Helu?s Faith Kept Him Grounded Through Injury and Challenges

Big games bring out the best in Roy Helu Jr.

In Nebraska's last five games against teams that were nationally ranked at the time the Huskers played them, Helu has rushed 92 times for 599 yards - an average of 6.5 yards per carry.

Nebraska's junior I-back rushed 20 times for 138 yards Saturday night against 20th ranked Oklahoma, marking his sixth career 100-yard rushing game and his third this season. The 138-yard effort against Oklahoma followed a 157-yard rushing performance at OU last year.

Helu cited his faith as the source of his strength, enabling him battle through injury and persevere through some tough mental roadblocks in recent weeks.

If the key to winning is to stop the run on defense and run the ball on offense, Helu provided the spark on offense. His 63-yard run in the second quarter was a career-long rush, bettering his 57-yard scamper at Oklahoma last season.

Helu cited the blocking of Tyler Legate as a big key to his performance. "I need to give that guy a shout out. He did awesome today," Helu said of Legate, a redshirt freshman fullback from Neligh, Nebraska. "

On Helu's 63-yard run, there were two linebackers in the hole. "He (Legate) happened to choose the right guy for me to take a long one," said Helu, who now has gained 599 yards against Texas Tech and Oklahoma last season and Virginia Tech, Missouri and OU this season.

Check out the personal thoughts Helu shared with Huskers.com in a recent Quick Hits interview.