Opal Isle
13-10-2004, 20:14
Tech hands Nebraska worst loss in school history
By Adam Boedeker, University Daily
October 11, 2004
(U-WIRE) LUBBOCK, Texas -- The Nebraska Cornhuskers were hit with a 12 men on the field penalty the play before Texas Tech running back Taurean Henderson scored his third touchdown of the game with 7:14 remaining in the game.
The penalty might not have been an accident. After all, the extra man might have been the Huskers' (3-2, 1-1 Big 12) best chance of stopping the Red Raiders (4-2, 2-1), who scored 49 points in less than 12 minutes en route to their 70-10 victory against Nebraska Saturday. The win gave Tech its first victory against Nebraska in eight attempts.
The 70 points was the most given up in the history of Nebraska football and was the worst defeat in school history -- the previous worst loss was in 1945 when Minnesota beat Nebraska 61-7.
"Once we get the ball rolling, and especially with our improved defense this year, it's hard to stop us," said sophomore receiver Jarrett Hicks, who finished the game with three catches for 107 yards and two touchdowns, including an 80-yarder.
"If you wanna compare it to a 20-0 run in basketball, it kinda seems like that's how it is. We put up almost 50 points in the second half. It's a great feeling once we get going, and it's hard for the other team to get anything going."
Hicks' 80-yard touchdown reception with 1:14 remaining in the first half was the longest of the Mike Leach era and the eighth longest in school history.
Hicks, who tallied his fifth 100-yard receiving game, said if Heisman Trophy talk begins, he will listen, but the most important thing for Tech is to win the Big 12 title.
"[Heisman talk] is not for me to talk about," he said. "That's for y'all to talk about, and you can do that all you want. If the individual stuff comes, that's great, but right now we're just trying to win the Big 12."
The Huskers' final five possessions of the game resulted in turnovers, which gave the Raiders the ball inside the Nebraska 15-yard line four times.
Defensive end Adell Duckett said the defensive performance was a good one, especially the stretch in the second half to close the game.
"That was cool man," he said. "I've never seen anything like that. Those last nine minutes took forever. Everyone got involved."
With 2:17 remaining in the third quarter, the 'Huskers' offensive meltdown began with a fumbled snap by freshman quarterback Beau Davis. The botched snap came on his third snap of the game after replacing starter Joe Dailey, who finished the game 14-of-31 for 187 yards, one touchdown and one interception. Davis went on to complete 1-of-7 passes for 12 yards and three interceptions.
Tech linebacker Fletcher Session recovered the ball on Nebraska's 14-yard line, and Tech took one play to score.
Running back Johnnie Mack took a handoff to the right tackle, where he met a group of Nebraska defenders. Mack reversed his field, fumbled the ball, recovered it and ran down the left sideline for a 14-yard touchdown, his second of three during the night.
Mack said he has become the team's X-factor and tries to score every time he touches the ball.
"I think I'm a big playmaker on this team, and people are starting to realize it," he said. "I don't know what's gonna happen the next couple of weeks, but I'm just gonna continue to make plays."
Mack said toward the end of the game, some of the Huskers may have called it quits, but it was hard to tell given the way Tech was playing.
"I couldn't really tell [if they gave up]," he said. "We were playing so good out there, man. I wasn't really paying attention to their defense. I just wanted to continue to score points and put more points on the board. I'm pretty sure some people started to give up a little bit, but I don't know. We just had to go out and do our jobs."
Quarterback Sonny Cumbie finished the game 44-of-56 with 436 yards, five touchdowns and one interception after throwing seven picks in Tech's two previous contests.
Nebraska's defense had allowed an average 198 yards through the air going into the game. After completing 78.5 percent of his passes against the No. 5 defense in the nation, Cumbie and his coach said the performance was his best of the season.
"Yeah, I think so," Cumbie said. "It was the best game, as a unit, we've played. Things just got rolling early, and we really capitalized on some opportunities we had. That's the kind of night you can have whenever you capitalize on your opportunities."
Leach said Cumbie's performance silenced recent criticisms after Cumbie was tied with Dailey for the national lead in interceptions with 11.
"I never really bought into [the criticisms] anyway," Leach said. "I think just as an offense we had to work to sharpen things up. We'd shown flashes, and really I think [offense, defense and special teams] all played better. He's improved steadily, and he had a huge night."
With Tech headed into a bye week before hosting Texas Oct. 23, Cumbie said his critics will be silenced for at least two weeks after helping Tech score 70 points in its two home games.
"I could care less what they say," he said. "I mean, I'm not playing for them. I'm playing for the Texas Tech Red Raiders and those guys out there in the locker room and the coaches. Those are the only guys I concern myself with. I think 70 points should keep them happy for at least two weeks."
Updated on Monday, Oct 11, 2004 9:00 pm EDT
This one's for Suicidal Librarians...
Uber-pwnage. Nebraska was on ESPN's worst 10 NCAA 1A Teams list...
5. Nebraska 3-2 "Hey, somebody step on a duck?" How much have things changed at Nebraska? Someone (Texas Tech) actually scheduled the Huskers for homecoming and hung 70 on them.
http://sportsmed.starwave.com/i/teamlogos/ncaa/sml/trans/158.gif
By Adam Boedeker, University Daily
October 11, 2004
(U-WIRE) LUBBOCK, Texas -- The Nebraska Cornhuskers were hit with a 12 men on the field penalty the play before Texas Tech running back Taurean Henderson scored his third touchdown of the game with 7:14 remaining in the game.
The penalty might not have been an accident. After all, the extra man might have been the Huskers' (3-2, 1-1 Big 12) best chance of stopping the Red Raiders (4-2, 2-1), who scored 49 points in less than 12 minutes en route to their 70-10 victory against Nebraska Saturday. The win gave Tech its first victory against Nebraska in eight attempts.
The 70 points was the most given up in the history of Nebraska football and was the worst defeat in school history -- the previous worst loss was in 1945 when Minnesota beat Nebraska 61-7.
"Once we get the ball rolling, and especially with our improved defense this year, it's hard to stop us," said sophomore receiver Jarrett Hicks, who finished the game with three catches for 107 yards and two touchdowns, including an 80-yarder.
"If you wanna compare it to a 20-0 run in basketball, it kinda seems like that's how it is. We put up almost 50 points in the second half. It's a great feeling once we get going, and it's hard for the other team to get anything going."
Hicks' 80-yard touchdown reception with 1:14 remaining in the first half was the longest of the Mike Leach era and the eighth longest in school history.
Hicks, who tallied his fifth 100-yard receiving game, said if Heisman Trophy talk begins, he will listen, but the most important thing for Tech is to win the Big 12 title.
"[Heisman talk] is not for me to talk about," he said. "That's for y'all to talk about, and you can do that all you want. If the individual stuff comes, that's great, but right now we're just trying to win the Big 12."
The Huskers' final five possessions of the game resulted in turnovers, which gave the Raiders the ball inside the Nebraska 15-yard line four times.
Defensive end Adell Duckett said the defensive performance was a good one, especially the stretch in the second half to close the game.
"That was cool man," he said. "I've never seen anything like that. Those last nine minutes took forever. Everyone got involved."
With 2:17 remaining in the third quarter, the 'Huskers' offensive meltdown began with a fumbled snap by freshman quarterback Beau Davis. The botched snap came on his third snap of the game after replacing starter Joe Dailey, who finished the game 14-of-31 for 187 yards, one touchdown and one interception. Davis went on to complete 1-of-7 passes for 12 yards and three interceptions.
Tech linebacker Fletcher Session recovered the ball on Nebraska's 14-yard line, and Tech took one play to score.
Running back Johnnie Mack took a handoff to the right tackle, where he met a group of Nebraska defenders. Mack reversed his field, fumbled the ball, recovered it and ran down the left sideline for a 14-yard touchdown, his second of three during the night.
Mack said he has become the team's X-factor and tries to score every time he touches the ball.
"I think I'm a big playmaker on this team, and people are starting to realize it," he said. "I don't know what's gonna happen the next couple of weeks, but I'm just gonna continue to make plays."
Mack said toward the end of the game, some of the Huskers may have called it quits, but it was hard to tell given the way Tech was playing.
"I couldn't really tell [if they gave up]," he said. "We were playing so good out there, man. I wasn't really paying attention to their defense. I just wanted to continue to score points and put more points on the board. I'm pretty sure some people started to give up a little bit, but I don't know. We just had to go out and do our jobs."
Quarterback Sonny Cumbie finished the game 44-of-56 with 436 yards, five touchdowns and one interception after throwing seven picks in Tech's two previous contests.
Nebraska's defense had allowed an average 198 yards through the air going into the game. After completing 78.5 percent of his passes against the No. 5 defense in the nation, Cumbie and his coach said the performance was his best of the season.
"Yeah, I think so," Cumbie said. "It was the best game, as a unit, we've played. Things just got rolling early, and we really capitalized on some opportunities we had. That's the kind of night you can have whenever you capitalize on your opportunities."
Leach said Cumbie's performance silenced recent criticisms after Cumbie was tied with Dailey for the national lead in interceptions with 11.
"I never really bought into [the criticisms] anyway," Leach said. "I think just as an offense we had to work to sharpen things up. We'd shown flashes, and really I think [offense, defense and special teams] all played better. He's improved steadily, and he had a huge night."
With Tech headed into a bye week before hosting Texas Oct. 23, Cumbie said his critics will be silenced for at least two weeks after helping Tech score 70 points in its two home games.
"I could care less what they say," he said. "I mean, I'm not playing for them. I'm playing for the Texas Tech Red Raiders and those guys out there in the locker room and the coaches. Those are the only guys I concern myself with. I think 70 points should keep them happy for at least two weeks."
Updated on Monday, Oct 11, 2004 9:00 pm EDT
This one's for Suicidal Librarians...
Uber-pwnage. Nebraska was on ESPN's worst 10 NCAA 1A Teams list...
5. Nebraska 3-2 "Hey, somebody step on a duck?" How much have things changed at Nebraska? Someone (Texas Tech) actually scheduled the Huskers for homecoming and hung 70 on them.
http://sportsmed.starwave.com/i/teamlogos/ncaa/sml/trans/158.gif