Photo Showcase: NU-WKU fans
Photo Showcase: NU-WKU game action
* * *
LINCOLN — It started with a 46-yard touchdown run by Taylor Martinez on Nebraska's third play from scrimmage.
What followed was intermittent proof that it would keep going — and now surely be an integral part of the Huskers' 2010 offense.
NU put its quarterback run game on display Saturday night as it started the football season with a 49-10 win over Western Kentucky at Memorial Stadium.
And Martinez gave it a dynamic flair, his fast-moving legs being one of the major reasons that the redshirt freshman emerged from a three-quarterback battle to start in his first career game.
“I thought Taylor did a nice job running the ball,” coach Bo Pelini said. “He made some explosive plays and did some really good things. I thought for his first start he did a nice job.”
After the 46-yarder came runs of 43, 9, 15. Some darting, some dancing. Some flat-out speed that differentiates him from Cody Green and Zac Lee, although both other Husker quarterbacks also operated effectively before a crowd of 85,555.
Martinez finished with 127 yards and three touchdowns on just seven carries — the first 100-yard rushing game by an NU quarterback since Jammal Lord in 2003. In all, the quarterbacks accounted for 165 of the Huskers' 289 rushing yards.
Nebraska wants it to be part of its offense. As a defensive guru, Pelini knows what it's like to defend when it's done well.
“It's why we're doing it,” he said. “We try to make it hard on the defense and make them have to account for everybody, and obviously to do that in the run game the quarterback's a big part of it.”
Before getting too carried away, it must be noted that Western Kentucky ranked No. 118 in total defense and No. 119 in scoring defense last season. The Hilltoppers only recently jumped to the Football Bowl Subdivision level and are mired in a 21-game losing skid.
But T-Mart or T-Magic — or whatever nickname takes hold as Martinez slides from under the radar — has the kind of speed and running ability that is going to require attention no matter the opponent.
“He's been making plays throughout all fall camp,” I-back Rex Burkhead said. “It's great to see he can do it in games.”
Martinez actually threw before he ran Saturday night, completing a quick 5-yard pass to Brandon Kinnie on the Huskers' second play. Lined up in the shotgun the following snap, he sprinted up the field on a zone-read keeper for his 46-yard run that included WKU free safety Kareem Peterson obviously taking a bad angle.
Martinez then settled in with his passing before running again. He was 5 for 5 for 69 yards before being replaced by Green with a 14-0 lead in the second quarter.
With Nebraska ahead 21-0, Martinez started the second half with a 43-yard run, stumbling and bumping into the referee along the way. That series finished with his 19-yard scoring jaunt and a 28-0 lead.
His last play before leaving was a nifty 15-yard touchdown run that put the Huskers ahead 35-3 with 2:01 left in the third quarter.
“I was all right with it,” Martinez said of his first game as a Husker. “I can play a lot better.”
His postgame words hardly matched his impact on the Huskers' 25th consecutive season-opening win, which included 9-of-15 passing for 136 yards. The mystery of whether he would start or not was even concealed until about a half-hour before kickoff when the starters were announced on the HuskerVision screens.
Other than seeing him in the spring game, fans didn't have much to go off before lightning struck with that 46-yard run.
“Nobody else has seen it,” Green said. “People in the stands, they haven't seen it. We know his speed. And so when that happens, we're just sitting on the sidelines having a ball with it. We're just laughing and going, ‘We see this every day. Our defense sees it every day.' It was fun watching him go out there and play.”
Green got into the act by carrying three times for 17 yards, and also completing 5 of 6 passes for 66 yards. Lee had three rushing attempts for 21, and hit 3 of 4 passes for 45 yards.
As for the running, get used to it after no Husker quarterback in the last six seasons finished with more than 300 yards rushing — Joe Ganz netted 258 in 2008 — and nobody during the Bill Callahan era did anything over a season that resembled what Martinez did in three quarters.
“The importance of it is that a defense hates a quarterback that can run,” Green said. “If a quarterback doesn't run, it's 10 on 11. Defense wins, 24/7, it doesn't matter. The offenses that are set for a quarterback to run, defenses hate facing it. That's what we came to now.”
Western Kentucky coach Willie Taggart said the Hilltoppers were ready for the NU quarterback run game but hurt themselves with poor tackling. “And if you miss tackles,” he said, “that's what's going to happen.”
Pelini didn't go any easier on his own defense, calling it an “absolute embarrassment.”
Lavonte David led the Huskers with 13 tackles, but Pelini said the junior-college transfer made a lot of mistakes. David and Alonzo Whaley were making their first career starts at linebacker, as were Cameron Meredith and Baker Steinkuhler on the defensive line.
NU allowed lengthy Western Kentucky drives for a field goal and touchdown in the second half. In between it needed safety DeJon Gomes to tug the football away from Hilltoppers tailback Bobby Rainey just before the goal line on what could have been a 47-yard touchdown run (Eric Hagg recovered in the end zone for a touchback).
Although it held a ninth straight opponent to 20 points or fewer, Nebraska watched Rainey finish with 155 yards on 30 carries and Western Kentucky tally 299 yards overall.
“I can't say one thing that I liked on the defensive side,” Pelini said. “I thought we played poorly. That is not what our standard is around here.”
Contact the writer:
444-1042, rich.kaipust@owh.com
* * *
Submit fan photos to our OWH Big Red Photos group on Flickr or e-mail them to sports@owh.com and catch your photos in our fan slideshow.
Photo Showcase: NU-WKU fans
Photo Showcase: NU-WKU game action
* * *
• Video: NU postgame analysis by Mitch Sherman:
• Video: NU-WKU highlight reel:
• Video: NU coach Bo Pelini at the postgame press conference:
• Video: Taylor Martinez at the postgame press conference:
• Video: Rex Burkhead at the postgame press conference:
Copyright ©2012 Omaha World-Herald®. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, displayed or redistributed for any purpose without permission from the Omaha World-Herald.
Premium ContentClick on Premium Content on the Featured navigation bar for information.
RSS Feeds