Photo by

Cody Green’s family traveled in from nearby Dayton, Texas, to see the freshman start his first game at quarterback for the Cornhuskers, but it was defender Jared Crick who had the great game Saturday as Nebraska beat Baylor 20-10.

Check out our FREE online Bill Pay!

Crick, a sophomore from Cozad, broke the all-time single-game school record for sacks (five, for 24 yards) and had a game-high 13 tackles, including 10 solos and seven for losses. He is a major reason that the NU defense should continue to be this team’s strength in 2010 and beyond.

Nebraska fans were prominent in the crowd.

Crick played an excellent game, and Bo Pelini took note.

"They turned their center to (Ndamukong) Suh and they were trying to double-team Suh, and (Jared Crick) took advantage of it,” said Pelini. “He is too good of a football player if they are going to do that. He did a good job and he played a great game.”

Crick, Suh, Barry Turner and Pierre Allen continue to be the most consistent and valuable part of the Huskers. This defensive line will pose a problem for every team it meets this season, including Oklahoma next Saturday.

“They were double-teaming (Ndamukong) Suh most of the game so that gave me the opportunity to go one-on-one with the open lanes to kind of free rush,” said Crick. “It could have been anyone today with all of those stats. It is just a group effort.”

If Baylor had a healthy Robert Griffin III at quarterback, it would have been an extremely tight game, but then again, if Nebraska had a healthy Roy Helu Jr. at I-back, the Huskers might have tacked on an extra touchdown or two. Nebraska is a better team with Green at quarterback, and if they concentrate on the power running game, the offensive line should slowly improve the rest of the season.

Green made one mistake that former stater Zac Lee likely would not have made (a late throw which resulted in a pick-six for Baylor’s only touchdown). But Green made plays with his feet that Lee could not have made. He also threw a perfect 45-yard pass to Niles Paul that set up the game’s only offensive touchdown by either team.

Green gives the offense hope of a productive running game, as evidenced in the first half at Baylor. But there’s a lot of work to do.

Nebraska (5-3, 2-2 Big 12) produced no points on its final nine drives.

I don’t think we’ll see the Husker offense make the same kind of gains in the final four games that the NU defense did last fall. That is, not unless there is some kind of awakening in the offensive line, which has not improved much at all over the course of this season.

The fate of the Huskers will largely rest on the shoulders of the Blackshirts this November. The secondary has improved steadily over eight games, although it still shows an occasional tendency to get beat deep. The linebackers have also improved behind senior Phillip Dillard, who is having a fine senior season after sitting out his first two games for disciplinary reasons.

Suh, Crick and the d-line are the heart of the Huskers. That’s not a bad thing.

A defensive line that gets penetration without having to use a blitz is a distinct benefit; it’s the single most dominant position on the field if you do it right. No offensive scheme is set up to succeed against defensive tackles who are constantly in your backfield.

Not even the game officials could prevail against the Husker d-line, which flagged Suh for throwing down the Baylor quarterback in the fourth quarter. It was merely a decisive tackle, not excessive in nature, and I don’t understand why the penalty was called.

If the Baylor quarterback had kept his balance and turned upfield, I doubt the officials would have whistled the play dead. And if the official decided that the Baylor player was already in Suh’s grasp and the whistle had blown, then I wish that same official would have made the same call on the punt return that went 62 yards.

The Nebraska coverage team had the Baylor punt returner in its grasp more clearly than Suh had the Baylor quarterback a few minutes earlier. So the Huskers backed off and the Bears were able to lateral the ball twice, resulting in the long return. Just one of many examples of indecisive officiating in the Big 12, I guess.

There are still a few problems on Nebraska’s defensive side, though. For example, NU is wasting too many timeouts to correct misalignments on defense. That could come back to haunt the Huskers in the next month.

I could get used to seeing the Huskers win some ugly games from here on out, couldn’t you?

I wouldn’t be surprised to see a 10-7 game in Lincoln against Oklahoma, and it’s probably a matter of turnovers as to who gets the 10 and who gets the 7.

Tad Stryker is the former sports editor of the North Platte Bulletin and provides analysis after each Husker football game for Bulletin readers. Stryker also writes for HuskerPedia (http://www.huskerpedia.com).