Final take: More than just a game

When you look at Nebraska's 43-10 victory over Fresno State, yes there is plenty talk about, but really the only thing that will be remembered about this game 20 years from now is the tribute to punter Sam Foltz.

The week started with Nebraska creating a special memorial in Foltz's honor in the Northwest corner of the stadium, and it ended with several other tributes to the fallen Husker punter on Saturday.

When Nebraska kickers Drew Brown and Spencer Lindsay took the field, they brought out Foltz's No. 27 jersey and set it on the Huskers bench. Brown then found Foltz's father Gerald and gave him the customary pregame hug his son had given him for his entire football career.

Following this, Foltz's entire family came on the field before kickoff to present Brown the honorary Sam Foltz scholarship.

"I don't even think I could put it into words. Sam was a guy I would do anything to model myself after," Brown said. "Being awarded something that's in his name means more than the world to me. He was my best friend. I'm never going to forget this night, I'm never going to forget that ceremony, never going to forget the crowd standing up and cheering for Sam. Just having that award- it's so many other guys deserving on the team and knowing that I was the one that was picked, it's pretty special to me."

Then Foltz's nephews Lane and Max Foltz led the Huskers out of the locker room and through the Tunnel Walk.

However, maybe the most special moment on Saturday came when the Huskers took the field with just 10 players for their first punt of the game. They were given a 5-yard penalty, in which Fresno State declined.

As Nebraska stood out on the field without a punter, Memorial Stadium and both the NU and FSU sidelines started to erupt. Head coach Mike Riley removed his hat. Quarterback Tommy Armstrong started to spill out tears. It was as emotional of a moment that I've ever seen in Memorial Stadium.

"Honestly, it didn't really hit me until I actually looked out there and saw the support from the fans, how much impact was on the fans and things like that," Armstrong said. "It was an incredible feeling to know how much he meant to not only the team but the community and all of the fans that were out there so that was emotional for myself because every game he always talked to me and said 'keep me off the field, the only time I want to be out there is scoring field goals' and things like that so that was emotional out there for me looking out there and not seeing him. It touched my heart a little bit looking out there."

Then the last tribute to Foltz was one that wasn't on the original script. Late in the first half as the rain and clouds began to clear in Lincoln, a small rainbow formed over the Northeast corner of Memorial Stadium.

This was Sam's way of telling Husker Nation on Saturday "Thank You." You couldn't have scripted a better ending.

***There was a complete shift in offensive philosophy for Nebraska from what they ran a year ago in the season opener. Almost all of Saturday's passing plays for Armstrong where roll outs, play actions or throws outside of the pocket. It's clear they are trying to build this offense more around the strengths of Armstrong. In last year's season opener Armstrong had 41 attempted passes compared to just 10 on Saturday.

***When Nebraska named former quarterback Zack Darlington their holder, you knew there was a chance they could find a few wrinkles in the bag for him. We already saw the possibilities on Saturday.

***Junior safety Keiron Williams was all over the field on Saturday night for the Huskers. It was easily his best game as a Husker. Do not be surprised if you see him in a Blackshirt on Tuesday.

***Since spring practice, I felt like Devine Ozigbo was Nebraska's best running back. He sure looked like it to me on Saturday.

***One of the game balls on Saturday would no doubt go to senior defensive end Ross Dzuris. The Plattsmouth native had a career night finishing with two quarterback sacks and three tackles for loss.

***I felt like Fresno really tried to make Saturday more of a game on the perimeter, because they knew they couldn't do anything on the Huskers between the tackles.

***You really have to credit the folks at Nebraska with the first class job they did with the Foltz tributes on Saturday. This was not an easy situation, and they really made it a memorable day from start to finish.

Nebraska rushed for 292 yards on 51 carries. It was a consistent effort of steady 4 to 6 yard runs - very similar to the Foster Farms Bowl. Maybe the only thing missing from the backs were long runs. NU didn't have a run longer than 17 yards on the day and there were just two runs longer than 15 yards. The lack of explosive runs were are the only thing that kept me from giving them an A.

The Huskers really didn't have to call on their passing offense much. Armstrong was 5-of-10 for 108 yards, but most importantly he found Alonzo Moore for a 57 yard touchdown on his one deep ball attempt of the day. Armstrong also connected on a couple of key third down throws that kept drives alive.

Fresno's longest runs (11 and 19 yards) of the day came from their quarterbacks on broken plays. The Huskers absolutely shutdown the Bulldog ground game, as they finished with just 31 total rushing yards.

Freshman corner Lamar Jackson struggled at times in coverage, but the Blackshirts still held up and made plays when it counted. NU finished the game with two key interceptions in the second half. Keiron Williams played arguably the best game of his career finishing with 10 total tackles.

The blocked punt on freshman Caleb Lightbourn was the play that really kept Fresno State in the game on Saturday. If not for this play, you could argue the Huskers would've been up by over 20 points at halftime, but this kept things much tighter going into the third quarter. This also put a ton of pressure on Lightbourn for the rest of the game.

Sean Callahan can be reached at sean@huskeronline.com and he can be heard each day at 6:45 am and 5:05 pm on Big Red Radio 1110 KFAB in Omaha during the football season. He can also be seen on KETV Channel 7 TV in Omaha during the fall and each week he appears on NET's Big Red Wrap Tuesday's at 7 pm.