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Sign up for our email list to be notified when we update the HF Blog. September 19th, 2009
It came down to a single play, and not the one you think
Nebraska loses a heartbreaker on the road to a higher ranked Virginia Tech team 16-15. Several plays stick out. The long pass down the sidelines that got Virginia Tech into scoring position late in the fourth quarter. Tyrod Taylor's seemingly endless time in the pocket before finding a receiver in the end zone with under a minute left in the game. But the play that swung the game for me was the Nebraska touchdown that wasn't. Menelik Holt's catch in the end zone should have been reviewed by the officials but wasn't. He possessed the ball and got one foot down in bounds. That is a catch. The ball came out when he hit the ground. That doesn't negate the catch according to how I understand the rules. Of course, they change the rules annually, so I may be behind the times. Regardless, the game hinged on this one play. A touchdown would have put the Huskers up by nine points with five minutes remaining and all but put the game out of reach for the Hokies.
Nevermind the Holt should-have-been-a touchdown. The Huskers showed one thing. They have a pretty special kicker in Alex Henery. Bo Pelini calls him a rockstar. Unfazed by any environment or situation. And had NU not penalized itself out of field goal range in the second half, the Huskers may have escaped Blacksburg with an ugly win thanks to Henery's right foot. I say ugly because anytime your quarterback goes 11-30 passing the ball with two interceptions and you still have a chance to win the game, that says something.
I thought Zac Lee played an okay game. His stats make it look worse than it was. Okay, upon further review, Zac was off the mark too many times. He should have been able to hit Curenski Gilleylen in stride for a touchdown down the sideline instead of forcing Curenski to tight rope the out of bounds line.
Lee did scramble for several first downs and punish the Tech defense with a few key completions here and there. But consistency was definitely lacking. For Nebraska not to score a touchdown, especially given the opportunities presented to the offense, is very disappointing. First and goal from the six yard line and we penalize ourselves out of field goal range. While the Hokies defense was good (not great), NU should have scored at least two touchdowns during the game.
Hats off to Roy Helu, Jr. for showing that yes he can be the workhorse running back. Helu finished the game with 169 yards rushing, notching his third game in a row with over 100 yards on the ground.
Defensively, holding a Top 20 ranked team to only 16 points should be good enough for a win. Unfortunately for Nebraska, it wasn't. Suh was a force in the middle again, batting down four attempted passes. Phillip Dillard, getting his first start in a long time, was in on several big plays as well. But when you let a home team remain in the game late, funny things happen. And by funny I mean sad if you're a Husker fan. Who here didn't feel sick to their stomach after the Hokies scored in the waning minutes? Who didn't immediately think back to the Texas game from 2006 or the Texas Tech game from 2005? To have victory snatched away so late is a cruel fate. Hokie fans had given up late in the game. Too bad their team didn't.
Nebraska must now regroup and gear up for a tough conference schedule that begins after next week's Louisiana-Lafayette homecoming scrimmage. The Huskers must find a way to win at Missouri and at Kansas in order to preserve their chance at a Big 12 Championship game bid. A loss to either of these teams and NU's Big 12 North fate is no longer in their own hands.
One thing is guaranteed...Nebraska will have a renewed focus as a result of this loss to Virginia Tech. You can bet that Bo Pelini will have his team motivated and playing much better come October 8th at Columbia. Losing to Virginia Tech in such a manner may be just what this team needed in a weird sort of way. They know they deserved to win the game. NU beat Va Tech in all statistical categories except the one that matters. Look for the Huskers to bounce back quickly.
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