#4 Nebraska 58
Kansas State 7

LINCOLN — Nebraska’s big plays meant big trouble Saturday for Kansas State.

The Huskers gobbled up 723 yards — the fourth-highest total in school history — to pound the Wildcats 58-7 in front of a rain-soaked crowd of 76,265 at Memorial Stadium.

Nebraska’s first seven touchdowns were aided by single-play gains of 21 yards or longer, and only one of NU’s scoring drives took more than seven plays.

Overall, the Huskers gained 10 yards or more on a scrimmage play 26 times.

“We did have more big plays,” NU Coach Tom Osborne said. “I guess that means we executed pretty well.

“It’s easier with big plays because you’ve got less chance to break down if you can score in five plays instead of 13. In a 13-play drive, you always worry about a penalty or a turnover.”

444 Yards by Halftime

After the previous week’s struggle for three quarters with Oregon State, some added “yards” to their list of worries for the Nebraska offense entering this week’s Big Eight opener.

But even with two regular linemen sidelined by injuries — All-America center Jake Young (hip flexor) and guard John Roschal (ankle) — the Huskers had roared to 444 yards by halftime, a pace that threatened their own national yardage record of 883 set in 1982 against New Mexico State.

“I don’t know if we felt like we had something to prove,” NU quarterback Gerry Gdowski said. “But we knew we could play better than last week.

“We didn’t want to get stopped today. I think for the most part, we didn’t.”

Big Plays End Blitzing

Gdowski did his part with a 15-yard touchdown run among his 81 yards rushing and a 41-yard touchdown toss to split end Jon Bostick among his 112 yards passing.

“It helped that we got some big plays,” Gdowski said. “It took them out of their blitzing.”

So did the slashing, bashing runs of I-back Ken Clark.

The senior out of Omaha Bryan, held to 59 yards last week, gained 166 on 22 carries and scored touchdowns of 2 and 5 yards.

“What Kenny did today was run hard,” Osborne said. “Sometimes, he gets in the mode of waiting for the big play and waiting to make his cut.

“But today, he splattered people at times and ran through some people. That’s the way he has to play football.”

Clark Moves to No. 4

Clark jumped past Roger Craig and Rick Berns into fourth on NU’s all-time rushing chart at 2,464 yards.

Other big offensive contributors included Bostick, who added a 16-yard TD catch to his 41-yarder, and senior fullback Bryan Carpenter, who ran 31 yards for one touchdown and caught a 29-yard pass for another.

All that came against a Kansas State defense ranked 37th nationally and allowing 319.5 yards a game.

“I thought maybe we’d have as tough a time moving the ball as we did against Oregon State,” Osborne said. “Kansas State had been playing pretty well defensively. So I was pleased.”

The smiles carried over to the Nebraska defense, which allowed just its second touchdown in three games.

And that came with the help of a fumbled punt return that set Kansas State up at the NU 11. The third-quarter touchdown was K-State’s first against the Huskers since the third quarter in 1984.’

We Got Embarrassed’

The complete game boosted third- and fourth-ranked Nebraska’s record to 5-0 overall and 1-0 in the Big Eight. Kansas State, which snapped a 30-game winless string last week, slipped to 1-4 and 0-1.

“I didn’t come up here with the idea of getting embarrassed,” K-State Coach Bill Snyder said. “But we got embarrassed.”

The Wildcats got more than their feelings hurt. Eight players had to be helped from the field.

“I’m sorry for that,” Osborne said. “We certainly don’t want them to be crippled up the rest of the year.”

Nebraska’s offense started beating up the Wildcats early.

Wingback Richard Bell provided the first big play to jump start the NU offense as his 24-yard punt return put the Huskers in business at the KSU 41. After five straight gains of at least 6 yards, Clark barreled in from the 2, Gregg Barrios kicked the extra point and Nebraska led 7-0 with 3:38 left in the first quarter.

Osborne Praises Gdowski

Kansas State punted again after three plays and saw Nebraska score in five.

Carpenter ended the 63-yard march with a 31-yard run up the middle, giving NU a 14-0 lead with 1:49 left in the first.

Bell and Gdowski combined for the big play in NU’s third TD drive.

On a first-and-10 from the NU 43, Bell breezed past the K-State safeties to grab a 42-yard bomb to the K-State 15. Gdowski finished it on the next play by rolling right and scoring untouched to give NU a 21-0 lead with 8:44 to play in the second quarter.

“I thought Gerry really played well,” Osborne said. “They pulled some of the blitzes and stuff that Missouri did on us last year.

“But we audibled away from it and hit them with some big plays early.”

The next big play came quickly.

On the first play after Kansas State’s fifth punt of the first half, backup I-back Leodis Flowers sizzled 67 yards for a touchdown — the longest run of his varsity career and NU’s longest in 12 games. That put the Huskers up 28-0 with 7:02 left in the half.

Interception Foils KSU

On an exchange of punts, Kansas State got a big play to set up a scoring chance.

Flanker Michael Smith fumbled a punt return, but grabbed the ball on a bounce and scooted 44 yards up the middle to the Nebraska 34-yard line.

But on the first play, backup cornerback Tyrone Legette intercepted his first varsity pass at the 3-yard line and returned it 24 yards.

Nebraska’s next three plays went for 73 yards and a touchdown.

Reserve wingback Mark Dowse ran for 9, Gdowski ran for 23, then Gdowski cranked up a 41-yard pass to Bostick for the score and a 35-0 lead — still with 2:37 to go in the half.

The bombardment continued in the third quarter with Nebraska scoring 23 more points.

A 21-yard pass from Gdowski to Bell and Gdowski’s 16-yard quarterback draw — saved when split end Morgan Gregory recovered his fumble — pushed the ball to the K-State 8. Clark capped the 87-yard march four plays later from the 5 for a 42-0 lead.

Turnover Spoils Shutout

Kansas State used a turnover to finally score.

Bell and Gregory converged to catch a KSU punt, but Bell dropped it and the Wildcats’ Erick Harper recovered at the NU 11.

Two plays later, halfback Pat Jackson ran it in from the 5 and David Kruger kicked the PAT to bring K-State back to 42-7 with 6:36 left in the third quarter.

The touchdown was K-State’s first by rushing against Nebraska since 1983. And it was appropriate that Jackson scored it because he is familiar with the end zones at Memorial Stadium.

As a wishbone quarterback for Waldorf (Iowa) Junior College two years ago, the 5-foot-9, 175-pounder scored five touchdowns and passed for a sixth in a 42-35 victory over the Nebraska junior varsity. Last year, he passed for one TD and ran for another against the Husker JVs.

The Huskers stormed right back with big plays on both ends of its next scoring drive.

Freshman wingback Tyrone Hughes returned the kickoff 28 yards to the NU 43. And Carpenter finished it with a 29-yard touchdown on a screen pass from sophomore Mickey Joseph for a 49-7 lead.

Defense Helps, Too

The Nebraska defense pitched in on the next possession.

K-State’s Jackson fumbled a pitch at his own 13, and the ensuing rush to the ball knocked it back inside the end zone. The Wildcats’ Mike Wheeler recovered, which gave Nebraska a safety and a 51-7 lead.

The Huskers finished the scoring on the next possession as Mike Grant hit Bostick with a 16-yard touchdown pass.

The officials at first ruled Bostick had stepped out of bounds before catching the ball. But then they waved off the flag by ruling that a K-State defender had forced him out.

Grant’s TD toss meant three quarterbacks threw for scores, a first for Nebraska since Turner Gill, Nate Mason and Bruce Mathison did it in 1982 against New Mexico State.

99 Huskers Play

Of all the big numbers Nebraska put up, Osborne might have been most pleased with the number of Huskers who played — 99.

“I think we played most everybody who suited up,” he said. “That’s always good for morale because we haven’t had a game other than Minnesota where we had a lot of breathing room until the fourth quarter.

“Of course, at Minnesota we only had 60 players to use. So this was a good opportunity.”