Mohamed Barry hurt last week. Simply put, that loss to Colorado (we'll gloss over the gory details) stung. Bad.
It ate at him, and for more reasons than you may think.
Barry, the Nebraska senior linebacker and captain, remembers 60 percent of the Folsom Field crowd dressed in red, and it made him sick, knowing how the always devout Husker fans felt.
"They spent all that money driving there, getting hotels just supporting us," Barry said, "and for us to let them down, that has just hurt all week."
You'd better believe that provided a source of motivation for Nebraska's final nonconference game of the season Saturday night.
"I was just ready for this game," Barry said after his team-high 10 tackles in the Huskers' dominant 44-8 victory over Northern Illinois at Memorial Stadium. "I wanted to put a 'W,' because I wanted to get past that (loss).
"I'm happy we performed real well this game and gave them a game that they could be proud of and say, 'That's my team, that's Nebraska, I'm a fan of Nebraska."
Not only did Nebraska (2-1) bounce back a week before beginning Big Ten Conference play, the Huskers, as Barry said, looked pretty decent doing so.
Say what you will about the opponent. (Remember, Northern Illinois won here two years ago.) Regardless the competition, coach Scott Frost and Co. have wanted to prove this team can play a complete, clean football game and finish after a solid beginning.
That all happened Saturday night, as Nebraska bolted to 16-0 lead, counted on big plays from the offense, a goal-line stand from the defense and a blocked punt on special teams, all while committing a mere one penalty.
"That's what we expect," Frost said. "We did a lot of things a lot better out there than we had the first couple of weeks, and really going back longer than that. It was great to see us get in control and stay there."
You undoubtedly have heard Frost's "Desire To Excel And No Fear Of Failure" mantra since he took over the program prior to last season. He's preached it to his players repeatedly, and many will tell you it's the top piece of advice they've gleaned from Frost.
Well, about that saying …
"If we want the players to be that way, we need to be that way as coaches," Frost said. "That means calling what we need to call, rolling the dice, letting them play, being aggressive. That's the way I want our team to think, and if we get the ball back with 40 seconds, we want them to think 'score.'
"For them to do that, we need to do that."
Frost was referring to the final minute of Saturday's first half, when quarterback Adrian Martinez masterfully led a five-play, 87-yard touchdown drive that began with 44 seconds remaining. Replay review confirmed that senior transfer receiver Noa Kanawai had a foot in bounds for his outstanding 27-yard touchdown reception with 5 seconds to play.
"Regardless of how much time is on the clock, or any point in the game, I am always confident in our guys and Coach Frost," Martinez said. "That is something we practice all the time, and we had three timeouts, so I felt great going out there. I thought we could score, and I think that was a big moment for us, getting a score there at the end of the half."
That gave Nebraska a commanding 30-5 lead, and unlike a week before in Boulder, the Huskers gave their opponent no hope to get back in the game.
"I think we came out today and the offense wanted to prove something, and then in the second half, we wanted to finish the game," said Martinez, who had 301 yards of total offense for his ninth career 300-yard total offense game.
"I think we did that, and that is what I mean by mindset. I think that is half the battle, and our guys approached it the right way today."
The defense did its part, too, in playing a complete game, a week after allowing three scoreless quarters before things went downhill.
Saturday's proof of progress came in the fourth quarter, when the Blackshirts twice turned away Northern Illinois from inside the 1-yard line, with sophomore walk-on safety Eli Sullivan batting away a fourth-down pass at the goal line. The Huskies had first-and-goal from the 8 and second-and-goal from 2.
"That drive right there, we just didn't want to give up a score," said senior defensive tackle Carlos Davis, who had six tackles to exceed 100 for his career. "They tried to run it twice, then the third time they threw it. They could have ran it on that third play, but they chose to throw it. That just shows the strength of our defense. It was a big play."
Nebraska has held each of its three opponents to fewer than 100 rushing yards – Northern Illinois produced 74 – and redshirted freshman cornerback Braxton Clark collected his first career interception and became the fourth difference Husker to intercept a pass this season.
"We definitely took a step tonight," said senior cornerback Lamar Jackson, who had a career-high four pass breakups. "We can't go backwards; the whole group and the whole team, everyone's got to keep improving.
"At the end of the day, we got a victory, but it's a whole lot of stuff once we break down the film. So we just always have to remain humble and keep working toward success and get better each week."
Reach Brian at brosenthal@huskers.com or follow him on Twitter @GBRosenthal.
