Nebraska Postgame Notes vs. Idaho

Nebraska 38, Idaho 17
Saturday, Sept. 11, 2010
Memorial Stadium (Lincoln, Neb)

• Nebraska improved to 2-0 with today's victory, marking the sixth straight year Nebraska has started 2-0. The Huskers improved to 22-1 all-time against WAC opponents, including 21 straight victories. 
• Today's game captains were seniors Keith Williams, Mike McNeill, Adi Kunalic and Anthony West.
• Senior defensive end Tyrone Fahie joined fire and police personnel in leading the Nebraska team out of the Tunnel Walk. Fahie served two tours of duty in Iraq during his six years of active service in the U.S. Navy.
• Nebraska redshirt freshman quarterback Taylor Martinez rushed 14 times for 157 yards and two touchdowns. The 157 rushing yards tied for the fifth-most ever by a Nebraska freshman. It also tied for the 10th-most by a Nebraska quarterback. For the season, Martinez has rushed 21 times for 284 yards and five touchdowns, an average of 8.8 yards per carry. He opened his career with seven carries for 127 yards against Western Kentucky.
• Martinez's back-to-back 100-yard rushing games are the first for a Nebraska quarterback since Jammal Lord rushed for more than 100 yards against Missouri (111) and Texas A&M (109) in back-to-back games in 2003.
• Martinez had a 67-yard touchdown run in the second quarter, marking the longest run by a Nebraska quarterback since Eric Crouch had a 70-yard run at Colorado in 2001. It was also the longest run by any Husker since Cory Ross had an 86-yard touchdown run against Missouri in 2004.
• Senior I-back Roy Helu Jr. rushed for 107 yards on nine carries, including a 58-yard touchdown run in the second quarter. Helu's 58-yard run was his longest since his career-long 63-yarder last season against Oklahoma. Helu's 107 yards pushed his career total to 2,295 yards, moving him to No. 18 on NU's career rushing list. Helu Jr. passed Bobby Reynolds, Doug DuBose and Jeff Kinney on the career chart in today's game.
• Helu Jr. posted his eighth career 100-yard rushing game with today's effort.
• Sophomore I-back Rex Burkhead rushed for 77 yards on nine carries. Burkhead has 134 yards on just 14 carries through two games. Burkhead also caught three passes for 41 yards to give him five receptions for 88 yards on the season.
• Nebraska rushed for 360 yards in today's game, after opening the year with 289 rushing yards against Western Kentucky. It was NU's highest rushing total since amassing 413 yards in a 2007 season-opening win over Nevada.The back-to-back 250-plus yard rushing games marked the first time NU has topped 250 yards on the ground in consecutive games since opening 2006 with 252 rushing yards against Louisiana Tech and 261 against Nicholls State. NU is averaging 8.9 yards per carry through two games, with 649 rushing yards on 73 carries.
• With both Martinez and Helu Jr. topping 100 yards rushing today, it marked the first time since Oct. 7, 2006 at Iowa State that Nebraska had a pair of 100-yard rushers. Both Brandon Jackson and Cody Glenn topped 100 yards on the ground in that game. Today's game marked the 66th time in school history Nebraska has had two 100-yard rushers in the same game.
• Nebraska amassed 471 yards of total offense against Idaho, a week after rolling up 536 yards against Western Kentucky. Nebraska is averaging 503.5 yards of total offense through the first two games.
• Nebraska had four scoring plays of 40 yards or more in today's game, all coming in the second quarter. The last time Nebraska had four scoring plays of 40 yards or more came at Oklahoma on Nov. 2, 1996. Nebraska had scoring passes of 41 and 51 yards in that game, along with an 83-yard interception return and an 85-yard kickoff return.
• Senior place-kicker Alex Henery connected on a 24-yard field goal to open the scoring and also made all five of his PAT attempts. With his points today, Henery became the fifth Husker to score 300 career points. Henery's career total now stands at 304, trailing only Mike Rozier (312), Josh Brown (315), Eric Crouch (368) and Kris Brown (388).
• Henery's field goal was the 51st of his career, leaving him six shy of the Nebraska career record of 57 by Kris Brown.
• Nebraska intercepted two passes for a touchdown in the second quarter of today's game, tying the school record for interception returns in a game. Today's game marked the sixth time in school history NU had returned two interceptions for a touchdown in a game since a win over Wake Forest on Sept. 10, 2005. Today marked the first time in school history Nebraska had two interception returns for a touchdown in a quarter or a half. In the Wake Forest win in 2005, Nebraska did score a pair of defensive touchdowns in the first quarter, scoring on an interception return and a fumble return.
• Nebraska senior safety DeJon Gomes' 40-yard interception return for a touchdown was his first career INT return for a score. Gomes' 40-yard return tied his previous long of 40 yards at Missouri last season. Gomes has had a hand in nine turnovers in Nebraska's past 12 games, including a fumble caused in last week's opener.
• Nebraska senior safety Rickey Thenarse had a 47-yard interception return for a touchdown, his third career interception and his first career interception for a touchdown.
• Nebraska intercepted five passes in today's game, marking the fourth time in the past seven games Nebraska had at least three interceptions in a game. Nebraska also had five interceptions last season against Oklahoma.
• Senior receiver Niles Paul caught four passes for 31 yards, moving him into 10th place on the Nebraska career receptions list at 73. Paul also moved within 19 yards of the top 10 on the Nebraska career receiving yardage list.
• Nebraska has allowed 20 or fewer points in 10 straight games dating back to last season, the longest streak in the nation. Penn State, Miami and Minnesota were second in the nation in that category each at four games entering today's action.
• Nebraska recorded seven sacks for 80 yards lost in today's game, its most sacks since recording nine for 52 yards against Texas in the 2009 Big 12 Championship Game.