Nebraska Postgame Notes

Nebraska Post-Game Notes
Big 12 Championship, Nebraska vs. Oklahoma–Dec. 4, 2010

• Nebraska dropped to 2-4 all-time in Big 12 Championship Games, including 0-2 against Oklahoma and 0-2 in Cowboys Stadium. It was NU’s third straight loss in the Big 12 title game. Oklahoma increased its all-time edge in the series to 45-38-3, including 6-4 in the Big 12 era.
• Nebraska dropped to 10-3 with tonight’s loss, preventing NU from its first 11-win regular season since 2001. Nebraska dropped to 2-2 against ranked teams this season and 1-1 against top-10 teams. Bo Pelini’s record at Nebraska dropped to 30-11 and 1-2 vs. Oklahoma.
• Senior I-back Roy Helu Jr. had a 66-yard touchdown run in the first quarter of tonight’s game. It was Helu’s seventh TD run of at least 50 yards this season, with five of those covering at least 65 yards. Helu’s run was a one-play scoring drive, NU’s seventh one-play scoring drive of the season with five of those on Helu rushes. The 66-yard touchdown run was the longest in Big 12 Championship Game history, surpassing a 63-yard run by Darren Sproles in 2003.
• The 66-yard run also marked the third straight season Helu Jr. has had a run of 50+yards against the Sooners. In his career, Helu has 386 rushing yards on 47 carries against the Sooners, an average of 8.2 yards per carry.
• Helu Jr. finished the night with 91 yards on 11 carries for his fifth 100-yard rushing game of the season. Helu Jr. also pushed his season rushing total to 1,211 yards. His 1,211 yardage total ranks 12th in Nebraska history and is third among Nebraska seniors.
• Senior place-kicker Alex Henery connected on a 53-yard field goal in the first quarter of tonight’s game to give NU a 10-0 lead. Henery’s 53-yard field goal is the longest in Big 12 Championship Game history, breaking his own 52-yarder against Texas in last year’s game. Henery’s kick was also the longest ever by a Nebraska player away from Lincoln, surpassing his own 52-yarder at Oklahoma State earlier this season. Henery improved to 18-of-19 on field goals this season and 68-of-76 in his career.
• Henery continued his amazing postseason success. He improved to 14-of-14 in the postseason on field goal attempts. He has made three field goals of 50 yards or more in the postseason and nine of 40 yards or more.
• Henery also became Nebraska’s all-time leading scorer in tonight’s game. His eight points tonight give him 396 career points, surpassing the previous record of 388 by Kris Brown from 1995 to 1998. He connected on two PATs tonight, extending his perfect PAT season to 53-of-53.
• Junior linebacker Lavonte David had 17 tackles in tonight’s game, his eighth double-figure tackle game of the season. The 17 tackles tied the Big 12 Championship Game record set by Dat Nguyen in the 1998 title game. David pushed his season tackle total to 145 moving him into second place on the NU single-season chart. He is four tackles from Barrett Ruud’s single-season mark of 149 tackles in 2003.
• Nebraska sophomore tight end Kyler Reed caught a 5-yard touchdown pass in the second quarter for his seventh touchdown catch of the season. Reed’s seven touchdowns ties the NU season record for tight ends, tying four players, most recently Gerald Armstrong in 1992. Reed’s seven TD catches are tied for the seventh-most  in a season for all NU players.
• Senior receiver Mike McNeill caught a 36-yard pass on 4th and 1 in the second quarter. The reception pushed McNeill past 1,000 career receiving yards, making him the 19th Nebraska player to record 1,000 career receiving yards. McNeill now has 1,039 career receiving yards. McNeill finished the night with four catches for 63 yards, his best outing since a career-high five catches for 61 yards at Oklahoma State. It was just the second time this season McNeill has had more than two receptions.
• Sophomore I-back Rex Burkhead completed a 5-yard TD pass to Kyler Reed in the second quarter. Burkhead has thrown for touchdowns on all three of his career pass attempts--all in the past two weeks.
• Nebraska rushed for 145 yards in tonight’s game, marking just the third time NU has not rushed for 200 yards. The Huskers are 10-0 when rushing for 200 yards and 0-3 when not reaching the 200-yard mark.
• Junior defensive tackle Jared Crick registered an eight-yard sack in the third quarter and shared a 14-yard sack in the fourth quarter, giving him 9.0 sacks this season and 18.5 in his career. Crick has 16 tackles for loss this season, bettering his 2009 total of 15.
• Sophomore safety Courtney Osborne registered his first career interception in the second quarter of tonight’s game, setting up a short touchdown that gave Nebraska a 17-0 lead. Osborne became the eighth different defensive back with an interception in 2010.
• Nebraska led 20-17 at half of tonight’s game and lost a halftime lead for only the second time under Pelini . NU entered the night 23-1 under Pelini when leading at halftime and the Huskers are now 23-2 when leading at the half.
• Sooner quarterback Landry Jones accounted for 339 yards of total offense in tonight’s game, ending a streak of 29 straight games without allowing an opposing player to account for 300 yards of total offense. The previous player to record 300 yards of total offense was Kansas’ Todd Reesing who had 339 yards of total offense on Nov. 8, 2008.
• Nebraska held Oklahoma to just 1-of-16 on third-down conversions in the game. The Sooners did convert 2-of-4 on fourth down.
• Tonight’s game captains were seniors Pierre Allen, Prince Amukamara, Alex Henery and Roy Helu Jr.