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Nebraska commits five turnovers
Posted: 3:25 PM Sep 11, 2004
Last Updated: 7:55 PM Sep 11, 2004
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Dustin Almond threw a 46-yard touchdown pass to Marvin Young with 7:47 left and Southern Mississippi made a last-minute defensive stand to hold off Nebraska 21-17 Saturday at Memorial Stadium.
Southern Miss (1-0), which converted four of Nebraska's five turnovers into points, came from behind after seeing its 9-3 halftime lead evaporate quickly in the third quarter. The Golden Eagles became the first nonconference opponent since Washington in 1991 to beat Nebraska (1-1) in Lincoln. The victory wasn't secure until linebacker Dillon Cleckler chased quarterback Joe Dailey out of bounds short of the first-down marker on fourth down with :37 left. "Our kids believed they were going to win," said Southern Mississippi coach Jeff Bower. "We came up here in '99, and turnovers killed us. It was the other way around today."
Nebraska had started its last drive at its 41 with 3:18 left and moved to the Southern Miss 12. Darrell Bennett, who had two fumble recoveries earlier in the fourth quarter, got his right hand in front of Terrance Nunn to break up an end-zone pass, then Caleb Hendrix made up ground quickly to deflect a ball away from Matt Herian in the corner of the end zone. Nebraska's fifth turnover came after it (1-1) had moved inside the Southern Miss 25 with less than five minutes to play. Bennett recovered after DeMarcus Barner put a ball-jarring hit on Dailey. "We showed if we make errors, we can get beat by lower opponents," said Nebraska defensive tackle Le Kevin Smith. "They played great defense, I've got to hand it to them," said wide receiver Grant Mulkey. "We hurt ourselves. We would have won the game if we had executed."
Almond was 12-of-28 for 142 yards, with one interception and one touchdown. Anthony Harris led the Eagles with 72 yards on 19 carries. Dailey was 22-of-42 for 202 yards and two touchdowns. He was intercepted three times after being picked off four times by Western Illinois last week. His 42 attempts tied the school record. Cory Ross rushed for a career-high 169 yards on 27 carries, and Herian caught a career-high eight passes for 71 yards and a touchdown.
Nebraska turned a 9-3 halftime deficit into a 17-9 lead on Dailey touchdown passes on its first two series of the second half. All three of Dailey's interceptions led to Southern Miss points, including Naton Stewart's 49-yard interception return at the end of the third quarter that pulled the Eagles to 17-15. Dailey was trying to pass to Terrance Nunn on the play. "I thought they were coming on an all-out blitz, and I was ready to bang my crossing route. That guy (Stewart) came out of nowhere and took it from me." Southern Miss' two-point conversion try failed after tackle Jeremy Parquet's false start put the ball at the 8-yard line. Young was then stopped short on an end-around. The Eagles got the ball back when Bennett recovered Tierre Green's fumble at the Nebraska 49. Two plays later, Almond lofted the go-ahead touchdown to Young.
Darren McCaleb kicked field goals of 39, 41 and 21 yards in the first half as the Golden Eagles broke out to a 9-3 lead. Nebraska's defense forced a three-and-out on Southern Miss' opening series of the third quarter. Ross then broke a career-long 52-yard run before Dailey threw a 9-yard touchdown pass to Mulkey. The Eagles were woeful on their ensuing possession, with Almond badly missing DaRon Lawrence on a sideline route and making a bad pitch to Anthony Harris on an option before lineman tackle Chris White was called for illegal procedure. Nebraska's Daniel Bullocks then intercepted Almond, setting up a 28-yard scoring drive that Dailey capped with a 13-yard pass to Herian for a 17-9 lead.
Southern Miss won despite being outgained 476-239. "We beat those guys fair and square, but at the same time, we beat ourselves," said Dailey. "We had the game in our pocket. It's all about fundamentals. You can dress it up and say what you want, but when it comes down to it, you've got to take care of the football."
Coach Bill Callahan won his first game over Division I-AA Western Illinois last week. The new-look Huskers and their West Coast Offense had a much tougher time against more suitable competition. "This is a game that was there for the taking and we gave it away. There's nobody to look at but ourselves."
Nebraska-Southern Mississippi by the numbers:
Southern Miss 6 3 6 6 - 21
Nebraska 0 3 14 0 - 17
First Quarter
SM: McCaleb 39-yard FG 5:21
SM: McCaleb 41-yard FG 3:14
Second Quarter
Neb: DeAngelis 35-yard FG 14:50
SM: McCaleb 21-yard FG 1:42
Third Quarter
Neb: Mulkey 9-yard pass from Dailey (DeAngelis kick) 11:29
Neb: Herian 13-yard pass from Dailey (DeAngelis kick) 10:00
SM: Stewart 49-yard interception return (run failed) 0:00
Fourth Quarter
SM: Young 46-yard pass from Almond (pass failed) 7:47
A: 77,887
SM / Neb:
First downs 11 / 26
Rushes-yards 33-97 / 46-274
Passing 142 / 202
Comp-Att-Int 12-28-1 / 22-42-3
Return Yards 92 / 26
Punts-Avg. 7-42 / 4-39
Fumbles-Lost 2-0 / 5-2
Penalties-Yards 8-59 / 5-25
Time of Possession 24:35 / 35:18
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING
Southern Miss: Harris 19-72, Hardy 3-16, Moore 3-11, Courington 1-6, Almond 5-minus 4, Team 2-minus 4
Neb: Ross 27-169, Green 11-66, Dailey 7-38, Jackson 1-1
PASSING
Southern Miss: Almond 12-28-1 142
Neb: Dailey 22-42-3 202
RECEIVING
Southern Miss: Courington 3-63, M. Young 3-49, Lawrence 2-17, Perine 2-5, Carter 1-5, Harris 1-3
Neb: Herian 8-71, Ross 5-27, Mulkey 4-43, Pilkington 3-40, Kriewald 1-16, Nunn 1-5
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