Huskers rush past Nevada in opener
Junior I-back Marlon Lucky rushed for 233 yards and scored four touchdowns, and Nebraska overcame a slow start to ease past Nevada 52-10 before a sun-drenched crowd of 84,078 on hand for the 2007 season-opener Saturday afternoon at Memorial Stadium.
Lucky's three rushing touchdowns and one receiving score came on a day when some of the loudest cheers went to a pair of true freshmen — I-back Quentin Castille and place-kicker Adi Kunalic.
Advertisement
Castille, the 245-pound bruiser, carried 18 times for 78 yards and two touchdowns in his debut in a backup role to Lucky, who carried 30 times and caught three passes for 33 yards. Nebraska finished with 413 yards rushing in its 625 total yards.
Kunalic, sharing place-kicking duties with redshirt freshman Alex Henery, put several of his kickoffs through the end zone and hit a 46-yard field goal late in the third quarter that put NU up 38-10.
After Lucky's 16-yard touchdown reception from Sam Keller on NU's second possession opened the scoring late in the first quarter, Nevada scored 10 unanswered points to take a 10-7 lead on Jonathon Amaya's 80-yard return of a tipped Keller pass with 10:53 left in the half.
That seemed to get Nebraska's attention, and the Huskers responded with a pair of rushing touchdowns by Lucky and Castille, the first set up by Cortney Girxby's 42-yard kickoff return, to take a 21-10 halftime lead.
Lucky rushed for touchdowns on NU's first two possessions of the second half, and the route was on.
The opener was also a successful debut for Keller, a senior transfer from Arizona State, who completed 14-of-25 for 193 yards and one touchdowns before giving way to junior backup Joe Ganz early in the fourth quarter. Ganz was 1-for-1 passing for 19 yards.
The Husker passing game was without senior split end Maurice Purify and junior tight end Hunter Teafatiller, who were suspended for the opener.
Nebraska goes on the road to continue its nonconference schedule, facing Wake Forest next Saturday at 11 a.m. (CDT). That game will be televised by ESPN.