Tech’s defense shines in 31-10 win in Lincoln
LINCOLN, Neb. — The question of when Nebraska defensive players will earn back the traditional Blackshirt practice jerseys from the program’s heyday gets old. In fact, when asked last week whether he got tired of the question, Cornhuskers coach Bo Pelini retorted with, “What do you think?’’
But Pelini broke down the day before his 15th-ranked team played Texas Tech, handing out 13 Blackshirts to his guys who were ranked second in the nation in scoring defense.
Texas Tech's Daniel Howard, center, with teammates LaRon Moore, left, and Bront Bird, carries the ball for a touchdown against Nebraska in the first half of their NCAA college football game in Lincoln, Neb., Saturday, Oct. 17, 2009. Texas Tech beat Nebraska 31-10.(AP Photo/Nati Harnik)
Texas Tech's Daniel Howard (53) scores a touchdown after he picked up a loose ball, as Nebraska quarterback Zac Lee (5), gives chase, in the first half of their NCAA college football game in Lincoln, Neb., Saturday, Oct. 17, 2009.(AP Photo/Nati Harnik)
Nebraska quarterback Zac Lee (5) is tackled by Texas Tech's Bront Bird, in the second half of their NCAA college football game in Lincoln, Neb., Saturday, Oct. 17, 2009. Texas Tech beat Nebraska 31-10.(AP Photo/Dave Weaver)
Nebraska's Chris Brooks (1), is brought down by Texas Tech's Cody Davis, in the second half of their NCAA college football game in Lincoln, Neb., Saturday, Oct. 17, 2009. Texas Tech beat Nebraska 31-10.(AP Photo/Dave Weaver)
A premature gesture perhaps.
It was Tech’s defense that played lights out Saturday, scoring a touchdown of its own and not allowing one until the fourth quarter of a 31-10 Red Raiders victory before a crowd of 86,107 at Memorial Stadium.
“I thought whichever team our defense played for was going to win the game,’’ Tech coach Mike Leach said. “We have black shirts there at Texas Tech, too. Every one of our guys was wearing a black shirt underneath their pads, and I’m proud to say the black shirts won this one.’’
Tech defensive players, by coincidence, have worn black practice jerseys throughout Leach’s 10-year tenure, but Leach admitted this was one of their better days.
Tech (5-2, 2-1 in the Big 12 Conference) held Nebraska (4-2, 1-1) to 285 yards and registered five sacks, four credited to defensive end Brandon Sharpe. The Cornhuskers struggled enough that Pelini went back and forth at quarterback in the second half between starter Zac Lee and freshman Cody Green. Franklin Mitchem intercepted Green’s last pass deep in Tech territory with 2:03 left in the game.
And to think. Nebraska’s Ndamakong Suh, commonly regarded as the most dominant defensive player in college football, was the one getting all the advance press.
“Who’s that? Who’s that?,’’ Tech defensive end Daniel Howard said before admitting he knew of Suh. “I mean, I saw him a little bit on TV (last week) against Missouri, but I think my defense is better than their defense.’’
It was more timely, no denying that.
Tech led 7-0 early, but a disastrous offensive series and a short punt had the Raiders backed up inside their 20-yard line. Then wide receiver Niles Paul fumbled Lee’s backward pass, and Howard fetched it and ran 82 yards down the Tech sideline for a touchdown and a 14-0 lead.
After Tech made it 21-0 in the second quarter, Nebraska finally got rolling, driving from its own 23 to the Tech 4. But on third-and-goal, defensive tackle Colby Whitlock shot a gap and tripped running back Roy Helu Jr., forcing the Huskers to settle for a field goal.
In the third and fourth quarters, the Cornhuskers’ best drive landed them at the Tech 14, but cornerback Jamar Wall broke up a fourth-down pass, keeping it 24-3.
“Our defense just stepped up over and over,’’ Leach said. “I mean, we tested them about every way we could. Bad field position. Good return (given up) on the punts or the kickoffs. Offense gets a three-and-out and then another three-and-out. They just keep stepping up. I thought it was a real credit to our D-line, which is a really quick unit. Really, I thought both D-lines had a good day.’’
Both teams registered five sacks, so it was no day at the beach for Tech quarterback Steven Sheffield either. But Sheffield led his team to points on three of its first five offensive series and had Tech in front 24-3 at halftime.
Though Taylor Potts was suited up and cleared to play, Sheffield made his first career road start. He passed that test, though Leach said he didn’t really question that the former walk-on would.
“Not really, to me,’’ Leach said. “I was hoping to come out better the second half, but I thought he did good. It was a wild atmosphere. This is one of the greatest places in the world to play college football.’’
Suh, the defensive tackle rated by ESPN.com analyst Mel Kiper Jr. as the No. 2 prospect for next April’s NFL draft, had no sacks, but scored two tackles for loss and four quarterback hurries. The Huskers had eight of those.
Sheffield had scrapes on both knees after the game. Under the gun, he didn’t always make the right decision, but he didn’t throw any interceptions.
“He got a lot of pressure,’’ Leach said. “He generated some for himself, too. There were a couple of them where he’d go back there and run in a circle, run in a circle and look up and then there’s two guys there. I wasn’t real cranked about that. I wanted him to throw the ball and hit some fat guy in the stands. That didn’t consistently happen. We had a conversation on that.’’
But Leach cut Sheffield some slack, considering it was his second career start and the second-largest crowd ever at Nebraska.
The Raiders made some key plays in difficult down-and-distance situations to take the crowd out of it. Facing third-and-13 on their first series, Sheffield hit Lyle Leong down the sideline for 34 yards. Leong kept his concentration on a difficult catch between two defenders.
Later on the drive, the Raiders overcame second-and-20. Detron Lewis ran a flag and pulled in a 22-yard pass to position the Raiders for a scoring pass to Baron Batch.
With the score 14-0 in the second quarter, Nebraska had another chance at momentum when Tech went for it on fourth down from its own 44. But Harrison Jeffers took a handoff and made 21 yards around left end, picking up a nice block from Ed Britton. Sheffield sneaked for a touchdown to cap that drive.
Tech wound up with only 259 yards, its fewest in a victory since Leach’s first game as head coach in 2000.
But the way the defense played, it didn’t matter.
“Give all the credit to those guys,’’ Lewis said. “They helped us out a lot.’’
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I couldn’t be happier!
Leach, please stick with Sticks as his 2nd & 3rd efforts along with his energy bring this team to life!
How about Sharpe, Howard, Henley, Bird, etc. Defense really played lights out.
Great win, enjoy it & get ready for next week!
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Defense was amazing today. Best performance that I can remember in several years. Not too bad for Sheffield. He won, that’s what counts. Not impressed by a lot of his decision making though. That has to improve. I do wonder of the defense, could Byrd be any slower or miss any more tackles?
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Now that’s more like it. Defense was terrific today and the offense also played well against a tough opponent. Big return to start the last possession was also outstanding. It was sweet to see the dismay on all those Husker faces. Way to go Raiders!
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Ya know, we have black shirts there at Texas Tech too.
May be Leach’s best quote yet.
take THAT you overfed corn shuckers.
this is almost as good as beatin’ aNm at colleyville.
almost.
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Very proud of the Red Raiders today. Played in front of the 2nd biggest crowd ever at Memorial Stadium and the guys played like they expected to win…very few mistakes, minimal penalties, cool heads, stout defense, and an offense that knocked out the crowd in the 1st half. Way to play like Champions!
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Su who?????? Way to go Brando Carter!!!!
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Geme Ball Ruffin McNeil. The defense was great. I really have been impressed with the tackling the last two weeks.
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Very impressed by today’s performance.
In fact, I’d argue this win was bigger than last year’s win over Texas. I expected Tech to play well versus Texas last year but was really worried about playing today in Lincoln. Nebraska has really turned the corner from their recent past, but Tech completely dominated all phases of today’s game.
Biggest stat of the game…Sticks threw for 280 and Tech scored 31! Truly amazing…
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Great job defense! That was a total team effort. Go into a tough place to play, don’t turn the ball over or make a ton of penalties, and win the game. I think that was one of the most complete games we have played even though it was ugly at times. The Huskers defense was good, but they were not as ballanced as Tech. It’s wonderful to see the defense take controll of the game like that two weeks in a row.
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You guys played good, but don’t confuse really good defense for a really bad offense. Not trying to take anything away form your vicotory, but Nebaska’s Offense is really, really bad, trust me. See you in a few years.
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This year is going to be great, but think about the future. The entire backfield returns. All receivers except Lewis…back. Over half of the defense returns. We lose Carter…big loss. But there will be another to fill his shoes. Leach, and hopefully his entire staff will be back. Who knows what uncommited recruits watched that game. The best recruiting year for the raiders looms on the horizon (february). We’re almost there.
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Wow Greg….Lets give Greg a hand for originally…
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I mean originality (for all you spelling checkers). And for Husker420: Are you implying your team sucks? Hey Greg, meet Husker420.
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Hats off to the coaches and defensive line for continuing to clog the middle. That was Tech’s annual Achilles heel before Ruffin took over. Since then Colby Whitlock, Richard Jones and Brian Duncan have quietly become one of the very best groups in the Big 12. The defensive ends are living up to Tech’s traditional strength at the position, just not as quietly. Combined with the excellent outside linebackers – Williams and Bird – Tech’s front seven seems to have bought some time for the secondary to get its chemistry. Of course it doesn’t hurt having Jamar Wall back there and an old master like Carlos Mainord coaching the safeties. Brian Mitchell, the cornerbacks coach, probably had the toughest job of all coming into this season and has earned his pay check.
Oh, and “Mr. Suh,” meet Mr. Carter.
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Im going to go out on a limb and say Tech is over its loss to Cougar high. Will also submit that Tech’s defense is awesome and given the Aggie-K-state score last night (62 to 14 K-STATE!!) tHE tECH-AGGIE GAME THIS WEEKEND IS LIABLE TO BE IN THE 80′S!
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Good game Tech.
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A boy named Suh gets hurt if he plays with Sticks.
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didnt i say that the score was going to be 42-21 tech. I did get the spread exactly right. To the defense, dont listen to what people are saying about you not being good, a few minor adjustments and this defense is great. I think we can ride that all the way to a BCS bid. Sounds like greg is mad about something way up there. I still think we should have won the two games we lost. but oh well. As for the aggies, they will show up to play but, the Red Raiders will prevail. Tech 39 Aggies 17. Bad field position in the second quarter will lead to aggie points.
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Here is another piece of evidence that this is a reloading year not a rebuilding year. However, there are another 6 pieces of data to be collected before I am ready to accept my hypotheses as a theory. Team ball beats star ball every time. Now that’s a law.
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Ndickmong Whuh?
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Dont play with sticks, you may poke your eye out!
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Sounds as if I missed a great defensive battle. Glad to hear that we shut down Suh and Carter,Bird, and the whole defense, had a great game. I was wondering who was going to start at QB and looks like Sticks got the call.
Now maybe TECH and A&M will get some type of airtime.
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Will tech finally get some respect in the polls?
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The punt and kick coverage is going to cost Tech big time, unless they get those outside guys to stay home. They are always drifting toward the ball and leave their lanes, providing an opening outside. They’ve been doing that all season. C’mon, coaches, look at the game video and get guys who can do the job.
This team is just getting better and better. Too bad Gerald sold out for a paltry $375,000 to move the ut game up. That’s hurt the Raiders this season, twice: not being mature enough to beat ut in Austin and, then, having the hangover against Houston.
Our guys are growing into the quality team they can be.
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It doesn’t matter what the polls say…if you were a sports minded alien from outer space and dropped to earth you would think that only the SEC, Big Ten, Pac 10 and Big 12 were the only college football conferences and you would wonder what the number 12 meant and not the Big 2..Tech needs to keep the team effort going, take one game at a time, and let the rest take care of itself.
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Wonder were the critics are at that were all over the defense after the cotton bowl?
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Husker 420: I think yall may need a new coach. That Bo boy is good with his defense and should probably remain defensive coordinator. You all could try to lure Bob Stoops away from Norman Oklahoma ! That would be some excellent humor! I bet Nebraska could get him if the price is right. Yall will get better. I actually do have a lot of respect for the hard working and good people of Nebraska. Good luck for the rest of the season.
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NO, I said that our offense sucks… and I don’t condone such stupid comebacks as Steers and whatever. I said good game, but I don’t think your defense is in the top ten, otherwise you would be unbeaten. Just a thought.
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Husker 420: You offense is bad, but your defense is good. The Red Raider defense is getting better game by game. I am no expert on ranking anything, That comment about Steers and whatever really is sad. I’ll just ignore that.
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A boy named SUH (could not resist it)
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Apparently, Coach Bo gave the Black Shirts back to the Nebraska Defense. Did he promptly take them away Sunday?
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Longtime Husker fan, so I’ve seen those games where we were the obvious favorite turn into just the opposite. Give Tech’s
defense all the credit, Nebraska’s offense didn’t play well and Tech’s defense made plays when they had to. We simply got outplayed on this day, dropped passes, a ton of penalties ( and everyone of them at a critical juncture in the game), constantly putting tech in third and long only to have a penalty or a close play result in a drive sustaining effort from the raiders won’t win you many ballgames no matter who you play. As the season moves on I think we’ll get a better idea of which of the two teams on Saturday will have an overall better season, but on Saturday Tech was clearly the best. Good luck to Leach and his raiders for the rest of the year…hope to see you again in the BIG 12 CHAMPIONSHIP!!
GO BIG RED!!!!!!!
( I like the fact that TECH has so much respect for the Nebraska Defensive Tradition of Blackshirts, that they decide to copy it)
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Props to you guys , you played a good game. Our offense played terribly, and still outyarded the capgun offense! We had : 16 first downs to your 15; more rushing yards; more total yards;same amount of sacks { but for more yards lost };but the real stat : 12 penalties for 95 yards ! Not to take anything from you guys, but we beat ourselves !
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