Stretch right. Marlon Lucky took the handoff from Joe Ganz, and immediately faced a defender. Dodging him, he located a hole near the sideline. Lucky’s never met a bounced running play he didn’t like, and when he reached the gap, he found something he and other Nebraska running backs haven’t seen much of in 2008.


Offensive tackle Lydon Murtha. Driving his guy to China.


Lucky made a hard cut, found green space, and took off. Fifty-six yards later, he finished ripping off the best run of his career, and the play that Cornhusker football fans had been waiting 10 quarters to see.


Among the many highlights of NU’s 38-7 throttling of New Mexico State, it was this – the pad-pounding, road-grading performance Nebraska coaches had been promising since fall camp – that provided the freshest breath of air. A full mug of mean, downhill running, complemented with a play action passing game, mixed with one, perfectly timed trick play. In all, 330 yards on the ground and 553 yards overall.


Afterward, NU head coach Bo Pelini conceded that New Mexico State's strange 3-3-5 defense forced his coaching staff to "cut it down a hair" in terms of play selection, and the Huskers stuck to the plays they felt confident they'd block well.


"We saw a lot of crazy looks, a lot of guys at the line of scrimmage," Pelini said. "We stayed committed to (the run). It was a good effort...the whole staff felt that to give ourselves the best chance, not have as much volume, as many plays. Just do what we do. We know how to block those looks so we could be aggressive."


Yes, mission accomplished.


NU rushed for 172 yards in the first half en route to a 21-0 halftime lead and had 259 yards by the end of the third quarter, when it sent in wholesale substitutes. NU gashed the Aggies with on several inside and outside counters, and a few option plays, to boot. In fact, Ganz scored on a 33-yard option keeper around the left end, weaving his way through several defenders before diving the last three yards into the end zone.


That was NU’s third touchdown of the day. The first was a 7-yard run by Lucky, who gained 103 yards on 15 carries. The second was a trick play following Armando Murillo’s interception of NMSU quarterback Chase Holbrook. Lucky caught a low pitch from Ganz, handled it nicely, and threw a perfect 20-yard pass back to a wide open Ganz, who floated down the opposite sideline untouched.


After a shaky start on NMSU’s first drive, Nebraska’s defense settled and shut down the Aggies, which ran the ball far more than anyone would have expected, and used receiver Wes Neiman to run read option plays, which didn’t particularly work.


Using primarily a four-man rush, six defensive backs and spies in the middle of the field, the Huskers took away a number of Holbrook’s options, and left him looking for receivers. NMSU's best players, A.J. Harris and Chris Williams, the guys who were ten times better than Nebraska's pass-catchers, weren't much of a factor. Twice, Nebraska stuffed NMSU were inside the five-yard-line.


"Our guys, even when they had their backs against the wall, they kept fighting," Pelini said. "They played well in the red zone. They made some plays when they needed to. That's what you're gonna have to do. That's a pretty good offense, a pretty experienced offense.


"They spread you all over field and they're gonna get their yards, but what matters is points. I don't get caught up in yards. It's all about points."


Hal Mumme’s gang reached the NU 3-yard line on its first drive before stalling; Zach Potter blocked the ensuing field goal. Nebraska countered with a drive that stalled out at the NMSU 17, but Alex Henery badly shanked a 35-yard field goal, the first miss of his career.


NU had a chance to add a fourth touchdown at the end of the first half, but was stopped inside the five-yard line on downs.


Lucky’s 56-yard run started the third quarter. He was pushed out at the 20, and scored several plays later from the 2-yard line. Later in the quarter, Ganz faked to Lucky on a play action, rolled to his right, and located tight end Mike McNeill down the sideline. McNeill benefited from terrific downfield blocking and leapt into the end zone for a 35-yard touchdown.


Ganz finished the game completing 13-of-17 passes for 158 yards, rushing for 69 and catching one pass for 20. He scored touchdowns all three ways; only Johnny Rodgers and Eric Crouch had done so previously.


NMSU looked headed for a shut out when it recovered a fumble by backup quarterback Patrick Witt in the fourth quarter, returned it to NU 3-yard line, and scored on the next offensive play. NU added a 19-yard Henery field goal to pad the lead to 38-7.

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