Kansas State Wrap-Up
The Huskers moved to 8 - 3 on the 2009 season with their 4th straight win. The Huskers have won the Big XII North and are set to play Texas in the Big XII Championship game. This was the 304th consecutive sell-out...an ongoing NCAA record.
Bo Pelini gets back into the win column with his record at 18-7 as the Husker head coach including 2-0 in bowl games.
This game felt pretty good. After losses to Texas Tech and Iowa State at home, I didn't know what to expect. The Huskers put it all aside and have run off four straight against Baylor, Oklahoma, Kansas & Kansas State.
Ndamakong Suh received the Lott defensive player of the week for the third time this year. He has also recently been named as a finalist for the Outland Trophy and Bednarik Award. Larry Asante was the Big XII Defensive player of the week joining Alex Henery for similar honors (special teams).
We were actually outgained in yardage, but the offense put the ball in the house twice where K-State only mustered a field goal. Both teams turned the ball over in the red zone and McCook native Josh Cherry missed 2 field goals that could have changed the complexion of the game. I think execution was the difference. When it came to passing, Lee was 13 out of 19 (68%) compared to Gregory's 11 out of 31 (35%). Gregory was over 61% coming into the game. We converted on third down 7 out of 16 times while the kitties were 3 of 14. This is huge in a game like this.
The other factor was special teams. Brandon Banks was contained for most of the game and Alex Henery flipped the field on two big kicks that went out at the 1 yard line. These included a 61 yarder & 54 yarder. Wow!!
The Blackshirts were outstanding at keeping the Wildcats out of the endzone. They are 3rd in the nation in scoring at 10.3 ppg behind Florida (9.8) & Alabama (9.9). They are 8th in the nation in yards per game (281.3).
Well, onto Colorado. We match up very well statistically with them. They rank higher than us in passing offense and kickoff returns. That is it. I don't see them killing us passing the ball. They are only running for 83 yards a game...it could be fun watching the Blackshirts hit them hard.
