LINCOLN — Defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh insists he was, in fact, cramping late in the game Saturday when play was stopped so he and cornerback Alfonzo Dennard could leave the field.

“You can speculate all you want,” Suh said, “but I actually had cramps.”

There was speculation that Suh may have faked an injury to avoid letting Oklahoma run a third-and-5 play from the NU 34-yard line after Dennard appeared to suffer a shoulder injury on a second-down incompletion.

Suh fell to the turf, and a timeout was called. He returned after one play.

Suh was named one of four finalists for the Lombardi Award, presented to the nation's top college lineman on offense or defense.

Other finalists are Oklahoma defensive tackle Gerald McCoy, Alabama nose guard Terrence Cody and Texas Christian defensive end Jerry Hughes. All four will travel to Houston for the award presentation Dec. 9.

Is 76 in the past?

Suh and fellow defensive tackle Jared Crick dismissed the suggestion that the Blackshirts are out for revenge against Kansas after their last visit to Lawrence ended in a 76-39 loss in 2007 — the most points ever scored against Nebraska.

NU has allowed 65 points this year in five Big 12 games and ranks second nationally in scoring defense .

“(The media) might want to think there's revenge, because of what happens down there,” Suh said. “For me, it was a horrible loss to deal with. But it's in the past. I'm ready to go down there, take care of business and move forward.”

Nebraska beat KU 45-35 in Lincoln last year.

“We don't really think about anything that happened two years ago,” Crick said. “We beat KU last year, so that was probably the game that got our retribution.”

More energy

Coach Bo Pelini is hoping that NU fans can recreate last Saturday's electric, high-energy atmosphere inside Memorial Stadium every time the Huskers play a home game.

He says the opponent shouldn't matter.

“I felt an extra bit of juice in that stadium on Saturday night,” he said. “Sometimes, I don't think the crowd realizes how big an impact they can have on a football team, on the whole aura of what's going on.”

Pelini acknowledged that it's natural for fans to take a more complacent approach to cheering when Nebraska's facing teams perceived to be less talented.

But the raucous environment against Oklahoma gave Pelini's team a boost, he said.

“I thought they had a huge impact on that game the other night,” he said. “I'd like that to be the case no matter whether we're playing Oklahoma or Scott Junior High School.”

Green ‘understands'

Cody Green wasn't enthused about getting pulled Saturday, but Pelini said the true freshman quarterback understands now why he finished the game on the sidelines.

Green, who started against Oklahoma, played five possessions but never led the Huskers to a first down. Junior Zac Lee came in for Green early in the second quarter and finished.

“I think Cody was upset the other night because he's a competitor,” Pelini said. “We talked about it. Believe me, those guys more than anything, they just want to win. They're team guys.”

Pelini plans to continue his week-to-week assessment of the quarterback position, choosing not to name a starter until game time.

Actually, Green and Lee could both play at Kansas, Pelini said. He previously had said that he preferred not to shuffle guys in and out at that spot. But Tuesday, Pelini said that winning comes first.

“Whatever I feel is going to give our football team the best opportunity in any given week or any given circumstance, that's what I'm going to do,” he said.

Spotlight on O'Hanlon

Welcome to the spotlight, Matt O'Hanlon.

The senior safety, who joined the team in a tryout four years ago, found himself recounting his tale of scout-team member to starting safety as inquiring reporters listened Tuesday.

O'Hanlon had three interceptions and 12 tackles against Oklahoma. On Tuesday, he was named the Bronko Nagurski national defensive player of the week and the Big 12 defensive player of the week.

“Yeah, I don't think I ever really imagined that,” said O'Hanlon, a former Bellevue East standout. “Coming in here, I just kind of wanted to do my part and be a part of this tradition.”

Yet, there he was in his apartment Saturday night, eating pizza and watching TV with teammate Wes Cammack as ESPN's analysts recapped the day of college football. And a legendary coach mentioned O'Hanlon's name.

“Lou Holtz kind of gave me some props as being the leading receiver, so that's nice,” he said.

— Mitch Sherman, Jon Nyatawa and Rich Kaipust

« Sports - Big Red Today

Share