Different team, same results.
Even though Nebraska scored
fewer points in its 49-7 win over Pa
cific Saturday, most everything else
was just a replica of the Comhuskers’
previous three wins.
“We’re glad to get this one behind
us,” Coach Tom Osborne said. “Our
players responded about as well as
they could under the circumstances. I
don’t think we were flat, but I don’t
think we were quite as excited as we
have been or will be.”
Nebraska continued running over
its opponents, as it totaled 731 yards
Saturday, with 569 of those coming
on the ground. Going into the game,
the Huskers were averaging 674 yards
oftotal offense agame, including486
yards rushing a game.
“We had a lot of yards—a lot more
than the points would reflect,” Osborne
said. “I thought we moved the ball
pretty well.”
And like its previous three victo-1
rics, Nebraska put its opponent away
early.
The Huskers marched 80 yards on
seven plays on its opening drive —
capped by Damon Benning’s 26-yard
touchdown run.
After the Tigers went three plays
and out, it took only one play for
Benning to find the end zone again—
this time on a 17-yard run.
Two possessions later, Benning
broke loose for a 43-yard touchdown
run, putting Nebraska up 21-0 at the
end of the quarter.
Benning, who gained 98 yards on
five carries for three touchdowns in
the first quarter alone, said he still
wasn’t fully recovered from the ham
string injury that sidelined him the
past two games.
“I didn’t really let loose at all to
day,” he said. “The offensive line did
a good job of protecting me. I’m sure
on paper, the numbers probably look
pretty good, but I was probably only
about 80 percent. I never actually went
all-out.”
The names changed in the second
quarter for Nebraska; the efficiency
didn’t.
I-backs Ahman Green and James
Sims each scored on runs in the sec
ond quarter to give Nebraska a 35-0
lead at halftime.
The Nebraska defense was the big
irffTTTTH W H I
LUMILiULl Nebraska 49
Scoring 1st 2nd 3rd 4th Pacific 7
Pacific 0 0 7 0
Nebraska 21 14 14 0
Neb- Benning 26yd run (Brown kick) Neb- Frazier 5yd run (Brown kick)
Neb- Benning 17yd run (Brown kick) Neb- Green 13yd run (Brown kick)
Neb- Benning 43yd run (Brown kick) Pacific- Watley 12yd pass from Sellers
Neb- Green 4yd run (Brown kick) (Fleenor kick)
Neb- Sims 9yd run (Brown kick) Attendance: 75,630
Itebraska Pacific
Rushing Att. Yds. I Rushing_Att. Yds._
Benning 10 173 j Reeder 1 36
Green 15 112 j Abdullah 13 25
Frazier 7 62 j Sellers 2 1
Passing Comp-Att. Int. Yds, j Passing Comp.- Att. Int. Yds.
Berringer <M7 0 57 f Sellers 13-25 0 132
Frazier 6-14 1 90 | Fotheringham 1-5 0 5
Receiving No. Yds. j Receiving No. Yds.
Johnson 2 31 [Atkins 3 63
Baul 2 24 j Watley 3 17
Holbein 2 24 j Abdullah 3 8
Breakdown Neb. PacificNeh. Pacific
First Downs 3^ 7 Punts-avg. 1-33 7-43
Rushes-yards 70-569 17-60 Fumbles-Lost 2-0 0-0
Passing 162 137 Penalties-Yards 3-26 2-20
Return Yards 146 55 Time of 39:44 20:16
Comp-Att-Int 16-36-2 14-31-1 Possession
gest story in the first half. Pacific
gained only 73 yards in the first half,
compared to 446 by Nebraska. The
Tigers did not cross midfield until the
third quarter, with 6:59 left.
“A lot of the young guys stepped
up and played really well on defense,”
defensive tackle Christian Peter said.
“I thought the defense, as a unit,
stepped it up and played really well.”
Nebraska turned the opening pos
session of the second half into points
when Tommie Frazier finished a
seven-play, 80-yard drive offwith a 5
yard touchdown run.
Green scored his second touch
down of the game on Nebraska’s next
possession with a 13-yard run for a
49-0 lead.
The Tigers bounced back when
Tyrone Watley hauled in a pass from
Nick Sellers for a 12-yard touchdown
reception.
Even though Watley’s touchdown
ended the scoring for the day, leaving
Nebraska 15 points under its average,
Pacific coach Chuck Shelton said he
DN graphic
was amazed by the Huskers’ offense.
“I think they’ve taken their kind of
offensive football to another level,”
Shelton said. “They’ve improved it to
a point where it’s very difficult to deal
with. Even if you match up physically,
it ’s difficult to deal with. Certainly we
didn’t even match up physically.” I
Benning finished with a career- I
high 173 yards on 10 carries, while
Green tallied up 113 yards. Frazier
ran for 68 yards, and completed six of
14 passes for 90 yards.
But Osborne said that, despite the
huge offensive numbers, the offense
was far from error-free. I
He said he was disappointed with |
the passing game, which resulted in |
162 yards and two interceptions on a |
16-of-36 performance. I
“I wanted to work on it a little bit j
today,” Osborne said. “I didn’t think I
our throwing game was really that
good. Some of that was the wind. But
it was unsatisfactory, being under 50
percent.”
. . ...■■ ■ ■ ' • • --- - - '
Jeff Haller/DN
Pacific defensive back Ryan McGinnis grabs the face mask of Brendan Holbein to bring him to
the ground in first-quarter action Saturday at Memorial Stadium. Holbein caught two passes for
24 yards.
Nebraska l-back James Sims runs the ball in for a thd
Travis Heying/DN
Starting l-back Damon Benning eludes tacklers during a first
quarter touchdown Saturday against Pacific. Benning rushed**
for a career-high 173 yards and three touchdowns.
0.
