The hole was just a little too deep.


After spotting Virginia Tech a 28-10 lead in the third quarter, Nebraska’s football team came to life, mounting a furious – but ultimately insufficient – comeback in a 35-30 loss in front of the largest crowd in Memorial Stadium history.



Special teams. Field position. The trenches. Silencing 85,831 fans, the Hokies won all three battles, and got, considering the circumstances, maybe the best performance of sophomore Tyrod Taylor’s career. Taylor, accounting for 258 yards a touchdown and zero turnovers, was practically the only weapon Tech had, and he delivered.



The Cornhuskers, meanwhile, dropped to 3-1, and were left facing several harsh truths:



*With two weeks to prepare for its first significant opponent of the season, Nebraska looked jittery and uncertain in the first quarter.



*NU, supposedly a power rushing team, was badly outgained on the ground, 206-55 abandoning the run to stick quarterback Joe Ganz in the shotgun, where he struggled until well into the third quarter.



*The Huskers could not get a stop of VT’s previously 112th-ranked offense when they needed a stop, especially on an 11-play, 80-yard touchdown drive late in the fourth quarter.



“We made too many mistakes,” head coach Bo Pelini said. “We got beat. We got beat on both sides of the football and on special teams. It wasn’t effort, it wasn’t attitude, we got out-executed.”



But, in the waning moments, the Huskers found their groove and nearly nabbed a win that seemed unthinkable minutes before.



Trailing 28-10 with 6:44 remaining in the third quarter - after a 19-yard touchdown run by VT running back Darren Evans - the Huskers mounted their best drive of the night, going 75 yards in 12 plays – including a fourth-down conversion - culminating in a 12-yard touchdown run by Roy Helu, Jr.



Early in the fourth quarter, senior receiver Nate Swift brought NU closer with a weaving, 88-yard punt return for a touchdown, the fourth-longest in school history. The Huskers didn’t get the two-point conversion, and trailed 28-23.



But Tech (4-1) answered with an 11-play, 80-yard touchdown drive, kept alive by a late hit penalty on NU defensive lineman Ndamukong Suh. Pelini drew an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty directly after for arguing the call.



“I have to be smarter than that,” Pelini said.



Pelini, and much of the crowd, protested the flag, When asked afterward if Suh hit Taylor late, he said: “What do you think? We all saw it.”



Taylor, the recipient, had his own take.



“I was lying down already,” he said. “Trust me.”



Taylor scored three plays later on a two-yard run.



Nebraska came right back, going 80 yards in four plays, Ganz hitting receiver Todd Peterson for a 17-yard touchdown with 1:32 left in the game.



The ensuing onside kick was recovered by Tech tight end Greg Boone.



NU did get the ball back one more time with 25 seconds on its own 10-yard line but Peterson fumbled after catching a pass at midfield, and the Hokies recovered.



At the very least, Pelini said, he was proud of his team for hanging in and having a shot in the fourth quarter when it looked like the Hokies were on their way to a rout.



Defensive coordinator Carl Pelini agreed.



“There was no quit in our guys,” he said. “They fought down to the last five seconds. We didn’t always played smart, didn’t always do the right thing, but they never quit. That’s huge.”



The Huskers certainly looked cold at the outset, as Tech blocked a punt for a safety and cornerback Macho Harris intercepted a Ganz pass that set up a quick touchdown. The Hokies led 9-0 midway through the first quarter, had all of 14 yards. Classic BeamerBall.



“We started slow and we have to start with fire,” senior running back Marlon Lucky said.



NU answered, as Ganz hit tight end Mike McNeill for 27 and 32 yards, the second of which went for a touchdown. On the TD play, Ganz faked Helu and waited five seconds for McNeill to beat his safety downfield.



Nebraska's defense, meanwhile, was burned a few times by Taylor's arm, not legs. Once, Taylor caught NU in a corner blitz and hit his receiver Jarrett Boykin for a 39-yard gain. Another time, he scrambled and located his tight end Boone for 40. Taylor hit Boykin again for a 24-yard gain late in the second quarter.



Still the Huskers' defense didn't break, forcing Tech to settle for three Dustin Keys field goals in the second quarter, even though the Hokies had first-and-goal inside the 10 each time. Keys hit a fourth kick early in the third to boost Tech’s lead to 21-10.



Until the late comeback, NU’s offense again sputtered with just 128 yards in the first half. The Huskers dipped their toes in the power running game on their first two plays, found it too cold, apparently, and rarely returned to it. Twice, on third-and-short, offensive coordinator Shawn Watson dialed up passing plays. Twice, they were incomplete.



“It can get frustrating,” Watson said. “You wait and you wait, and we’ve got to execute when we get our opportunities.”



Did the third down plays show a lack of confidence in the offensive line?



“That’s a bad question,” Watson said. “It’s not lack of confidence…they loaded the box in there. They got nine hats. You’re down one that. So you try to throw the football. It’s that simple.”



Offensive guard Matt Slauson wouldn’t fault the play calling, but did say he’d like to see more running plays.



“It takes a little time in every game to get in a rhythm,” he said. “And that’s so hard about not being given the opportunity to run, because you need the game to slow down for you, the backs need to get comfortable on the field. We just didn’t get enough plays to do that.”



Now, the Huskers face their first week of practice under Pelini as a defeated team. And the next opponent, Missouri, rolls into town with arguably the nation’s best offense.



“We need to watch out,” Lucky said. “We have a lot of anger right now. This whole week is going to be physical.”

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