By Rich Kaipust
WORLD-HERALD BUREAU « Big Red TodayShare Related News
LINCOLN — Kansas quarterback Quinn Mecham maybe didn't know it at the time, but it was going to become a pattern.
It was fourth-and-6 on the Jayhawks' opening drive Saturday night and Nebraska had six of its 11 defenders coming after him.
There were too many of them moving too fast. Mecham panicked. A blitzing DeJon Gomes wrapped him up and took him down.
It would be the first of six sacks for the Huskers, and one of four by somebody other than Nebraska defensive linemen.
“Everybody came at one time or another,” NU defensive coordinator Carl Pelini said. “We were pretty creative with the pressure package this week.”
Nebraska made life miserable for Mecham in the 20-3 victory at Memorial Stadium, blitzing about as regularly as it had in any game this season. It resulted in the KU quarterback going just 3 for 13 in his third career start and passing for 15 yards.
It was most dangerous for Mecham in obvious passing downs, of which there were many. At different times, he had to watch for Gomes, Eric Hagg or Lavonte David coming from the linebacker and nickel/dime slots, not to mention safeties Austin Cassidy and Courtney Osborne.
Pelini moved them like chess pieces and smiled afterward about what it's like to have such athletes to send.
“It's fun,” he said. “We can really look at protections and think of all kinds of different ways to pressure people. We were real effective with that in the first half. Then in the second, you get your lead and you say, ‘We're getting a four-man rush, so let's play some coverage,' and that's kind of how the game went.”
Nebraska had seven sacks against Idaho in September, but six of its first seven games included two or fewer. It has 14 in its past three games, with six each against Missouri and Kansas.
The Huskers knew that they would be coming against KU, even if Mecham had to learn the hard way.
“We thought after going through the week of game plan that there was going to be some opportunities to bring some heat, and our guys did a nice job of executing,” NU assistant coach John Papuchis said. “I think every time we ran a pressure we executed it well. It certainly paid off, especially in the first half.”
All six sacks came on third- or fourth-down plays. On five of the six, the Jayhawks needed 6 yards or more for a first down.
In that regard, defensive tackle Jared Crick said, Nebraska set itself up for success.
“It's all credit to us stopping the run on first and second down and getting to those third-and-long situations that really benefit us getting those sacks,” Crick said. “I knew we could do it. We just finally executed and stopped them on first and second down, which gets them into that position.”
Crick bagged two sacks, giving the junior a team-high 6½. They just haven't come as easily for the front four as a year ago, when Ndamukong Suh had 12, Crick added 9½ and defensive linemen accounted for 33½ altogether.
If Pelini had a previous complaint with his front four, he said, it's that they were being too conservative in obvious passing situations. Especially his younger guys.
“So I challenged them,” he said. “I said, ‘Get your butts in the air and go. Go have some fun and wreck some shop in the backfield.' They did that (Saturday). It was good to see them do that. Turn it loose, and hopefully that will carry over.”
The return of cornerback Alfonzo Dennard helped and should benefit NU again this Saturday at Texas A&M. With Dennard and Prince Amukamara spearheading coverage, the risk involved with blitzing isn't as great for the Huskers as for some other teams.
It hardly seemed like a risk at all Saturday night.
“Coach Carl really felt we could get some pressure on these guys with how they were in their pass protections,” said Marvin Sanders, the NU secondary coach. “We thought if we could get in his face and get on him a little bit that we could force him into some throws, or at least rattle him. And I think our guys did.”
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