Nebraska Postgame Notes

Nebraska vs. Colorado
Nebraska Post-Game Notes
Nebraska 40, Colorado 31
Memorial Stadium, Lincoln, Neb. - Nov. 28, 2008

• Nebraska improved to 8-4 on the season, winning its third straight game and fifth in the past six contests. NU had not won three straight to end the season since 1999 and the five wins in its last six games is Nebraska’s best mark to end the regular season since 1998.
• Nebraska rallied from a 31-27 deficit entering the fourth quarter to win today’s game. The last time Nebraska won a game after trailing entering the fourth quarter was last season against Ball State. NU trailed 31-28 entering the fourth against BSU and won 41-40 at Memorial Stadium. Nebraska trailed 24-10 at Texas Tech this season entering the fourth quarter and forced overtime, before losing 37-31 in overtime.
• Nebraska fell behind 14-0 in the first five minutes of today’s game. The rally from a 14-point deficit tied for the third-largest comeback victory in school history, trailing only comebacks from 17 points down at Texas A&M in 2002 and at Kansas in 1991.
• Nebraska head coach Bo Pelini picked up his eighth win in today’s game. Pelini is the sixth coach in Nebraska history to reach eight or more wins in their first season on the Husker sideline, joining Fielding Yost (8 in 1898), King Cole (8 in 1907), Bob Devaney (9 in 1962), Tom Osborne (9 in 1973) and Frank Solich (9 in 1998).
• Nebraska sophomore place-kicker Alex Henery connected on four field goals in a single game for the second time this season. Henery hit a school-record 57-yarder in the fourth quarter to give NU the lead with 1:43 to play, breaking the previous school record of 55 yards set by three players. He also connected on a 35-yard field goal in the second quarter, a 27-yarder in the third quarter and a 37-yarder in the fourth quarter. Henery improved to 14-of-17 on field goals this season and 22-of-25 on FG attempts in his career.
• Henery’s 57-yarder was a Memorial Stadium record, surpassing the previous record of 55 yards by Chris Drennan in 1989 vs. Northern Illinois, which is also the last field goal of at least 50 yards by a Husker at home. It is the first field goal of 50 or more yards by a Husker since Josh Brown hit a 50-yarder against Northwestern in the 2000 Alamo Bowl.
• Nebraska senior quarterback Joe Ganz completed 19-of-26 passes for 229 yards and two touchdowns in today’s game. With his 229 passing yards today, Ganz increased his season passing total to 3,332 to set a Nebraska season passing record. The previous record was 3,197 yards by Zac Taylor in 2006.
• With his two touchdown passes in today’s game, Ganz pushed his season touchdown pass total to 23, three shy of Zac Taylor’s NU season record of 26 touchdown passes in 14 games in 2006. Ganz has 42 touchdown passes in his career, also three behind Taylor’s NU career passing touchdown record of 45 in 2005 and 2006.
• Ganz increased his career passing total to 4,889 yards, moving him up to third place on the Nebraska career passing list. In today’s game he moved past Jerry Tagge (4,704) and is now within 146 yards of Dave Humm (5,035) who sits in second place on the NU career list.
• Ganz increased his career total offense total to 5,229 and moved up one spot to sixth on the Nebraska career total offensive list. In today’s game he passed Dave Humm (5,027) and is now trails Jerry Tagge (5,283) by just 54 yards on the list.
• Sophomore I-back Roy Helu Jr. made his first career start in today’s game. Helu posted career highs in rushing attempts (25) and yards (166), both Nebraska team season highs. This afternoon marked Helu’s third 100-yard effort in the past four games. Helu also caught a team-best five passes for 49 yards.
• Nebraska senior receiver Nate Swift caught two passes for 10 yards and one touchdown in today’s game. With his 10 receiving yards, Swift needs 36 yards to break the Nebraska career receiving yardage record and 34 yards to set the NU season receiving yardage mark. He became just the second player in NU history to top 900 receiving yards in a season, as he now has 909 on the season and 2,444 in his career.
• Senior receiver Todd Peterson had four receptions for 44 yards in today’s game. He finished the regular season with 58 receptions, good for third on the NU single-season list, two behind teammate Nate Swift who has 60 this year. Peterson caught at least three passes in all 12 regular-season games.
• Sophomore tight end Mike McNeill had a 53-yard touchdown catch in the first quarter to tie the game at 14-14. McNeill finished the game with three catches for 70 yards and a touchdown. McNeill has six touchdown catches this season, one shy of the Nebraska tight end record of seven touchdowns, accomplished four different times. McNeill has 29 receptions this season, the most by a Nebraska tight end in 17 seasons and two catches shy of Johnny Mitchell’s position record 31 catches in 1991.
• Nebraska scored more than 30 points for the 10th time in 12 games this season and the 13th time in the past 15 games dating back to last season. Nebraska has topped the 30-point mark in each of the past four meetings with Colorado.
• Nebraska controlled the football for 39:36 in today’s game, marking the eighth straight game Nebraska has had an edge in time of possession. The Huskers held the ball for 21:42 in the first half alone. Nebraska has also held the time of possession advantage in 15 of the past 16 halves. Nebraska has had at least 16:30 in time of possession in 14 of the past 15. The Huskers entered the game ranked second nationally in time of possession.
• The Huskers’ used 7:06 on a second-quarter touchdown drive, marking NU’s third-longest drive of the season in terms of time. Nebraska also had a 7:46, 14-play drive that ended in a fumble. NU had scoring drives of 8:03 and 7:37 at Texas Tech earlier this season.
• Nebraska had a 77-48 advantage in total offensive snaps in today’s game, including a 46-17 edge in the first half. In eight Big 12 Conference games, Nebraska ran 147 more plays than the opposition.
• Colorado did not run an offensive play from the 9:08 mark in the second quarter until 9:43 of the third quarter. Nebraska ran 31 offensive plays in that span.
• Nebraska crossed midfield or started in CU territory on all 11 of its drives in today’s game. Nebraska crossed midfield on 17 consecutive drives over the past two games after crossing midfield the last six drives at K-State. In the past three games, Nebraska has reached at least the 50-yard line on 34 of 40 drives.
• The Nebraska defense registered 5.0 sacks for 34 yards, pushing its season total to 30.0 sacks, more than double the Huskers’ 2007 total of 13 sacks. The Huskers have produced 14 sacks for 125 yards in the past three games.
• Today’s game marked the 297th consecutive sellout at Memorial Stadium. The attendance of 85,319 was the fifth-largest crowd in Memorial Stadium history.
• The Husker offense gained more than 400 yards for the ninth time in 12 games this season, including each of the past seven games. Dating back to last season, NU has topped 400 yards of total offense in 14 of 17 games. Nebraska has passed for at least 200 yards in 17 straight games.