, NU defensive end
Potter gets a game ball on behalf of the entire defensive line, which owned K-State. Potter had one of Nebraska’s four sacks, when he dropped Josh Freeman for a 12-yard loss. He also deflected a pass.
-- Brian Rosenthal
Anthony West, NU cornerback
The sophomore showed up looking ready for a track meet. True, he did get nipped by Ernie Pierce on a 63-yard TD reception early in the second quarter. But that play took perfect execution, and West, who had a game-high two breakups, was up to the task of not letting the Wildcats turn the trick again.
-- Curt McKeever
Ndamukong Suh, NU defensive tackle
This guy is making a big push to be first-team all-conference. Again he was a pest on defense, notching a 15-yard sack and 2 tackles for loss. And, yes, he also played fullback too.
-- Brian Christopherson
Ganz settled down after overthrowing receivers in the first half. One such pass led to an interception, and another on a third-down play resulted in NU’s only punt before halftime. Helu is a great runner, but the sophomore still needs some work picking up blitzes. Keep that in mind if you ever ask about the running back rotation.
AGAINST THE RUN (A)
Perhaps an incomplete is in order here. K-State’s running game is abysmal, and one of the Wildcats’ biggest threats running the football, quarterback Josh Freeman, had minus 27 yards rushing because he lost 49 yards in sacks. K-State’s longest run was 15 yards, and that came late in the fourth quarter.
AGAINST THE PASS (A)
Pressure from the front four was strong again, even against max protection, but the Pelini brothers still sprinkled in a blitz or two early. Nebraska harassed Freeman, sacking him four times and forcing 11 incompletions in 18 attempts. Coverage was good, especially from Anthony West — even on the 63-yard TD throw in the first half, which was a great throw and catch.
SPECIAL TEAMS (C)
The pooch kicks into the wind were a good idea, but a team should never allow a 20-yard return off one. Then again, that was better than the 98-yard return for a touchdown. Kickoff returns have been a trouble spot all year. Nate Swift had some nice returns. And never underestimate the importance of his good hands on a windy day.
GAME MANAGEMENT (B)
Bo Pelini called consecutive timeouts on defense in the second quarter. Not sure that’s ever been done before. Whatever. Nebraska forced another three-and-out on the series. Some press box folks were questioning the decision to punt again after an offside penalty on K-State, but what do we know? The re-kick resulted in a plus 9 yards for Nebraska.
PLAY CALLING (A)
New wrinkles this week included a shovel pass to tight end Mike McNeill (a gain of 5 yards) and Marlon Lucky pitching to Marcus Mendoza out of the “joker” formation, where Lucky takes a direct snap. That play, though, netted nothing. K-State never figured out the zone read. Never.
OVERALL (B)
Nebraska beat a really bad football team that’s in disarray. Considering the Huskers were on the other end of that scenario a few times last season, you’ll hear no complaints from the NU locker room. The Huskers were far from sharp in the third quarter and were messing around, otherwise this score would’ve been worse. That’s four straight wins against K-State, and NU has scored 129 points in the last two.
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