Huskers Thwart Iowa State
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September 30, 2007 by
Yes, that headline says "Thwart". That's the right word. Look it up if you want. You could also say NU ruined, spoiled, or foiled ISU in a game where the Cyclones ran 102 offensive plays, but managed to lose by 18 points. The Huskers had to overcome early turnover problems and use timely plays by linebacker Bo Ruud and cornerback Courtney Grixby to secure a 35-17 victory on Saturday in Lincoln.
The first quarter went about as poorly as it could have for NU's offense, with Marlon Lucky fumbling near the goal line, Sam Keller throwing an interception and Cody Glenn fumbling a third-down conversion run. When the first quarter was over, NU had run just 8 offensive plays and ISU had a three point lead.
The Cyclones would tack on seven more points midway through the second quarter when Jason Scales scored on a run from three yards out. With less than five minutes to go in the half, Sam Keller went to work. Both a 7-play drive and a 10-play drive ended in NU touchdowns. One came via a pass by I-back Marlon Lucky to tight end Sean Hill and the other on a pass from Keller to Thomas Lawson. It was the fullback's first career touchdown. The Huskers had a chance to add points late in the half, but Keller failed to throw a ball away with seconds to go and no timeouts remaining. Time expired before NU could get the field goal attempt made.
In the second stanza, NU scored quickly after getting good field position. A four play drive ended when Marlon Lucky scooted 41 yards to the end zone. Then, the thwarting began. Bo Ruud brought a long ISU drive to an abrupt halt when he picked off a Brett Meyer pass and went 93 yards for a touchdown. After ISU responded with a TD to make it 28-17, they were on the move again. This time, Grixby stepped in front of Meyers pass and took it deep in to ISU territory. That set up Lawson's second touchdown score, which capped the scoring at 35-17.
Statistical Anomalies
There I go with the $8 words again. An anomaly is an oddity or something irregular. Thats how the stat books look following this NU win - irregular. Or, as Bill Callahan said following the win, "It was a strange, strange game."
ISU out gained NU, 415 to 369. The Cyclones also mustered 28 first downs and nearly doubled NU on time of possession. And yet, NU appears to have won by a comfortable margin. How is this possible? In a word, turnovers.
NU's early turnovers put the Husker defense in bad situations early on, and likely made them tired later in the day. NU's defense managed to make some plays of its own when it counted, specifically the interceptions in the second half. When it was all said and done, NU had 14 points off of the turnovers it got, while ISU managed only 3 off of theirs.
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ze Sep 30 07
At least Big Red made all their bonehead mistakes early in the game.
Sooners made all theirs late...and it cost them.
TX's big mistake occurred shortly after stepping onto the field.