UNO notes: Mavs happy to finally beat Pitt State

There are plenty of reasons UNO was celebrating its 31-28 overtime victory Saturday over Pittsburg State.

“That's a good win — just to say you beat Pitt State,” University of Nebraska at Omaha coach Pat Behrns said. “That may not mean much to a lot of people, but that's a storied program. I don't want to say it's a signature win or anything like that, but it's a huge win.”

Huge also because the Mavericks were able to end a two-game slump and give themselves the chance to finish the regular season strong next week at 23rd-ranked Missouri Western. They can still play for a share of second place in the Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association. There's still a chance to play in either the Mineral Water or Kanza Bowls. They guaranteed themselves of avoiding the program's first losing season since 1995. It was Senior Day.

And did we mention they beat Pittsburg State? The Gorillas beat UNO twice last season, 35-28 in the regular season and 33-21 in the first round of the playoffs.

“Pitt State has caused so much pain for our program the last 12 months,” quarterback Greg Wunderlich said. “I'm not going to call it redemption, but it just feels good to get a win against them. They're a premier program in our conference and their coach (Chuck Broyles) is a legend in Division II. This puts us back on the map in the conference. I think some teams might think we may not be able to compete, but that was a good football team.”

This may not be a vintage Pitt State team. The Gorillas are 5-5 and are tied for sixth in the MIAA with Fort Hays State and Missouri Southern. But that doesn't matter to UNO.

“This one is big because they're starting to figure stuff out and are playing well,” UNO nose guard Zac Keller said.

After opening the MIAA with three losses to ranked teams, Pitt State had rebounded to win 3 of 4 (though the loss was 55-3 to nationally ranked Washburn).

“If people look at their record and say that's the reason we beat them, they're wrong,” Behrns said. “That's a good football team that doesn't make mistakes. They are methodical, fundamentally sound in everything they do.

“If you're going to compete in this league, then some day you've got to beat the Pitt States.”

Another big day for UNO tight end

At 6-foot-5 and 241 pounds, with good speed and even better hands, UNO tight end Mike Higgins is the kind of guy a quarterback keeps in mind.

But his three red-zone touchdown receptions, part of a six-catch, 83-yard receiving day for the junior from Pickrell, Neb., had nothing to do with forcing anything.

“It's not that we're even trying to get him the ball purposefully,” quarterback Greg Wunderlich said. “But in the scheme of things, he is talented enough to find himself open all the time and there's nothing teams can do. They can key on him, but then somebody else will be open. He's just reliable.”

So reliable that Wunderlich will probably forgive Higgins for dropping what would have been a 37-yard touchdown — a fourth touchdown — in the first quarter. Higgins was all alone at the 5 and had to reach for the ball, but couldn't haul it in. UNO, trailing 7-6 at the time, had to punt.

“I should have caught that,” Higgins said. “That's a play you want to have back, but you can't — so you've got to move on and play the next play.”

Higgins' 31-yard reception set up his first touchdown, a 5-yard score. He cartwheeled into the end zone on a 9-yard touchdown that gave UNO a 22-14 third-quarter lead. And his 22-yard catch and run on a crossing route set up Greg Zuerlein's go-ahead field goal that made it 25-22 with 2:51 left in regulation.

Higgins lead the team with 41 receptions, for team bests of 744 yards and nine touchdowns. His nine scores are the most by any UNO receiver since Ryan Krause had 11 in 2003.

“One of the oldest plays in the world is play-action boot on short yardage,” Pitt State coach Chuck Broyles. “They were able to take advantage of us several times with that play.”

That included the final two plays of the game — a third-down conversion to Higgins for a 4-yard gain and then the game-winning touchdown from the 6.

“We had some huge plays out of our quarterback and from Mike Higgins,” Behrns said. “And our offensive line has to play well for them to make the plays they did.”

Extra points

UNO wide receiver Brian Miller, the leading receiver in the MIAA, was off to another big day with three catches for 78 yards before reinjuring his shoulder on a second quarter reception. He did not return. Miller missed two games early in the season with the shoulder injury, and reinjured it two weeks ago against Fort Hays State. … Redshirt freshman John Becklun got his second start of the season at right tackle, with Paul Finochiaro bouncing from right to left tackle in place of Harrison Lingenfelter. Lingenfelter missed nearly three days of practice this week because of a concussion and a funeral. … True freshman Marcus Hall-Oliver got his second start at strongside linebacker. He, sophomore Kyle Moore and redshirt freshman Nick Williams divided playing time at the position.

— Rob White

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