clock menu more-arrow no yes mobile

Filed under:

The Morning After: Fresno State

Lets see what folks are saying the morning afternoon after Nebraska's win over the Bulldogs.

By Brian Towle
Everyone got in the act last night.
Everyone got in the act last night.
Cary Edmondson-USA TODAY Sports

It was a late night. Sorry, but I don't think you'll mind.

Steve Sipple/LJS: This time, Huskers stomp out lesser opponent.

Nebraska improved to 3-0 and took care of a little detail that stuck in Pelini's craw last week. That is, NU failed to stomp on McNeese State's throat when the Cowboys were on the ropes late in the second quarter.

By contrast, Fresno State (0-3) essentially was choked out early in the third quarter, when Nebraska went up 34-5. NU generally speaking looked much more like the team that dismantled Florida Atlantic 55-7 in the season opener.

Let's not go overboard with praise. Fresno State is a shadow of the team that won the last two Mountain West titles. Without quarterback Derek Carr, now starting for the NFL Oakland Raiders, Tim DeRuyter's crew looks lost.

Tom Shatel/OWH: On trip to Twilight Zone, Huskers sap the drama, create feel-good ending

Nobody knew what to expect on this trip. Bulldog Stadium has been a little shop of horrors for visiting Power Five types over the years. Some won, some lost, and all walked away asking themselves why they knowingly walked into the Twilight Zone.

It was a bizarro scene, something out of the past. Bulldog Stadium, with capacity just more than 40,000, looked like the old Kansas State stadium, before Bill Snyder added suites and an elevator. The elevator at Bulldog stadium didn’t work.

The stadium is across from a strip mall, where you can get a Subway sandwich and your nails done. The folks here are friendly, and proud of their 2008 College World Series championship. But this is off the beaten path of college football, and it’s easy to see how a big name could lose its way under the lights here in hot, steamy central California.

We all know the high-risk, low-reward aspect of this trip, especially for an outfit like Nebraska that doesn’t know which Nebraska will show up week to week.

But to the Huskers’ credit, we never found out what a spirited FSU crowd can do in a game like this. Never saw the Bulldogs drag the more talented team into the Twilight Zone.

Dirk Chatelain/OWH: On hot night in Fresno, the Huskers make some needed strides

How ’bout that Big Ten!?!

The only two members of the league still undefeated are Nebraska and Penn State. That’s baffling. The Big Ten’s most impressive nonconference win (and only win over a Power Five team) is Rutgers at Washington State.

In other words, the catcalls from around the country (and within Big Ten borders) aren’t going away anytime soon.

But if Nebraska can beat Miami (and I think it will), the league can guarantee one marquee game: Nebraska at Michigan State on Oct. 4. It might be Commissioner Delany’s only chance to draw national attention to his conference.

Not so fast ...

As I tweeted at about midnight: Nights like this, you wonder if Nebraska might be close to a breakthrough. Then you remember McNeese State and think, "I better wait & see."

Bryant-Jon Antenola/Fresno Bee: Home no help: Fresno State blown out again as Nebraska rolls 55-19

So long, homefield mojo.

It's going to take much, much more than that to pull Fresno State out of this funk.

Fresno State (0-3) was blown out for the third straight time to start the season, suffering the same issues on offense and defense that have plagued the Bulldogs as Nebraska cruised to a 55-19 victory Saturday night before a sellout crowd of 41,031 at Bulldog Stadium.

It was the first loss at home during coach Tim DeRuyter's two-plus seasons and snapped a 13-game home winning streak.

"I'm not used to starting 0-3 like this and struggle as a defense -- it's definitely different," senior safety Derron Smith said. "But we've just got to pull through it, stick together. That's the only way we're going to get through it."

Matthew Kenerly/Mountain West Connection: Nebraska vs. Fresno State game recap: A Big Red Embarrassment

It isn't too much to ask one's team to be competitive, especially when that team has established a recent standard of virtually unprecedented success.  You might be tempted to chide fans that showed up for the biggest home game in years only to bail just after halftime, but then... you wouldn't want to stick around for two more hours of tire fire variety pyrotechnics, either.  You wouldn't want sit or stand helplessly while visiting fans assume control of your stadium.  You could voice your displeasure, but chances are you'd get tired of that before the game was over.

More From Corn Nation