It was the final moments of Nebraska’s 45-35 win over Kansas and head coach Bo Pelini, as usual, was pacing the sidelines. Except his path kept getting interrupted by his sideline coaches, who greeted him with hugs. Not the kind of jubilant, emotional displays Pelini has been a part of in his LSU years. They were small and sincere. Ones of genuine happiness – and maybe a little relief.




It might not go down as a signature win for Pelini. It certainly wasn’t a masterpiece. And with a plethora of penalties, turnovers and mental busts, NU tried about as hard as it could
to give it away.




Those qualifiers aside, Nebraska iced a 14-14 halftime dead heat against Kansas with one big second-half play after another, notching its biggest win of the year, gaining bowl eligibility and generating the kind of hope that runs all the way through the offseason.




"I told them I was proud of them, proud of the way they hung together,” Pelini said. “After getting hit in the mouth last week they just came back and played hard. We didn't always play smart today. We gave them some things. But ultimately they just kept going and it shows. I kept saying all along there's a lot of character in that locker room, and I think it showed. It showed today and it showed time after time this year.”




Yes, it’ll more than do, as the Cornhuskers compiled 495 total yards, scored 21 fourth-quarter points and sacked Kansas quarterback Todd Reesing five times. Nebraska (6-4 overall, 3-3 in the Big 12 Conference) had three turnovers, a number of costly offense penalties and failed to recover an onside kick, but it made the crucial plays in the fourth to finish off the Jayhawks (6-4, 3-3).




NU trailed 21-17 late in the third quarter before scoring touchdowns on four consecutive drives. Sophomore running back Roy Helu, Jr. played a big role on all of them. First, he caught a 14-yard pass from NU quarterback Joe Ganz to start the ensuing drive, scoring from 10 yards out to give Nebraska a 24-21 lead.




After KU punted on its next drive, Helu busted the backbreaker, a 52-yard touchdown run on a zone read play in which he squeezed through a tackle at the line of scrimmage, cut to the sideline and outran the defense. Nebraska led 31-21.




“It's so easy for an offense when you get big break-out runs,” Ganz said. “It's harder on a defense, it kind of demoralizes them a little bit, especially that break-out touchdown. That was huge, for me, for the whole offense, not having to do anything but the one play and go out there and put seven points on the board. It was a big swing of momentum too.”




For the game, Helu finished with 115 rushing yards and 176 total yards for the game as he spelled senior Marlon Lucky, who got hurt in the game’s first few plays.




“He got hot,” Pelini said. “He made some plays.”




Kansas answered with a touchdown to cut the lead to 31-28. Then Helu made another big play, busting a 23-yard run over the middle. Ganz, who completed 28-of-37 passes for 324 yards and two touchdowns - converted a key third down with a 22-yard pass to Nate Swift, then finished off the drive with a two-yard pass to defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh, who was in the game playing fullback.




“I looked back to Joey and we made eye contact and he just lobbed it to me,” Suh said. “He took a little heat off the ball.”




It was the cherry on the top of Suh’s day, arguably one of the best games for a defensive tackle in recent NU history. Suh finished with 12 tackles, 2.5 sacks, four tackles for loss and a quarterback hurry. In all, the Huskers’ starting front four combined for 28 tackles, five sacks, and an interception.




“Since the beginning of the year that's been the strength of our defense,” Pelini said. “They got after (Reesing) and they made him uncomfortable start to finish and that allowed us to play some coverage in the back. We didn't have to blitz all the time.”




Said KU Coach Mark Mangino: “Their defensive line is probably the strongest part of their football team. They're very good, anyone that's played them knows that. We needed to be able to get some runs on the inside, take some pressure off the quarterback in the pocket, and we were not able to do that."




Defensive end Zach Potter intercepted Reesing on the following drive, NU kicker Alex Henery executed a fake field goal and Ganz hit Swift for a 20-yard touchdown for a 45-28 lead.




KU’s Reesing, who only completed 15 passes, but still amassed 304 yards, never quit, leading the Jayhawks down the field for another touchdown, which he scored with a 14-yard scramble. Then Kansas recovered the onside kick. Nebraska got a key sack of Reesing, however, and was able to force a turnover of downs.




So ended NU’s wildest, most entertaining game of year.




Nebraska led 17-14 midway through the third quarter when Swift fumbled a punt inside Nebraska’s 20-yard line. After Swift’s fumble, Kansas scored four plays later with Reesing’s 10-yard touchdown pass to Marcus Fields. KU led 21-17.




The Huskers answered with an eight-play, 78-yard drive directly following that ended in Helu’s 10-yard touchdown.




Nebraska outplayed Kansas in the first half, running 11 more plays and gaining 58 more yards. But the Huskers shot themselves in the foot with penalties, two turnovers, and two defensive busts.




NU’s offensive line was flagged for two false start penalties and a holding call that called back a 30-yard shovel pass from Ganz to Helu. Running back Marlon Lucky fumbled the ball inside KU 25-yard line, and Ganz threw an interception in that same end near the end of the half. In all, Nebraska visited Kansas territory five times, and scored only twice.




Kansas, meanwhile, struggled to move the ball consistently against Nebraska’s defense, but got three big plays en route to 14 points.




Trailing NU 7-0, Reesing hit Dezmon Briscoe on consecutive pass plays, the second of which was a 40-yarder on a quick slant pattern that set up the Jayhawks at the NU 28-yard line. On the next play, Reesing rolled to his right, absorbed a big hit from defensive back Eric Hagg, regained his balance, and threw to a wide open Kerry Meier behind the Nebraska defense for a touchdown. NU and KU were tied at 7.




“I was taken back by his size,” Pelini said. “He's not the biggest guy in the world, but he has a huge heart.”




Reesing’s next big pass was a 53-yarder to Briscoe, whom Reesing found wide open inside Nebraska’s Cover 2 defense. Briscoe caught the ball, hesitated briefly while a safety flew by and sprinted to the end zone to give Kansas a 14-7 lead.




Nebraska answered with its second touchdown drive of the game, an eight-play, 67-yard drive in which NU only gained yards on three plays, all of them Ganz passes. The last of them was a 25-yard touchdown pass inside KU’s zone defense to junior Chris Brooks, who caught the first touchdown of his career.




The Huskers opened scoring with arguably its most diverse drive of the season, using all three running backs on the eight-play, 80-yard march that ended with running back Marlon Lucky throwing a four-yard touchdown to tight end Mike McNeill.

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