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Two of the top teams in the Big 12 Conference meet in College Station on Saturday night, as the ninth-ranked Nebraska Cornhuskers come calling on the 18th-ranked Texas A&M Aggies.
Tonight in College Station, three is the magic number.
Texas A&M's Ryan Bullock just nailed his third field goal of the night, giving the Aggies a three-point 9-6 lead. It's the third scoring possession for both teams in the second half, the third red zone drive that has ended with a field goal try for the Aggies, and marks the third drive of 60+ yards for Texas A&M.
In case you were worried that this particular game was getting interesting for anyone but partisans, Big 12 fans, or defense diehards: it's not. But it is close, and might yet go to overtime if Nebraska can get anything going on its last drive. Alex Henery, remember, is one of the nation's finest field goal kickers, having made 65 in his career.
All Nebraska needs is a spark and some yardage. It remains to be seen whether a hobbled Nebraska offense, beset by penalty woes all night, can provide.
Oh, and now Nebraska wants to score, too?
Thanks to a couple of big plays — a 33-yard sprint up the middle by Rex Burkhead and a nifty 24-yard catch and run by Niles Paul — the Cornhuskers got the ball moving down the field, and managed to get an Alex Henery field goal to tie this game up at 6-6 with under nine minutes left in the fourth quarter.
Some things don't change, though: Bo Pelini is haranguing the officials once again, this time after a flag for potential pass interference on a third down was picked up, forcing the Huskers to kick a field goal for a tie rather than try to run it in with a goal-to-go set of downs.
It hasn't helped Pelini yet tonight, but the fiery coach may just be trying to make deposits in some sort of passion bank, hoping for a withdrawal later. Me, I'd be worried about trying to get my anemic offense untracked. But I don't get paid to coach.
It's not quite the end of a long national nightmare, but it's nice to see that one of the two teams in College Station tonight hasn't completely forgotten how to score.
After a 14-play, 84-yard drive keyed by some tough running from the Aggies' Cyrus Gray, Texas A&M's Ryan Bullock booted a 27-yard field goal to give the home team a 6-3 advantage at Kyle Field.
Gray getting untracked is a very good thing for the Aggies. He had seven carries for 40 yards on that field goal drive, and has 18 carries for 92 yards on the night. Nebraska may have topped that total in penalty yards — the Huskers have 14 penalties for 115 yards — but having "Gray left, Gray right" still counts as a consistent and effective offensive plan, and that sort of thing is at a premium in this game.
Meanwhile, Arkansas outscored both of these teams tonight. In overtime.
The good news for Nebraska: Taylor Martinez is back in the game.
The freshman sensation, after leaving and returning to the field in the first half, has now returned to action in the second.
The bad news: it's helping, but only sort of. Martinez helped the Huskers convert a fourth down with a slippery run, and Roy Helu Jr. broke free for a 31-yard gain moments after that play.
But as the drive neared field goal range, Martinez lofted a pass too deep for a receiver, and Trent Hunter snagged it.
The bad news for viewers, of course, is that this is a game that is rewarding bruising play rather than creativity and boldness. It's the sort of game that leads Brent Musburger to dramatically recite the names of offensive linemen.
If that's your sort of game, I hope you're enjoying it. If not, well, you're probably not reading this now, are you?
Finally, Texas A&M's offense has seen fit to arrive at Texas A&M's game tonight.
After a miserable first quarter that included just 17 yards, the Aggies turned it on in the second quarter, running the ball left, right, and down Nebraska's throat. A nine-play, 62-yard drive keyed by Cyrus Gray's hard running got Texas A&M deep into Nebraska territory, and the 29-yard field goal by Ryan Bullock tied the game at 3-3.
Now, it'll be time for Nebraska's offense, stymied since the exit of Taylor Martinez, to see if it can get anything going. In 11 plays since Martinez got hurt, the Huskers have produced only 33 yards.
As for the man himself, Martinez has returned to the sideline after x-rays taken in the locker room were negative. He's got his shoe back on, too, which might be an indication of a later return.
Much like his fellow underclassman stud, Denard Robinson, Nebraska's Taylor Martinez has been brilliant this year — when healthy. And now Martinez isn't healthy again.
Martinez, long recovering from a right ankle sprain, had his right ankle stepped on by one of his offensive lineman while stepping up in the pocket, and hobbled to the sideline after the play. He hasn't re-entered the game, and was seen on the sideline with a bare right foot, waiting to head to the tunnel for further examination. He is unlikely to return.
Since then, Nebraska has gone from stepping on its quarterback's ankle to shooting itself in the foot. After Ben Cotton recovered a fumble on a mishandled snap by Martinez' replacement, Cody Green, he was flagged for both unnecessary roughness and unsportsmanlike conduct, putting the Huskers in a third and 44 hole.
Stunningly, Nebraska didn't convert. And after the Aggies couldn't do anything on the next series, the first quarter ended with the Huskers up 3-0.
With the 12th Man roaring at Kyle Field, Nebraska turned a promising drive into a disappointing beginning — then made up for it with Alex Henery's leg.
Henery made two field goals — the first one, a 43-yarder, didn't count, thanks to a false start penalty — to give the Huskers a 3-0 lead in College Station. And Henery, who would have been good from 55 or 60 on his 48-yarder, might have had only a 28-yarder if not for a personal foul that pushed Nebraska out of the realm of reason for fourth-down offensive plays.
Taylor Martinez was effective both running and throwing on Nebraska's first drive, but was bleeding profusely from the arm before the third down attempt at drive's end. He has been wiped off, then bandaged, on the sideline, and looks like he won't miss a snap.
SB Nation's Nebraska community, Corn Nation, examines the mysterious resurgence of their Week 12 opponent, Texas A&M:
Texas A&M is a bit of an enigma to me. Many pundits are expecting big things from the Aggies this sesaon, based on their late sesaon performances. I've even seen several predictions that A&M will defeat Nebraska in this game. But this is still a team that finished sub-.500 last season and got blown out by Kansas State. For all of the offensive success in 2009, the defense was simply awful. Last in the Big XII in yards and points allowed. So enter new defensive coordinator Tim DeRuyter, who's switching the defense to a 3-4 alignment to take advantage of the athleticism on the team.
Will that be enough to turn the Aggies into contenders in the Big XII South? With Texas needing a new quarterback plus Oklahoma State and Texas Tech shaking up their coaching staffs, there might be an opening here for the the Aggies to make a push.
(Sports Network) Two of the top teams in the Big 12 Conference meet in College Station on Saturday night, as the ninth-ranked Nebraska Cornhuskers come calling on the 18th-ranked Texas A&M Aggies.
Nebraska currently sits atop the Big 12 North Division, and can earn its second straight trip to the conference championship game with a win over the Aggies, who are currently tied with Oklahoma for second place in the Big 12 South. A&M holds the tie-breaker with the Sooners after beating them, 33-19, at home two weeks ago.
The Cornhuskers, who are coached by Bo Pelini and who have won four straight games since suffering their lone defeat of the season (20-13 vs. Texas), will host Colorado next Friday in the regular-season finale, while the Aggies, who are led by Mike Sherman and have also won four in a row since suffering a two- game losing streak (38-35 at Oklahoma State, 24-17 vs. Arkansas), will visit bitter rival Texas on Thanksgiving night.
The all-time series between these two teams favors Nebraska, 10-3, which includes a 5-2 advantage since the formation of the Big 12.
It wasn't pretty, but the Cornhuskers remained relevant in the BCS National Championship picture with last Saturday's 20-3 win over Kansas. Freshman QB Taylor Martinez returned to action and completed 14-of-26 passes for 167 yards while also adding 71 rushing yards on 11 carries. RB Roy Helu, Jr. rumbled his way to 85 yards and a TD, as Nebraska churned out 230 yards on the ground. WR Niles Paul led all receivers in the game with seven grabs for 79 yards, while Brandon Kinnie finished with six catches for 67 yards.
Coach Pelini was obviously happy to get the win, but expressed his dismay at his offense's performance, "Not good enough. There are a lot of things we need to pick up, we weren't very efficient," He continued, "We didn't execute very well, we were sloppy. We didn't play our best, but we won 20-3, and it's time to move on to the next one."
Martinez has enjoyed a stellar rookie campaign, throwing for 1,328 yards, nine TDs and only four INTs, while ranking sixth in the conference in rushing with 957 yards and 12 TDs. Helu, Jr, is the league's fourth-leading rusher with 991 and 10 scores. Overall, the Huskers sit second in the Big 12 in scoring offense (35.4 ppg), while leading the league and ranking seventh nationally on the ground (282.3 ypg).
With the offense spinning its wheels a bit last week, the Nebraska defense turned in an exceptional effort in holding Kansas to a mere 87 total yards. It marked the fewest yards allowed by NU since holding Baylor to 84 yards more than a decade ago. The Jayhawks managed just five first downs in the contest, and a net of only 15 passing yards. Lavonte David was the only Husker to log double-digit tackles in the win with 10, two of which were sacks. As a team, Nebraska had a total of six sacks on the day.
Pelini praised the play of his defense against the Jayhawks, "The defense played well. I thought we, front to back, we executed well, we tackled well. I thought it was a really solid performance. You don't hold somebody to under 100 yards without playing good football."
The Cornhuskers now boast the nation's sixth-ranked defense (292.9 ypg), and they lead the country in pass efficiency defense (91.55) while ranking second in pass defense (140.2 ypg). David has been a man possessed for the 'Blackshirts' this season, logging an impressive 106 total tackles, of which 10 have been for negative yardage, including five sacks. His closest teammate is DeJon Gomes with 78 stops. Jared Crick has 6.5 of the team's 26 sacks, and the Cornhuskers have come up with 16 INTs, but only three fumble recoveries.
The Aggies claimed a 42-30 triumph at Baylor last Saturday to improve to 7-3 on the year, which is an improvement over the six wins the team notched last season. RB Cyrus Gray ran for 137 yards and a career-high four TDs against the Bears, three of which came in the second half. Gray, who averages 67.3 ypg and has scored 10 TDs this season, has rushed for 100 yards in four straight games, all of which have been victories. QB Ryan Tannehill improved to 3-0 since taking over as the starter, as he threw for 280 yards and a score against Baylor. Uzoma Nwachukwu caught eight passes for 73 yards to give home 30 catches on the year for 354 yards and two scores.
Jeff Fuller and Ryan Swope currently pace the A&M receiving corps with a combined 122 receptions, 1,634 yards and 15 TDs -- 11 of which belong to Fuller, who is one of the 10 semifinalists for the 2010 Biletnikoff Award and who owns the school record for consecutive games with a catch (30).
The Aggies currently rank fourth in the Big 12 in scoring offense (34.9 ppg), while sitting third in passing offense (308.1 ypg). A&M is the league's top team in terms of third-down conversions, moving the chains 45.7 percent of the time.
Texas A&M's defense ran into a buzz saw early in last week's game, as Baylor RB Jay Finley rushed for 168 yards and three TDs. However, he had only 23 yards in the second half, demonstrating the ability of the Big 12's top run defense (A&M at 112.2 ypg) to make adjustments. Of course, the question this week is whether or not the Aggies can force the action at the line of scrimmage against Nebraska's vaunted rushing attack.
Baylor finished with 503 yards of total offense last week, and averaged 5.6 ypc in picking up 291 yards on the ground. The Aggies failed to come up with a turnover in the game, but did post four sacks. Garrick Williams was A&M's most active defender, logging 11 tackles, nine of which were unassisted, while Trent Hunter, Steven Terrell and Von Miller finished with nine stops each.
Michael Hodges and Williams rank one-two on the Aggies' tackles list for the season with 84 and 81, respectively, with the former being credited with 4.5 of the team's 23 sacks.
Coach Sherman liked the resiliency his team demonstrated last week, "We went in at halftime during the Baylor game and just told them what they needed to do in the second half, people thought we went in there screaming but we just talked about keeping composure, not panic, stay the course and we will win this football game."
He also spoke recently about the challenge his team faces this week, particularly against the Nebraska defense, "They lock you up on the perimeter and they work hard to take those receivers out of the game. They play man coverage as good as I have ever seen and they have an excellent secondary. I think they have only given up 149.5 yards passing per game, which in this league is pretty impressive and they have a scoring defense as well so it will be a challenge for us."
Nebraska is the better all-around team in this matchup, but not by much. Expect to see the Huskers go right after the Aggie defensive front in an attempt to establish the run. It may come down to Martinez and his ability to make plays, something the cool freshman has done many times this season.
Nebraska Vs. Texas A&M: Huskers Succumb To Inefficacy, Penalties
Nebraska entered tonight's game against Texas A&M riding high and hoping for a BCS bowl berth. The Huskers leave College Station as 9-6 losers, and with a surfeit of frustration.
Bo Pelini was hot under the collar all night thanks to a sizable penalty discrepancy. His Huskers were flagged 16 times for 140 yards, while Texas A&M got nailed just twice for 10 yards; the one moment it seemed like a penalty could swing the game to Nebraska, officials picked up a flag that would have given Nebraska a goal-to-go series. Pelini has legitimate gripes, but he picked up one of the penalties, and many others were stupid personal fouls. Nebraska's offense did almost as much self-sabotaging.
Taylor Martinez was mediocre early, got injured when an offensive lineman stepped on his ankle, and was replaced for a spell by the mediocre Cody Green; then, after Martinez returned, he went back to being mediocre. Nebraska's running game was inconsistent, and its passing game nearly nonexistent.
And with that machine throttled down, Texas A&M didn't need have to do much to beat the Huskers. Ryan Tannehill was efficient all night, and Cyrus Gray ran harder and harder as the night wore on. Together, the Aggies got three field goals.
It was all they needed.
Nov 20 11:29p by Andy Hutchins - 1 comment