LINCOLN — It was a drive-killing sequence that Nebraska's two newest starting linemen never wanted to experience.

They had been coached not to dwell on mistakes. That way, unforced errors won't ever pile up all at once.

Sounded great, in theory. But late in the third quarter Saturday against Virginia Tech, sophomore tackle Marcel Jones and junior guard Ricky Henry found themselves in an avalanche of mishaps.

The two new pieces on the right side of the line made all their errors at the exactly wrong time, contributing mightily to the Huskers' most critical red zone failure of the 16-15 loss.

For Jones and Henry, though, that fateful series may very well have provided more memorable lessons than any long-winded film room lecture from assistant coach Barney Cotton.

“That was actually a really big learning experience,” Jones said. “It's really hard to simulate. You can try, but once you actually get there, the speed of the game is so much different.”

The painful sequence happened late in the third quarter for two players with just five combined starts going into that much-anticipated matchup.

In a matter of moments, Nebraska went from holding a commanding two-score lead to punting the ball away. Henry and Jones were big reasons.

They were flagged for two holding penalties and a false start. Henry's illegal block took a touchdown pass off the board. “It was a foolish penalty,” he said.

Virginia Tech defensive end Jason Worilds, who lined up opposite Jones for much of the day, recorded one of his five quarterback hurries on second down. A play later, Jones blocked Worilds, but Henry didn't engage anyone and two sprinting Hokies entered the backfield cleanly.

“Communication throughout the line, we kind of had it up and down,” Henry said. “Sometimes we'd do it, and sometimes we wouldn't.”

A noisy crowd didn't make things any easier. First, the Husker linemen would struggle to hear the play call. Then they'd shout out blocking assignments. And then they'd wait for the snap. There wasn't time to think about how they might execute the upcoming play.

And in that environment, any type of mental lapse seems to lead to a costly error.

“You've really got to focus. And it's really draining,” Jones said. “Losing focus for just a split second. That's the big thing. Like that split second, when you think you hear the snap call and you flinch, but you didn't actually hear it — that kills it.”

What's encouraging to the NU staff, though, is that those momentary mental breakdowns weren't common Saturday.

Actually, Jones, Henry and the entire offensive line played rather well, Cotton said. Lee was never sacked and junior I-back Roy Helu recorded 169 rushing yards.

Jones and Henry just have to be consistent, according to Cotton.

“There were some really good things that happened on Saturday, but we have to make sure that we're very accountable for the mistakes that we made,” Cotton said. “And we have to eliminate those mistakes if we want to get where we want to get to.”

Contact the writer:

402-473-9585, jon.nyatawa@owh.com

« Sports - Big Red Today

Share