News - Huskies Husked!

On Saturday, September 18, the Nebraska Cornhuskers traveled to Seattle, Washington to take on the Washington Huskies for their third game of the season. Nebraska entered the contest with a number 8 ranking, down two spots after a questionable performance against Idaho last week.

The big questions facing the Cornhuskers this week were: 1) could they clean up their game after a sloppy performance last week where they committed four turnovers, and over a hundred yards in penalties, and 2) how would freshman quarterback Taylor Martinez perform in his first away game, facing a very large and potentially hostile crowd.

Both questions were answered very favorably. Far from being intimidated, Taylor Martinez completed 7 of 11 passes for 150 yards, and also rushed for 137 yards including three touchdown scampers. Martinez was one of three Huskers to rush for more than 100 yards, the other two being Roy Hellu and Rex Burkhead. As a whole, the offense played a much cleaner game, losing only 1 of 2 fumbles, as opposed to last week’s 3 of 8. Both fumbles were committed by backup quarterback Cody Green. The penalty situation was much improved as well, only 6 I think, and one of those was a delay of game, committed intentionally to give the kicker a little more room to work..

Nebraska exploded in the opening minutes of the game, scoring on a long run by Taylor Martinez. Then it was the Blackshirt defense’s turn to show off a little, intercepting Washington quarterback Jake Locker’s first pass, and returning it for a touchdown. Four minutes into the game, Nebraska was up 14 to 0. The rest of the first half was much the same, with Nebraska and Washington each scoring two more touchdowns. The halftime score was: Nebraska 28, Washington 14.

The beginning of the second half saw another scoring explosion. Taylor Martinez scored another long touchdown run on the very first play of the second half. Washington answered right back with two long plays and a touchdown of their own. Nebraska’s next possession took them all the way down the field in only four plays, making the score 42 to 21. The rest of the game was largely uneventful, Nebraska scored twice more, while Washington never saw the endzone again. The final score was: Nebraska 56, Washington 21.

Husker fans everywhere gave a big sigh of relief at the end of this game, after finally seeing their team really dominate on both sides of the ball. Most impressive to mewas the performance of Nebraska’s defense against a team who reputedly has one of the best quarterbacks in the nation. Washington QB Jake Locker is expected to be picked very high in next year’s NFL draft, but against the Blackshirts he completed only 4 of 20 passes for 71 yards, and was picked off twice. Voters across the country were apparently impressed as well. The updated poll for this week shows Nebraska back up to the number 6 spot, having leapfrogged over Texas and Oklahoma.

It was great to see Nebraska play so well, but in all honesty, it is still too soon to tell if the Huskers are ready for the big time, as they have not yet faced a ranked opponent. Next week’s game against South Dakota will be our last non-conference matchup before we begin facing some tougher opponents in the Big 12.