Nebraska 49
W. Kentucky 10

Sept. 4, 2010 • 6:10 p.m. Central
Memorial Stadium •Lincoln, NE • FSN PPV
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W. Kentucky003710
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1st quarter
NEB: Taylor Martinez 46 run (Alex Henery kick) 11:23
NEB: Rex Burkhead 20 run (Henery kick) 6:11
2nd quarter
NEB: Roy Helu 3 run (Henery kick) 5:49
3rd quarter
NEB: Martinez 19 run (Henery kick) 12:54
WKU: Casey Tinius 25 field goal, 8:20
NEB: Taylor Martinez 15 run (Alex Henery kick) 2:01
4th quarter
WKU: Bobby Rainey 5 run (Tinius kick) 12:46
NEB: Niles Paul 33 pass from Cody Green (Henery kick) 9:45
NEB: Austin Jones 5 run (Alex Henery kick) 5:42
   
                           WKU       NEB
First Downs ............... 14        23
  Rushing .................. 5        12
  Passing .................. 6        11
  Penalty .................. 3         0
Rushes-Yards (net) .... 40-179    33-289
Passing Yards (net) ...... 120       247
  Att-Comp-Int ....... 22-12-1   25-17-0
Total Offense  ........ 62-299    58-536
Punts-Avg ............. 8-37.1    3-42.7
Fumbles-Lost ............. 1-1       2-2
Punt Returns-Yds ........ 2-10      3-58
Kickoff Returns-Yds .... 6-132      3-83
Int Returns-Yds .......... 0-0      1-29
Penalties-Yds ........... 7-51      6-75
Possession Time ........ 33:20     26:40
Third-Down Conv. ........ 4/15       5/9
Fourth-Down Conv. ........ 0/0       0/0 
Sacks By-Yards ........... 1-2       1-8
   
RUSHING
WKU: Rainey 30-155; McNeal 4-19; R.Johnson 1-7; Jakes 4-0; TEAM 1-minus 2

NEB: Martinez 7-127; Burkhead 5-57; Helu 5-29; Lee 3-21; C.Green 3-17; A.Jones 2-13; Marlowe 1-13; Paul 1-8; Ward 1-2; Okafor 1-2; Robinson 4-0
  
PASSING
WKU: Jakes 12-22-1-120
NEB: Martinez 9-15-0-136; Green 5-6-0-66; Lee 3-4-0-45
  
RECEIVING
WKU: Rainey 3-36; Doyle 2-24; Vasquez 2-23; T.Jones 1-17;  R.Johnson 1-12; McNeal 1-8; Q.Cooper 1-2; Jeffries 1-minus 2

NEB: Kinnie 6-59; Paul 5-92; Burkhead 2-47; W.Henry 1-24; Hill 1-11; Enunwa 1-10; Reed 1-4

Attendance: 85,555

Coverage

Stats & Recap
Complete Stats

QB Martinez, Huskers sprint to win in opener

Redshirt freshman quarterback Taylor Martinez made an impressive college debut by rushing for 127 yards and three touchdowns on just seven carries to help No. 8 Nebraska sprint to a 49-10 season-opening win over Western Kentucky.

Martinez, who became the first Husker freshman quarterback in history to start a season opener, dashed 46 yards for a touchdown on his first carry to give Nebraska a 7-0 lead less than three minutes into the game. He also completed all four of his first-quarter pass attempts for 59 yards to help NU to a quick 14-0 lead.

After sophomore quarterback Cody Green led the Huskers on a successful second-quarter scoring drive to put Nebraska up 21-0 at the half, Martinez found the end zone again on the first drive of the second half.

Martinez raced 43 yards on his first carry of the drive, before dashing 19 yards up the middle to the end zone to cap a four-play, 68-yard drive that put NU up 28-0. The touchdown run also pushed him over the 100-yard mark to make him the first NU quarterback to rush for 100 yards since Jammal Lord against Texas A&M in 2003.

Nebraska’s big-play offense amassed 536 total yards on just 58 plays, an average of 9.2 yards per play.

Omaha World-Herald*
Lincoln Journal Star*
Grand Island Indep.*
More Neb. Sources
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Photos/Audio/Video
2010 schedule
04/17Red 21, White 16
09/04W. KentuckyW 49-10
09/11IdahoW 38-17
09/18@ WashingtonW 56-21
09/25South Dakota St.W 17-3
10/07@ Kansas St.W 48-13
10/16TexasL 13-20
10/23@ Oklahoma St.W 51-41
10/30MissouriW 31-17
11/06@ Iowa St.W 31-30
11/13KansasW 20-3
11/20@ Texas A&ML 6-9
11/26ColoradoW 45-17
12/04OklahomaL 20-23
12/30@ WashingtonL 7-19
Pregame links & info

Commentary

Stryker

Martinez raised the expectations for Nebraska’s quarterback from game manager to game-breaker.

HuskerMax
Sipple

We should make a pact – resist the Martinez hype. It'll be a challenge.

Lincoln Journal Star
McKewon

We’re not going to anoint the kid Eric Crouch just yet. But T-Mart does, yes, have a little T-Magic.

Nebraska StatePaper
Shatel

NU's offense is better. The defense doesn't look as sharp.

Omaha World-Herald
Hamar

Martinez has that extra gear that most players don't have.

Grand Island Independent
Chatelain

Give Watson and Pelini credit. They took a chance.

Omaha World-Herald
McKeever

To see Lee stand on the sideline for most of Saturday's game before he got in for mop-up duty was a strange sight.

Lincoln Journal Star
Prestidge

Not having to put all of the pressure on the defense will be a major plus for our 2010 Huskers.

Bishop

Let the dreaming (both grounded and unrealistic) begin.

Neeley

Martinez and the zone read are like fire and gasoline.

Hastings Tribune
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