Bo Pelini took off his headset, turned away from the field, and pitched it over the heads of his own players. It was 59 minutes and 39 seconds of tough, gritty football – down the drain.

Virginia Tech quarterback Tyrod Taylor had just thrown an 11-yard touchdown pass to Dyrell Roberts to give the Hokies the improbable lead on a most improbable drive. After gaining just 37 yards in the entire second half, Tech went 88 yards in five plays, fueled by an 81-yard pass from Taylor to receiver Danny Coale that is destined to haunt the dreams of Husker fans everywhere.

Another home win for the Hokies against a non-conference opponent. Another Husker loss to a ranked foe on the road. And this 16-15 setback might sting more than any other.

“We had plenty of opportunities to put the game away and we didn’t do it,” a despondent Pelini said.

He had no interest in talking about the 81-yard pass, as cornerback Anthony West simply allowed Coale to run free while safety Matt O’Hanlon’s eyes were stuck on Taylor, who hit a streaking Coale near midfield. O’Hanlon caught Coale at the 3-yard line with 1:11 remaining.

“You watched the game,” Pelini said.

O’Hanlon then sacked Taylor on a blitz back to the 11-yard line. After an incomplete pass on second down, Taylor rolled to his left on third down, sensed pressure, and drifted back toward his own sideline. In the end zone he spotted Roberts, who had shaken free of NU cornerback Prince Amukamara. Just before defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh slammed down on his shoulder, Taylor fired his best pass of the day. Roberts cradled it. Lane Stadium erupted.

“That situation is tough - I personally had a great shot,” said Suh, who otherwise played magnificently, batting down four passes – which tied a school record - and notching a sack. “But I didn’t get there in time. I fell off the back of him. I can only hope the next time I’m in that situation, I make the play.”

That Suh even had to make that play was a failure of Nebraska’s offense to capitalize on numerous scoring chances.

The Huskers consistently ran the ball against Tech’s stingy front. Junior Roy Helu had the best game of his career, rushing 28 times for a career-high 169 yards, many of them after contact. Overall, NU gained 207 ground yards and quarterback Zac Lee was never sacked.

But NU was never able to score a touchdown. Junior Alex Henery was forced to kick five field goals. A combination of untimely play calling, poor execution and penalties sunk NU’s scoring efforts.

The most glaring failure was in the third quarter, while NU held a 12-10 lead and had driven to Tech’s 6-yard line. Lee seemingly threw a touchdown pass to Mike McNeill, but Ricky Henry was flagged for holding. Then the Huskers accumulated three more penalties in the series, including another holding flag, to push itself out of field goal range. Menelik Holt also dropped a surefire touchdown in the corner of Tech’s end zone.

By the time the series had ended, NU had lost 30 yards.

“Obviously that was a key point,” Pelini said. “We thought if we had scored there, we’re in pretty good shape.”

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