Nebraska beats the Cal Bears 42-14 in Berkeley, the second time they have beaten Coach Sands this season. The Huskers played a nearly perfect game, forcing 5 turnovers without turning it over themselves and converting 6 of 11 3rd downs and all 4 red zone trips into touchdowns.
The Huskers utilized a slightly revamped offense, beginning with a depth chart changes at quarterback and tailback. Junior QB James Walker finally supplanted Freshman Seth Mack at QB after inconsistencies throughout the season. At Tailback, 5’8” Junior Terrance Perry was moved to a Co-#1 position with Herb Poland, replacing the ineffective Mark Medlock who shared the duties for the first half of the season. Perry saw snaps late in the UNLV game and Head Coach Tom Osborne elected to put him and Herb Poland on the field together throughout the game with fantastic results.
Nebraska put up 399 yards in the game, running 42 times for 302 yards and 5 TD while throwing 8 of 12 for 97 yards and a TD. Walker threw 8 of 11 for 97 yards and a TD in the game while Poland was 0 of 1 on a trick play attempt. Poland led the way rushing for the Huskers, running 9 times for 167 yards and 3 TD including a 74 yard run on the 2nd play of the game. Terrance Perry ran 13 times for 77 yards and a TD while QB James Walker ran 11 times for 42 yards. WR Will Holt added a 5 yard TD run on a toss play. 5 Nebraska receivers shared the 8 completions with Erik Harris scoring on a 21 yard bubble screen for the only passing TD of the game.
Defense was the story once again for the Huskers, who held Cal to 362 yards and just 14 points with 110 of those 362 yards coming on two plays. Cal ran 22 times for just 66 yards and threw 13 of 24 for 296 yards and 2 TD. The Bears converted just 3 of 7 3rd downs and failed to convert their only 4th down opportunity in the game. The Husker defense forced 5 interceptions in the game, 3 by LB Graham Carter and 2 by CB Greg Carrington. The Blackshirts continued to flummox Coach Sands as they compiled 8 TFL, 5 INT and 4 Deflections in the game.
Special teams was also a huge factor in the game, as Nebraska punter/kicker Cameron Davis punted 4 times for 195 yards, pinning 3 kicks inside the 5 and giving Cal a short field for much of the game.
The Huskers look to break up a 4 way tie in the B1G Top Division as they go back on the road to face the #5 Volunteers in Knoxville next weekend.
