Perhaps the most telling image of Nebraska's lackluster 17-3 win over South Dakota State occurred nearly 45 minutes after its conclusion.?
Most of the Husker fans who linger around for autographs and photos had dispersed to drink the night away or call some post-game radio show in anger, while whole chunks of SDSU faithful, maybe 200 clad in blue and yellow, mingled around southwest corner of Memorial Stadium, laughing, taking pictures, hugging players running post routes to the corner of the end zone.
Who won this game again?
'Don't overlook opponents,' said NU quarterback Cody Green. 'We always say that. But we did.'
Said head coach Bo Pelini: 'They out coached us, they outplayed us, and that's my fault,' head coach Bo Pelini said. 'And that's my fault. Tonight we were a bad football team.'
Standing at the podium, seemingly more in shock than he enraged, Pelini lightly touched his back.
'I take it squarely on my shoulders, I promise you,' he said. 'Because I did not have this football team ready to play tonight.'
And later: 'For us to walk out of our stadium after playing like that, I'm embarrassed.'
Chinks. You saw them on the armor of NU's football team Saturday night. More than Husker fans had seen throughout September. And isn't life funny? South Dakota State, a winless Division 1-AA/FCS school with nothing to lose and only money to gain, is the team to swing the ax and land the blows.
Controlling the clock - and the pace of the game with it - the Jackrabbits grinded away at the newly-minted Blackshirts and considerably slowed down NU offense's dynamic running game by blitzing against it and daring redshirt freshman Taylor Martinez to pass.
And while Martinez hit a few big ones - a 64-yarder to Mike McNeill and a 33-yard touchdown to Kyler Reed, both in the second quarter - he otherwise struggled to make the Jacks pay for their gambling strategy, completing just 6-of-14 passes.
'You guys saw it,' Martinez said, when asked to assess his performance.
Martinez threw two interceptions - both right to a Jackrabbit. SDSU linebacker Derek Domino returned one of them for a touchdown, but a clipping penalty after the pick wiped it out. On SDSU's ensuing drive, cornerback Alfonzo Dennard made an acrobatic interception at the 1-yard line. He later deflected a pass to safety P.J. Smith for a second interception.
'They played a hell of a game,' offensive tackle Jeremiah Sirles said. 'They outplayed us for sure. They came out hungry and their hair was on fire.']
And NU's wasn't. Pelini said he wasn't sure why; the Huskers enjoyed a good week of practice. But the Huskers were flat to start. Martinez fumbled on Nebraska's first offensive play. SDSU recovered and drove the ball to the 1, where it had two cracks at scoring with running back Kyle Minett. Neither worked. On fourth down, Minett operated out of the Wildcat, tried to skate to his right, and outrun NU linebacker Alonzo Whaley to the corner. Whaley stoned him and threw him back to the 2.
'I just wanted to be aggressive and play downhill,' Whaley said.
After trading possessions, Martinez had his best plays of the night. He scrambled 33 yards on second-and-long to end the first quarter. To start the second, he tossed a 64-yard pass to McNeill - who ran most of that distance - down to the 3-yard line. Burkhead scored on the next play.
On NU's next drive, Martinez connected with Reed, who streaked alone down the sideline after Martinez sidestepped a heavy blitz.
'I was going to take off and run, and then he popped wide open,' Martinez said.
After its shaky start, Nebraska appeared to steady itself. But it wasn't so. SDSU's offense rarely threatened - NU forced eight punts, intercepted two passes and turned the ball over on downs twice - but the Huskers slumbered along, waiting for plays to happen - then trying too hard to make them. The teams each scored a field goal in the second half.
'The sideline was dead,' said Green, who replaced Martinez in the fourth quarter after Domino's interception. 'That's not us.'
The Blackshirts had their share of moments against a conservative SDSU offense. LaVonte David had a career-high 19 tackles and two crucial pass break-ups. Rickey Thenarse had 10 tackles. Dennard had a timely, spectacular pick. The Jackrabbits converted just 5 of 17 third downs.
Pelini was unimpressed.
'We held them to 3 points,' he said. 'But we should hold them to 3 points.'
It left the head coach with a bad taste heading into the bye week, as NU gets ten days to prepare for a ESPN Thursday night game at Kansas State, no great shakes itself Saturday, narrowly beating Central Florida.
'We should be pretty fresh,' Pelini quipped. 'We kind of had a day off today, didn't we?'
He managed a small smile after that line. After all - it was technically a win.
