LINCOLN — Florida Atlantic quarterback Rusty Smith shouldered the blame Saturday night for his defense's inability to stop Nebraska.
The Huskers scored touchdowns on 4 of 5 possessions in a 16-minute span at the end of the second quarter through the third period to take control in their 49-3 victory over the Owls. Smith, a fifth-year senior who is considered a professional prospect, said Florida Atlantic's mistakes on offense helped fuel the Nebraska surge.
“The reason why the second half was completely different was our offense couldn't keep our defense off the field,'' Smith said. “You can't expect our defense to be out there the whole time and expect it to keep stopping them and keep stopping them.
“They're not machines. It has nothing to do with what the defense did and everything to do with what we couldn't execute on offense.''
Smith threw both of his interceptions and fumbled a snap from center to end Florida Atlantic's three third-quarter possessions. Nebraska converted both of the interceptions into touchdowns.
“I don't want to take anything away from Nebraska's defense — they have a great defense with some great players, and they're going to have a really good season,'' Smith said. “But we can't keep shooting ourselves in the foot. Interceptions, fumbles, dropped passes, penalties, failing to convert on third down when we had the chance to.
“When you do that, you're not going to be able to win any kind of ballgame. I don't care who you're playing.''
Smith, who had thrown for 8,197 yards and 62 touchdowns in his first three seasons as a starter, finished 15 of 31 against Nebraska for 164 yards. Backup Jeff VanCamp led the Owls to their only points as he came into the game in the second quarter and directed a 71-yard drive that ended with Ross Gornall's 21-yard field goal.
Van Camp also saw extensive action in the fourth quarter and finished 5 of 10 for 72 yards.
Smith's grade for his opening-night performance: F.
“Two interceptions are completely unacceptable,'' Smith said. “Bad decisions. My first interception was a jump ball, and I never should have even thought about throwing that one. I don't know why I threw it.
“I just know I'm better than that. We're better than what we showed tonight.''
Florida Atlantic coach Howard Schnellenberger would agree on both counts. He said he was encouraged by his team's play through the first 30 minutes.
“At halftime, I talked to them in positive terms about how they had played the first half,'' Schnellenberger said.
The veteran coach's postgame message to his team carried a warning.
“The next few days are going to be very difficult for our football program,'' he said. “I'm sure my team is almost as disappointed as I and my staff are. They will respond positively.
“A trip to the woodshed might be the thing we need most of all.''
The coach and his players agreed that they thought they handled the atmosphere of playing in Memorial Stadium in front of 85,000 people. Schnellenberger said previous games at other big-time venues had prepared his team for what it faced Saturday.
What the Owls couldn't overcome was their lack of execution.
“This didn't turn out the way we hoped,'' fullback William Rose said. “In my opinion, it was a lack of focus. We didn't come to play football today.''
Contact the writer:
679-2298, steve.pivovar@owhcom
Copyright ©2012 Omaha World-Herald®. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, displayed or redistributed for any purpose without permission from the Omaha World-Herald.
RSS Feeds