Blackshirts Earn Praise from Cosgrove

Lincoln - The effort of Nebraska's Blackshirts in a 56-17 season-opening win over Western Illinois on Saturday night at Memorial Stadium impressed NU Defensive Coordinator Kevin Cosgrove.

Although Nebraska surrendered 17 points to the Leathernecks, one of the touchdowns came on a 98-yard kickoff return and Western Illinois' lone field goal came after a fumbled punt gave the Leathernecks possession at the NU 12 with the Huskers leading 42-0 late in the second quarter.

The Blackshirts allowed just one sustained drive all night to Western Illinois, which scored on an eight-play, 66-yard drive to close the third quarter.  The Husker defense earned praise from Cosgrove for keeping the Leatherneck offense in check despite Nebraska's six turnovers on the night.

"I was really impressed with the way we reacted to sudden changes," Cosgrove said on Sunday.  "We knocked them back and did not give up points when they had all the field position."

Western Illinois started six drives inside Nebraska's 40-yard line on the night, but came away with only two scores on those drives.  The Blackshirts ended two of the drives by forcing turnovers of their own, including Jay Moore's fumble recovery on Western Illinois' first play after starting a drive at NU's 8, and Ira Cooper's interception and 51-yard return ended the Leathernecks' final drive of the first half after starting at the NU 28.

"We forced five turnovers, and that's good against any opponent," Cosgrove said. "I was pretty pleased overall. Once the game started flowing, we felt pretty good about the way our kids were playing and the way we were executing."

The Blackshirts held Western Illinois to negative-three yards rushing, marking the 19th time in school history that Nebraska limited an opponent to negative rushing yards.  The rushing statistic appears even more impressive when considering the Leathernecks returned their top running back from last season, Travis Glasford, who raced for 1,368 yards and 20 touchdowns a year ago.  The Huskers produced 14 tackles for loss (58 yards lost), including seven sacks for 43 yards.

Cosgrove was especially complimentary of Cooper, who earned Nebraska's nomination for Big 12 Defensive Player of the Week. Cooper, a senior from Omaha, earned his first regular-season start at WILL linebacker.  Cooper replaced the injured Chad Sievers in the starting lineup and notched a career-high 12 tackles, including one tackle for loss, and his first career interception.

"He was outstanding. He played an outstanding game," Cosgrove said.  "It wasn't perfect, but he made a lot of plays and was very physical.  He made a lot of big hits and he made a big-time play down on the goal line with that interception."

Cooper said he just enjoyed the moment of making his first start in front of the home crowd.

"This was my first start at home and it felt like I played a good game," Cooper said. "It's been hard not getting a lot of playing time in the past.  It felt great to get a lot of playing time yesterday." 

Despite Cooper's performance, Cosgrove said he expected Sievers to be back in the starting lineup at Memorial Stadium for Saturday's 11 a.m. kickoff against Southern Miss.

"Chad is the starter right now," Cosgrove said.  "You don't lose your position through an injury. You lose it through performance.  The thing that Coop did last night was make me feel a lot better about the depth I have at that position.  He has earned playing time. There's no question about that."