Nebraska 35
San Jose St. 12

Sept. 6, 2008 • 11:40 a.m. Central
Memorial Stadium •Lincoln, NE • FSN PPV
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San Jose St.630312
Nebraska14002135

2008 Nebraska-San Jose State football, Niles Paul kickoff returnNiles Paul races toward the end zone on his game-changing kickoff return in the fourth quarter · Lincoln Journal Star · Newspapers.com

1st quarter
SJS: K. Reed 12 run (L. Schuman kick failed) 9:48
NEB: Q. Castille 3 run (A. Henery kick) 5:16
NEB: N. Suh 49 interception return (Henery kick) 3:09
2nd quarter
SJS: Will Johnson 41 FG, 7:09
4th quarter
SJS: J. Strubeck 27 FG, 12:17
NEB: N. Paul 85 kickoff return (Henery kick) 12:07
NEB: R. Helu Jr. 14 run (Henery kick) 9:05
NEB: M. Lucky 2 run (Henery kick), 3:03

                             SJS      NEB
First Downs.................. 19       19
Rushes-Yards............. 34-137    30-99
Net Yards Passing........... 216      216
  Comp-Att-Int.......... 19-33-2  18-27-1
Total Offense Yards...... 67-353   57-315
Fumbles-Lost................ 0-0      1-1
Penalties-Yards............ 7-47   12-103
Punts-Average............ 6-34.3   5-39.0
Punt returns-Yards-TD.... 4-26-0   3-23-0
Kickoff ret.-Yards-TD.... 2-69-0  4-132-1
Int-Yards-TD.............. 1-0-0   2-60-1
Possession Time........... 30:23    29:37
Third-Down Conv. ....... 5 of 14  4 of 11
Fourth-Down Conv. ....... 0 of 0   0 of 0
Red-Zone Scores-Chances..... 3-5      3-3
Sacks By-Yards............. 3-17     2-14

RUSHING
SJS: Y.Davis 7-58, K.Reed 15-32, Richmond 3-22, Rutley 4-19, Liaina 1-3, Jurovich 2-2, Eden 2-1. 

NEB: Helu 9-59, Lucky 7-23, Mendoza 2-12, Castille 6-7, Ganz 6-(minus 2). 

PASSING
SJS: K.Reed 18-26-1-161, Eden 1-7-1-55. 

NEB: Ganz 17-25-1-216, Witt 1-2-0-0.

RECEIVING
SJS: Richmond 5-59, Jurovich 4-84, Clark 4-22, Beauchman 2-21, Williams 2-16, Y.Davis 1-9, Elledge 1-5.

NEB: Swift 6-70, Peterson 4-59, Helu 2-32, Paul 2-27, Me.Holt 2-24, Lawson 1-4, Mendoza 1-0.
 
Attendance: 84,146
2008 Nebraska-San Jose State football, Ndamukong Suh touchdownNdamukong Suh scores on an interception return to give Nebraska a 14-6 lead in the first quarter · Lincoln Journal Star · Newspapers.com

2008 Nebraska-San Jose State football photoSan Jose State quarterback Kyle Reed gets a pass off before Eric Hagg can reach him in the second quarter. · Lincoln Journal Star · Newspapers.com

Coverage

Stats & recap
COMPLETE STATS
RESPONSIVE IMAGE HERE

PHOTO CAPTION HERE | Courtesy of Nebraska Athletics

Niles Paul’s kickoff return helps subdue Spartans

Nebraska’s offense did not put up big numbers, but defense and special teams made huge plays to propel the Cornhuskers to a 35-12 victory over San Jose State.

Playing in front of the NCAA record 291st consecutive sellout at Memorial Stadium and a Fox Sports pay-per-view television audience, the Huskers improved to 2-0 on the season despite mustering just 315 yards against a stingy Spartan defense. SJSU slipped to 1-1 on the year.

San Jose State’s inspired defensive play kept their offense within striking distance into the fourth quarter, when Jared Strubeck kicked a 27-yard field goal with 12:17 left to pull within 14-12 of the Huskers.

But sophomore Niles Paul electrified the 84,145 fans that packed Memorial Stadium just seconds later, exploding down the Husker sideline for an 85-yard kickoff return for a touchdown to put Nebraska on top 21-12.

The spectacular special teams sprint inspired an already focused Blackshirt defense on the next SJSU possession. On the Spartans’ first play, Zach Potter and Philip Dillard met each other on top of SJSU quarterback Kyle Reed for a sack. Reed left the game with a concussion, and reserve quarterback Myles Edens misfired on two pass attempts to force a punt. Philip Zavala then uncorked a short 27-yard punt to give NU possession at the SJSU 35.

Five plays later, Roy Helu Jr., put the Spartans away with a 14-yard touchdown run to give NU a 28-12 lead with 9:05 left in the game.

IMAGE HERE
Omaha World-Herald*
Lincoln Journal Star*
Grand Island Indep.
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San Francisco Chronicle
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Pregame & team info
2008 schedule
04/19Reds 24, Whites 14
08/30W. MichiganW 47-24
09/06San Jose St.W 35-12
09/13New Mexico St.W 38-7
09/27Virginia TechL 30-35
10/04MissouriL 17-52
10/11@ Texas TechL 31-37
10/18@ Iowa St.W 35-7
10/25BaylorW 32-20
11/01@ OklahomaL 28-62
11/08KansasW 45-35
11/15@ Kansas St.W 56-28
11/28ColoradoW 40-31
01/01ClemsonW 26-21

Commentary

Colonel Mustard

This game reminds us that our team is a work in progress. There will continue to be inconsistent performance as the team adapts to the new staff.


Colonel Mustard
HuskerMax
Stryker

This one was excruciating to watch at times, and it provides plenty of things for the Husker Nation to worry about.

Tad Stryker
HuskerMax
Shatel

Old habits are hard to break. That's why Nebraska showed up for this one like a scrimmage, looking a little flat, a little sleepy, a little uninterested.

Tom Shatel
Omaha World-Herald
Douglass

Saturday's performance has to be classified as a step back for Nebraska.

Terry Douglass
Grand Island Independent
McKeever

The fact that the Spartans outyarded Nebraska 353-315 is glaring and a bit alarming.

Curt McKeever
Lincoln Journal Star
Sipple

I thought the Husker offensive line would be a strength of the team in 2008, perhaps the strength. Um, maybe not.

Steven M. Sipple
Lincoln Journal Star
Husker Dan

The tackling in the first half was like watching the arm tackling of last year's (gulp!) team.

Husker Dan
HuskerMax
Bland

Pelini is a first-year coach, and first-year coaches are supposed to go through first-year struggles.

Evan Bland
Daily Nebraskan
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