Finally, a real sign of life in 2021.
Nebraska (3-3, 1-2 Big Ten) had been a program teetering on disaster with a bad loss at Illinois before heartbreakers to Oklahoma and Michigan State. But a 56-7 Homecoming win over Northwestern (2-3, 0-2 Big Ten) is just what the doctor ordered.
“There is no place like this,” Nebraska coach Scott Frost said. “It is special. These fans deserve a team that plays the way we played tonight.”
The Huskers used big plays from the get-go to take over the game. On the first play from scrimmage, Adrian Martinez hit Samori Toure for a 70 yard gain. Two plays later, Martinez scored his first of three rushing touchdowns.
“We’ve had years of close games, one possession games, tough games to stomach,” Martinez said. “We came out here and let it all out and played our game.”
The fourth-year starting quarterback had all day to make decisions and find options downfield. A week after being sacked seven times, Martinez was untouched in the backfield, not sacked a single time and hurried just once.
Part of the reason for added protection from the offensive line can be attributed to Teddy Prochazka and Nouredin Nouili. The pair made their first career starts.
“Definitely a little nervous but I knew I had to step up and do my thing,” Nouili said. “Me and Teddy, we’ve been pushing each other to a point that today’s been successful, but that’s the entire o-line group like that too.
“Everybody feeds off of each other.”
Not only was there added protection, Nebraska was mistake-free for much of the night. None of the four penalties were backbreaking.
Back to the big plays, the Huskers also had a 64-yard run from Jaquez Yant, an 83-yard run from Zavier Betts, and a 38-yard touchdown reception from Toure.
While the offense went to work, the Blackshirts continued their stout play.
Northwestern looked to be picking up momentum in the first half and had first-and-goal at the one. A quarterback sneak was unsuccessful. On the next play, JoJo Domann blew up the play, knocking the ball loose, and Deontre Thomas picked up the loose ball.
“It changed the game tremendously,” Thomas said. “Kudos to (defensive coordinator Erik Chinander), he called a great call, and I executed and picked up the fumble.”
Northwestern had -2 yards of rushing at the half, and ended the game with 37. The Wildcats picked up 256 yards through the air.
Nebraska’s rushing attack was as good as we’ve seen this year, piling up 427 yards behind Yant (127), Betts (83), Rahmir Johnson (74), Martinez (50), and several others.
This was the first big game for Yant who had been highly touted during the spring.
“It was amazing,” Yant said. “I continued to work, got my weight down like my coaches wanted, went out and did what I was supposed to do each and every day.”
Martinez finished the game with 202 yards through the air on 11-of-17 passing. Logan Smothers and Matt Masker both got time, combining to go 4-for-4 for 28 yards.
Overall, Nebraska finished with 657 yards of total offense, the most against Pat Fitzgerald since he took over Northwestern in 2006.
Punt return was mistake free on the night, with Oliver Martin making his return to the field as a returner. He caught all six punts via fair catch, an improvement on the first five games for Nebraska.
Not to be outdone in making improvements, punter William Przystup kicked himself into the record books. In the third quarter, Przystup launched an 84-yarder. That tied Sam Koch for second-longest in school history, only behind an 87-yarder from Mike Stigge.
The success of the game has to be qualified with the fact that Northwestern in 2021 in not the same team that has competed for division titles. But Saturday night was still success.
“We were a lot better team than we have been,” Frost said. We have a lot of work to do still. This was one game.
“It is a good first step. We still have a lot of work to do. We can still get better.”
Is Nebraska “back”? Let’s see this kind of mistake-free, big play football against a good team. But for now, it is a big step for a program that had too often beaten itself out of winnable games.
The 56 points scored is the most of the Frost era at Nebraska. The Huskers are now halfway to bowl eligibility for the first time since 2016.
Next week will be a bigger challenge as the Huskers host No. 14 Michigan (5-0, 2-0 Big Ten) for another game under the lights.